American Grit: John Suzuki on Resilience and Leadership
In this powerful episode, we explore the importance of history, the power of caring, and the need for inclusive leadership. Our guest, John Suzuki, delves into the Japanese American experience during World War II, specifically the internment camps, highlighting stories of resilience and self-empowerment.
The conversation also addresses the dangers of weaponizing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive spaces. John shares his personal journey and the inspiration behind his book, American Grit, which tells the stories of Japanese American war heroes.
We explore themes of blame, victimhood, fear, and the power of choice, emphasizing the importance of taking responsibility for one’s life and not allowing circumstances to define one’s future. The discussion also touches on the need for education, understanding, and love to combat fear and division in society.
Key Takeaways:
- Recognize your potential and the ability to make positive choices.
- Understand the importance of learning from history to avoid repeating past mistakes.
- Embrace the power of caring and inclusive leadership.
- Combat fear and division with education, understanding, and love.
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Transcript
Well, John, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today? I'm great. I'm so glad to have you on and talk about this important topic.
John Suzuki (:Hey, hey, hey, good Keith, how are you? Yeah, yeah, well thank you for having me, for sure. Thank you, thank you.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah, we don't often go back and I love history. I'm a history buff, but I think so many people have just lost sight of history. So I'm glad we're having this conversation.
John Suzuki (:Wonderful, wonderful. Yeah. And you know, history forgotten or history not taught is history repeated. And so, yeah. Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Exactly. And we're pretty close to repeating it. But we'll get to that. Let's get to know you a little bit better. So give me the best piece of advice you've ever received.
John Suzuki (:Yeah.
John Suzuki (:Okay.
John Suzuki (:You know, I got two, can I do two? Because I couldn't, okay, so one of them was a saying that I learned a long, long time ago that says, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And you know, it's all about people and that care involves everybody. It involves your boss, it involves your subordinates, it involves your spouse, your friends, everything, everything and everybody.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Sure!
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:They don't care how much you know.
John Suzuki (:They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And so the whole idea is not only to care, but to show that you care, right? That's one thing to say you care. It's another thing to show it. And I'll tell you that when people really internalize that, and I found in my own life that when I made that part of who I am, it changed things dramatically because now all of a sudden I'm not looking for other people to care about me first. I just care, right? I mean, I care about folks.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:that part of who I am. It changed things for that.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:And the other thing, in fact, I have a poster of him on the wall was Martin Luther King, when he says, judge a person not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. And I learned that a long, long time ago. I was around when he was around. And those two things have really shaped my life.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:struggle on the wall was mom. He says.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Okay.
John Suzuki (:in a big, big way. And I think it's especially important these days, given everything that's going on with DEI and just all the good, good, good in a lot of ways, hard in other ways, but where the world is right now, I think that's important.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And I think it's especially important these days, given everything that's going on.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:It's so funny you mentioned, I was just talking to a guest recently, we talking about DEI and I think what we get wrong about DEI is when we take it and weaponize it against people versus taking it and saying, how can I create a space where all of us, everybody feels included and that they have a place.
John Suzuki (:Mm -hmm.
John Suzuki (:Yes, yes, that's right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:they belong. When you try and do that, it's different than, let me use this as a way to cudgel my enemies.
John Suzuki (:Exactly.
John Suzuki (:Yeah, that's right. That's right. And, you know, I was having a conversation with the DEI expert. In fact, I'm having a conversation with them on my podcast later today. And he was one of the chiefs of DEI at Microsoft. And he recently wrote a book in terms of the practices of leaders, right? Of inclusive leaders. And we're having a conversation, just like what you're talking about, Keith. And, you know, he's...
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Okay.
John Suzuki (:I asked him some questions because there's a balance, right? I mean, there's a good part and then what you're talking about, there's a not so good part, especially when it's being weaponized. And he says, well, there's a lot of people out there who are practicing malpractice and being an exclusive leader. And I said, Jonathan, I said, that's your next book. His book right now is called The Daily Practices of Inclusive Leaders. His next book,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:that I really wanted to write our game.
John Suzuki (:that I really want him to write are the daily malpractices of inclusive leaders. Because it's like you say, everything can be taken and presented in a whole host of different ways. Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right. Good intentions used in inappropriate ways.
John Suzuki (:Yeah, exactly, exactly, exactly. That's right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:I'm always curious, John, for people like you and I who've lived a little bit of a little bit of life, that we didn't get what we were without people in our lives who have served as role models for us and also mentors. And think about your journey. Who are some of those people in your life who have done that for you?
