Interview with author John P. Strelecky

HGJ: HGJ is pleased to be interviewing this month John P. Strelecky, international best-selling author of The Why Café. The Why Café is being sold in over 36 countries and is due for release in the U.S. this April. Thank you for being here with us John.

JS: Thank you, I appreciate the invite.

HGJ: Why do you think people have such trouble fulfilling, what you call in your book, their “Purpose For Existing”?

JS: There are a number of reasons for that. For some people it’s a matter of not realizing that it is possible to live the life of their dreams. For others, they live with a great deal of fear, which holds them back. In my experience, fear is a combination of a lack of experience and a lack of knowledge. To overcome our fears we need the courage to gather the knowledge and to take the risks to experience our dreams. Once we have the experience of overcoming a fear, we find that we are less afraid of taking risks in the future.

HGJ: What advice would you give to people who are not sure what their passion is?

JS: I’ve found that most people are struggling to figure out what they want to do with their lives. They don’t know why they are here. One exercise I use to help people find their Purpose For Existing (PFE) is to ask them to write down their three favorite movies of all time, and their three favorite childhood books, and why those are their favorites. Then I have them ask a friend to listen to them as they explain why those movies and books are their favorites. What I find is that this helps people start to articulate what is important to them, and as they dig deeper, they narrow in on their PFE.

HGJ: Why do you think people who go off and try to follow their dreams are often judged by the people around them?

JS: Great question, you would think friends and family would support you and tell you that they know you are going to succeed. The reality is that many people say things like, “You’