John Suzuki (:my god, yes.
John Suzuki (:Well, you know, I'm a person who believes that one of the shortcuts to being successful is to try to surround yourself with people who are better than you. And, you know, for me, the Lord, Jesus, first and foremost, number one, right, I try to pattern my life around Him. In fact, it's pleasing Him that runs my life. It really does. And my wife,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yes.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:versus normal is number one.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah.
John Suzuki (:is second. She's an amazing woman who has taught me love. And you know, we all think we know love. But you know, I've been married for almost almost, gosh, almost 40 years. And she has she has taught me love she and my mom taught me love. And I'll tell you the third person is somebody that just comes to my mind immediately. And he's my very first boss.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:I'll tell you the third person is somebody that just comes to my mind immediately. And he's my very first boss that I had when I was 13 years old, working on a bait receiver.
John Suzuki (:that I had when I was 13 years old, working on a bait receiver in the middle of King Harbor and Redondo Beach and his name was Jim Beasley. And Jim was this curmudgeon of an old guy, just a cranky, mean, every other word was the F -bomb. And he hired me out in the middle of this harbor to work for him. And from Jim, I learned strength,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:old guy just so crazy. Every other word was the F -bomb and that I got out in the middle of this harbor to work for him. And from Jim I learned strength, tough as hard as he is. Hard as he is.
John Suzuki (:tough as, hard as nails, hard as, he ate nails. And he taught me hard work. And most importantly, he taught me loyalty. He taught me loyalty. This was a man who the Harbor Patrol, the police in the Harbor were afraid of. And he wouldn't be, there were three times when the Harbor Patrol would come towards the bait barge and Jim would come out with a shotgun and fire both barrels in the air.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah, they'd just turn their boat around.
John Suzuki (:And they just turn their boat around and go the other way. And, but you know, he knew it. He had a very, very clear sense of right and wrong. And he took care of his, his boys like me. And when the, when the Harbor, even when the Harbor patrol came along, he, he, he protected us. He protected us. Yeah. Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Wow, that's so cool.
John, I want to get you a book, but I also want to get the backstory because to write a book like this, there had to be some things that shaped your direction to write this, maybe inspired you. So kind of tell us your personal story.
John Suzuki (:Okay, cool. So I'm Japanese American. Okay. And my dad and my mom are, were Japanese Americans. They both passed away. And my dad actually fought during World War II for the United States against Japan. And which, which is an amazing story all of itself. And so I've always, I've always been a, a student of World War II. I've always been a student of the Japanese American experience of World War II.
And one day I was at my mom's assisted living center and there was this poster up in the elevator that said pilgrimage to Minidoka and it was two months away. I didn't know what a pilgrimage was and I didn't know what a Minidoka was. So I just, I just, I just blew it off. That crazy flyer showed up everywhere. I mean, 15 miles from my house, it just showed up in my life.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:I didn't know what to do.
John Suzuki (:And so the day before this pilgrimage to this, what it turned out to be was a pilgrimage to a former United States internment camp or a concentration camp where Japanese Americans were held during World War II called Minidoka. And so the day before this pilgrimage, I find this flyer on my windshield, Keith, and I'm like, okay, okay, I get it. I'll find out. And so I called the number and I said, you know what?
I know it's happening tomorrow. I'm sure you're sold out. And the lady said, boy, this must be your lucky day. I just got a cancellation and it's yours if you want it. So the next day I find myself on a 12 hour bus ride from Seattle to Twin Falls, Idaho. And, you know, this is a time when I was traveling three weeks out of the month and I had two small kids. I was raising a family this, you know, and I didn't have time to, to do this. And so, and so.
I find myself on this bus and everybody goes around the bus explaining why they're going and everybody was there because of family ties to this camp. They get to me and I said, folks, I have no idea why I'm here. My parents were not interned here. I don't know, I just know that I'm supposed to be here and I also know that I will know my reason on the bus ride home.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:I'm out.
John Suzuki (:And so we get there and we spend the first two days learning about the experience. And back then in 2008, there were a number of people who actually experienced the camps. And, and it was on the third day, Keith, that we had a remembrance ceremony. And I discovered this billboard and this billboard has the names of over a thousand men.
who volunteered out of that concentration camp in Idaho to fight and die for the United States Army, the same army that put them and their families in that camp to begin with. And I just looked at that and I'm like, what? Are you kidding me? Right? Who would do that? And I knew because of my learning about World War II about this Japanese American segregated war unit called the
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:called the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. These guys volunteered to join the 442nd and the 442nd went on to become the most decorated war unit in the history of the United States for its size and duration. And the man that I found and I wrote about was one of the most decorated war heroes in US military history and he volunteered out of the Mnidoka concentration camp. His name was Shero Koshino. And so,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:and the war heroes in US military history. And he volunteered out of the Mennonoke concentration camp. His name is Shiro Kishino. And so as I'm looking at this billboard, I realize that's the -
John Suzuki (:the I'm as I'm looking at this billboard, I realized, you know, that's this is what I'm here for. And my original intent was to was to write a screenplay because I thought that the shortest distance between the Americans to the American psyches through a major motion picture. And I thought of Clint Eastwood. I thought this would be a rock. my gosh. This would be a great movie for Clint Eastwood. And so that was 16 years ago.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And my original example is to describe a street. People may think that the shortest distance between the American side and the American side is the same. Exactly.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And so that was 16 years ago. It took me 15 years to learn the book. And at some point, I'm going to have to get on my horse pretty soon and try to get this money soon. You better hurry.
John Suzuki (:It took me 15 years to write the book. And at some point, I'm going to get on my horse pretty soon and try to get to Clint Eastwood. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So if any of you or any of your audience knows a way to get to Clint Eastwood, please let me know. But it's an amazing story. It's just an amazing story. It's an amazing story of love. It's a love story. It's a war story.
It's a story about self -empowerment. It's a story of not being a victim and taking control over your own life and making the world better. It's an amazing, amazing, and it's all true. It's all true.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:So John, for those who don't know the history, because I don't remember ever in my years of studying history, really learned about the concentration camps. I mean, you hear about them. It's kind of like in the background, it's like, we don't talk about that part of American history. But for those who don't know the history, what led to the concentration camp getting started in America?
John Suzuki (:Right, right.
John Suzuki (:Mm -hmm.
John Suzuki (:Sure, sure. So let me just clarify something real quick because I call them concentration camps because that's what they were. The American euphemism is relocation camps and internment camps. These were by definition concentration camps. And I use that term out of no disrespect for what happened during the Holocaust, right? I call those concentration camps genocidal extermination camps.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:I mean, that was an entirely different level of cruelty and, you know, trying to wipe out an entire race, the entire Jewish race. And so, but what happened was that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, right, and thrust the United States into war. And there was a real sense of fear along the West Coast and in Hawaii that the Japanese Imperial Navy was going to attack. And so, so what happened?
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:So, but what happened was that Japan attacked pro -barber.
the Japanese folks on the west coast were very successful. They made their own farms, they started their own business.
John Suzuki (:And there was also an energy of envy, if you will, where the Japanese folks on the West Coast were very, very successful. They worked hard, they made their own farms, they started their own business. And there was a lot of energy that was being spent trying to figure out how to beat these guys. And...
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And there was a lot of energy that was being spent trying to figure out how to...
time, signed Executive Order: John Suzuki (:and take over their farms and their businesses. And so there was a really dark energy that was happening in addition to the legitimate fear that hit. And so Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our president at the time, signed executive order 9066 and authorized just really, really quick two sentences. It authorized the United States, the United States Army to evict
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Wow.
John Suzuki (:and evacuate and incarcerate 120 ,000 people of Japanese ancestry, two thirds of whom were Americans and 50 ,000 of whom were babies and children. And it was said that if they look like the enemy, they must be the enemy. And so, I mean, tell me how a baby is an enemy. I mean, are you kidding me? But it was a wholesale, no, no,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:But it was a wholesale no, no,
John Suzuki (:It was just, it was just, you're going, so they collected all these people, they rounded up all these people and threw them into these concentration camps. And these concentration camps weren't places like Disneyland. I mean, these were placed in the deserts and swamps in America where people aren't supposed to live. You know, the temperatures got up well over a hundred degrees, well below freezing. And,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:It was just, it was just, so they collected all these people, they grounded them all, threw them into these concentration camps. And these concentration camps weren't places like Israel at. I mean, these were places, the deserts and swamps in America where people aren't supposed to live. You know, but temperatures got up well over 100 degrees, well below freezing. And, you know, it was, the buildings, their housing was made out of lumber and tar paper. I mean, we don't even know.
John Suzuki (:And you know, it was the buildings from their housing was made out of lumber and tar paper. I mean, we don't even make shacks, tool shacks these days out of lumber and tar paper. And in a lot of cases, there was no plumbing. It was terrible. And, you know, surrounded by barbed wire fence guarded by by soldier American soldiers with with machine guns. It was crazy. And and so that's that's what happened.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:It was terrible. And surrounded by barbed wire fence, guarded by American soldiers with machine guns. It was crazy. And so that's what happened. That's what happened. And it was completely involuntary. But if you were even a fraction of Japanese ancestry, you were ordered into these camps and you were incarcerated.
John Suzuki (:That's what happened. And they were, it was completely involuntary. But if you were even a fraction of Japanese ancestry, you were ordered into these camps and you were incarcerated against your will.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Wow. As you wrote this book, American Grit, I'm sure you ran across some incredible stories. What story, and you think about in the book, that really stands out to you? Because I like what you said about not being a victim. Is there a story that kind of encompasses your thought about we have to change the victimhood mentality?
John Suzuki (:Yeah.
John Suzuki (:Yes. Yeah, you know, this whole book is about that, Keith. It is, you know, I'll tell you, my book is 188 pages long and it's a very, I wrote it that way to be an easy read, to be as interesting as I could make it. And I decided to write it. It's nonfiction, right? It's a true story. But I decided to write it in a way where I followed the...
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:and I decided to write it. It's nonfiction.
John Suzuki (:the stories of two people and I take the readers through the entire experience. I met so many amazing people, hundreds of incredible people who had their own stories that were very much deserving to be told. But my problem was that if I wrote a book with everybody's stories, it would be a 2000 page book. And so that's part of the reason why it took me so long, 15 years to write it.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Thank you.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:But the most powerful story is about the guys I told you about. Because there was a lot of people. Here's the thing. You talk about victimhood. I am in the process of writing what I hope will be an accepted TEDx talk. And it's called, Reversing Culture of Blame. And because blame leads to victimhood.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:The most powerful story is about the guys I told you about. Because there was a lot of people. Here's the thing.
You know, I am in the process of writing what I hope will be an accepted TEDx talk. And it's called Reversing a Culture of Blame. And because blame leads to victimhood. When you blame people for your circumstances and you look around, everybody's blaming everybody and everything for whatever problems they're having in their lives.
John Suzuki (:When you blame people for your circumstances and you look around, everybody's blaming everybody and everything for whatever problems they're having in their life these days. When you blame something or somebody for your circumstances, you are giving your power away. You're basically saying, it's your fault, I'm gonna blame you, it's not my fault.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:giving your power away. You're basically saying, it's your fault, I'm gonna blame you, it's not my fault. And so when you look at, when I consider the experience of the camps, there were a lot of people who blamed the government, blamed the white people, blamed their circumstances. There were even some people who did suicide. And it's terrible, it's terrible, right? And,
John Suzuki (:And so when you look at, when I consider the experience of the camps, there were a lot of people who blamed the government, blamed white people, blamed their circumstances. There were even some people who committed suicide and it's terrible. It's terrible. Right? And this may be a little bit controversial, but they became their own victims. They became victims of their circumstances.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:And that was their choice. These other men chose not to blame others. They chose to take control over their lives and to say, you know what, this life in a concentration camp is not the life I want my future family to live for the rest of their lives. We need to get out there and do something about this. And we need to go out there and prove our loyalty to the United. There's nothing they can do.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And that was their choice. These other men chose not to blame others. They chose to take control over their lives and to say, you know what? This life in a concentration camp is not the life I want my future family to live with the rest of their lives. We need to get out there and do something about this. And we need to go out there and prove our loyalty to the event. There's nothing they can do, right? There's nothing. I mean, you talk about, you talk about...
John Suzuki (:Right? There's nothing. I mean, you talk about you talk about having every opportunity to consider yourself a victim. But these guys said, hey, what can we do about this? And they they they they found one day the United States Army came calling for volunteers and they said, this is our opportunity. So it was their choice. Right. They could have said, no, I'm not doing it. You put me and my family in here. Screw you guys. F off. Right. And a lot of people did.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right
John Suzuki (:But a bunch of these guys said, you know what, we're gonna go out there and we're gonna prove that we can be just as patriotic Americans as anybody else. And so they chose to take control over their own lives. And they went off and, and a lot of them died. A lot of them died. And the tragedy of this, of it was that, you know, when, when you lose a loved one in war, you become a Gold Star family, right? And a contingent of army soldiers comes to your home,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:take control over their own lives. Yeah, they want often and a lot of them don't.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:with an American flag and a gold star and presents it to your family. These poor families were receiving their flags and gold stars while they were imprisoned by the army that was presenting them the flag and the gold star. It's like, what? And so, yeah, but that's a part of our history. And, you know, it's not being taught.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:It's mind -blowing.
John Suzuki (:It's not being taught and it's not being shared. And that's part of the reason why I'm out there doing this.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:So being an African American, I know there's parts of our story that aren't being shared either. So I sympathize with you. But why do you think that is? Is it because the part of the history is so distasteful? We just want to ignore it? I'm just curious, what are your thoughts on why is it not being shared?
John Suzuki (:Yeah, you know, you hear about the whitewashing of American history, right? And, you know, I don't know, because this is just such an important, there's so much about the African American and African experience that I know we're not being taught, because I talk to folks and folks will tell me stories and I'll go, what? What happened? Right? And, you know, I think it's...
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah, right.
John Suzuki (:It's selective conditioning. And you see what's happening in terms of this cancel culture that's happening these days. And we're trying to make the Confederacy go away. We're taking down statues. And I get that they're hurtful, but you know what?
That's part of who we are. It's part of our experience. It's part of what we went through. And if we're not out there talking about what happened during the Civil War and what happened during World War II and what happened in Germany with the Holocaust, it's going to happen again. And it may happen again anyway, which is my fear. But education and love, Keith. It's education and love.
and getting it out there and helping people understand. Yeah, but I don't know why. I don't know why.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah, I've wondered it myself is why do we not talk honestly about history because I think you said it does help us not to repeat it because I see a lot of scary trends that are happening in society now. I'm going, you're making the exact same mistakes that led our ancestors to the problems we ran into because we did not know. We don't know that we're not recognizing the enemy. It's like we're...
John Suzuki (:No doubt.
John Suzuki (:Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:We're lifting up the wrong heroes. It's like those are not the heroes we should be following.
John Suzuki (:That's right.
Well, you know, and one of the things, one of the things I say a lot is, you know, camps and concentration camps can happen again. Right. I mean, they can happen again. I mean, and people ask me, John, really? They can happen again. I tell them, Hey, listen, look, if you, if you go back to nine 11, right, there was, there was this energy of folks, misguided energy who felt like all Muslims were terrorists and we needed to round them up and put them away. Are you kidding me? Right.
And then you fast forward to today, right? I was just listening to a news article earlier this morning that was talking about people who are of the belief that folks who have not been immunized, did not get the COVID vaccines, need to be separated from the rest of society and put someplace. That was this morning, Keith, right? And then during COVID, round up the Chinese. I mean, holy cow. And then...
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:You look at what's happening on the campuses right now. And you know, and these people, these folks, I mean, I get it. I get it. I get the, I get how bad and terrible this whole thing is, you know, with the, with the, with Israel and with Palestine and all that stuff. But you know, when, when there are chance of, of getting rid of all the Jews.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah, from the river to the sea, yeah.
John Suzuki (:Yeah, right. I mean, that happened in Germany. And, you know, so, so, so anyway, you know, we've, we've got to get in front of it and, and, you know, education and just helping people understand and encouraging people to try to understand different perspectives, you know, try to understand the perspective on the other side of the table, because we live in such a world of fear and hate.
And we need to bring back, you know, the the the opposite of fear is love. I keep bringing up that word, but it's all about love. Right. And and and we we just we just need to we need to figure out how to stem this time. And our political leaders aren't doing it. Our political leaders are trying to divide us every step of the way. Right. And I just I just feel like we as people, because, you know, I'll tell you, Keith,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Exactly.
John Suzuki (:You know, I talk to you, everybody I speak with, there's not a single person that disagrees with the statement that we are being divided, right? And there's not a single person who disagrees with my statement that says it's up to us. Because our leaders aren't going to do it. It's up to us to create this renaissance of heart, I call it. And...
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Exactly. No, I agree.
John Suzuki (:make the world better one per one person at a time.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:You know, something you said about what happened with the encampments and what's happening with COVID and what happened with what's happening in the division now, it all comes down to one word and you keep saying it over and over again, and I agree with you, it's fear. If we are afraid of that thing, whatever that thing is, that person, that ideology, that belief, and we can't talk and communicate, we are destined to put our enemies in camps.
John Suzuki (:It's fear.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:because we're afraid of them. So you're right. It's gotta be, how do we replace that fear with love? And being a believer, for me, that's where everything starts. It always starts with love.
John Suzuki (:Mm -hmm.
John Suzuki (:It always starts with love. Everything is love. Everything, you know, and, and, and that's, and you're right. The, if I were to describe, the world in one, with one word, the, predominating, predominant, predominating feeling, it's fear. It certainly isn't love. and so, you know, and you see it on, and, and of course, fear cells, right? Bad news cells. And that's part of it with, with.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Of course, yeah.
John Suzuki (:You know, with social media and all the different places to get our information from and so many different powers that are out there trying to influence how we think, it's really important that we that we understand where or where they're coming from and and understand who we are. We are loving beings. We are we we we are people who are put here to get along and and and love each other. And so.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:They're trying to influence how we think.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah, it works.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
John Suzuki (:you know, stemming that tide of fear and helping people, you know, helping people live better lives. You know, it's it's one of those things where when when you live in a world of scarcity, it's an entirely different experience than when you live in a world of abundance. Right. And and fear is is, you know, you can you can equate fear to scarcity, if you will. And so if we if we think about things in terms of, you know what?
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:You know what? There are opportunities out there for everybody here. There are opportunities out there for you to go out and build an amazing life, an incredible life. You know? Let's do it.
John Suzuki (:There are opportunities out there for everybody here. There are opportunities out there for you to go out and build an amazing life, an incredible life. Let's do this together. Let's do this together because when you help other people be better, I mean, you lift the world. So let's go lift the world.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Exactly. So I'm curious, John, what do you hope readers take away from reading your book?
John Suzuki (:What do I hope people, you know, don't be a victim. Don't blame. It's your choice. You know, Keith, people, people have a hard time when I, when I tell them, listen, your life is the product of the choices that you've made. And, and people say, well, you know, I couldn't choose my parents. Okay. Okay. I'll give you that. But you know what? Every day.
Every day tomorrow, your world tomorrow is going to be the product of the decisions that you make today. And who you are in the future is going to be the product of the decisions you make from now on. And everybody does. Everybody agrees with that. And so if you agree with that, then that same logic applies to your life today being the product of the decisions that you've made. So my point is, is to, is to help people understand that.
that your life is your choice. You can make your life better at this moment by making the right choices to make your life better. And so these people in the book, they chose. They chose not to be victims. They chose to take charge. You can do this too. You can do this too. And so my hope is that my book is not just a
Excuse my French, but not just a what the hell what the heck book Or or what my my son he read though he read America my book when I was getting ready to publish it and he came up to me and said What the f he said did this really happen, right? And I said, yeah, Mike, it's all true And we talked about it and I said, you know, the thing about it is yes the message is about
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And we talked about it and said, you know, the thing about it is, yes, the message is about really bad things that have happened in the past. But the broader message is it's your choice. It's your choice what to do about bad circumstances. And there aren't very many worse circumstances than being thrown into a concentration camp.
John Suzuki (:really bad things that have happened in the past. But the broader message is it's your choice. It's your choice what to do about bad circumstances. And there aren't very many worse circumstances than being thrown into a concentration camp in the middle of the desert. And so, you know, I'm hoping that folks will be inspired by the story.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:So I'm hoping that those things inspire you as well. Yeah, I hope so too. Because I think, like you said, as we talked about earlier, we need to know our history so we don't walk into those same. Like somebody said, you don't get people to walk into a prison voluntarily. You scare them into them. And you know, so how do we not scare ourselves into our next prison? So yeah.
John Suzuki (:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
John Suzuki (:That's right. That's right. That's absolutely right. And, and, you know, folks like folks like you, you know, with, with the podcasts that you're doing, you know, it's, it's about hope, you know, giving people hope, giving people, giving people the power, you know, we all have the power. We were born with love. We were born with power. We were born with the gift. everybody has different superpowers. Get out there, work on it, choose to work on it. And, and you know what? I'll tell you something. One last thing I'll just say, Keith.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And you know what, I'll tell you something. One last thing I'll just say, Keith. In my life, my parts, since I was 13 years old, working off of P -Parts.
John Suzuki (:in my life, I've learned since I was, since I was, you know, 13 years old working on the bait barge. the harder I work, the luckier I get. It's amazing how that happens. And, you know, don't be afraid to work because you know, the more, the more, and, and, and, and I tell people also, if you're not succeeding, you're not failing enough. Right. Right. I mean, just keep at it, just keep at it and you will be successful.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right, right, exactly.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Yeah. John, I'm always curious for my guests, especially as you have this book out, you're doing all kinds of things. What are you excited about in this season of your life?
John Suzuki (:What am I excited about? You know, first of all, I'm excited about this stage of my life. I believe that we all have three careers. The first is to learn and go to school. The second is to earn a living for yourself and your family. And the third is to return and give back. And so I'm in that I'm in my third career now. I've been blessed to be able to do this. And what really makes me happy and excited is, you know, I think that we all share a common.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:I think that we all share a common...
John Suzuki (:A common purpose and that is to make the world better than the day we landed on it And you know, I believe that when we're done here And I'm facing I'm facing our creator and he says okay what you do I said well, you know, I did I did as much as I could to make the world a little bit better by helping people and Helping folks love one another. I think that if I can say that I'll be in good shape
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And I believe that when we're done here, I'm facing our creator and he says, okay, what'd you do? And I say, well, I did as much as I could to make the world a little bit better by helping people and helping folks love one another. I think that if I can say that, I'll be in good shape. And so.
John Suzuki (:And so I'm excited about it. I'm excited about giving back. I'm excited to reach people. And that's what I'm doing. And that's what I've committed the rest of my life to.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:That's amazing. As you wrap up our conversation, John, what key takeaways would you like our listeners to remember from our discussion today?
John Suzuki (:What key takeaways? You're amazing. You are amazing. Okay. You, you know, Keith, I found myself at LAX Los Angeles airport one day just sitting, sitting, watching people go by hundreds and hundreds of people that go by going by. And I realized at that moment that there wasn't a single person that I was looking at who couldn't teach me something. There wasn't a single person.
who wasn't better at something than me, right? You're amazing. Every one of you is amazing. And you know, our amazingness is beaten out of us. It's constantly beaten out of us that we're not adequate enough. And you know, the world with, again, with social media and with advertisements, you're not good enough.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Right.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:And you know, the world, again, with social media, with advertisements, everybody, you're not good enough, right? You have to buy my product, or you have to be like me, or look at me, you're not me, you're a loser. You're amazing. You have it in you, you have heart. You have the same six inches or eight inches between your ears, like every other person does. The only question is what are you going to do with it? And my encouragement is,
John Suzuki (:Right? You have to buy my product or you have to be like me or look at me. You're not me. You're, you're a loser. You're amazing. You have it in you. You have heart. You have the same six inches or eight inches between your ears as every other person does. And the only question is, what are you going to do with it? And, my encouragement is just start. If you want, if, if you want something better in your life, it is yours.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:There you go. I like that. So John, where can people find American grit and learn more about you?
John Suzuki (:You're amazing. You're loved. And get on with it.
John Suzuki (:Well, okay, good. So then go to Amazon, Amazon, just search on American grit and American grit book. You can go to johnsuzuki .com and you can learn about my book and about me and about my podcast. My podcast is called finding better. And I just started it on January 1st. I've got almost 900 subscribers and it's all about sharing experiences of how, because it's all about, you know,
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Wow.
John Suzuki (:The best way to learn is from by other people's experiences. And for me, in terms of a shortcut. And so I don't talk about opinions. We don't talk about academics. We only talk about having been there and done that and finding better in our own lives. And that's what we talk about. So it's all experiential and it's amazing. It's amazing the people that who are on my.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:It's all experiential and it's amazing. It's amazing to people that who are...
John Suzuki (:who are guests on my podcast. And I'd love to have you come on for sure. And so I would love to have you, Keith, because you have so much to offer the world and we'll set it up for sure.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:I'd love to come on. Yeah, definitely.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:Sounds good, John. Well, thanks so much, John, for writing this book, because I just think that we just need to know these stories, as uncomfortable as they may be, but also as inspiring as it can be for people who looked at their situation, who didn't accept it, but said, I made for more. God designed me for more, and went out and found out what that thing that God designed them to really do. So thank you for sharing that story with us.
John Suzuki (:Yep, yep, exactly, exactly.
John Suzuki (:That's exactly right. Well, thank you for having me. It was wonderful being here.
of Becoming Bridge Builders (:you
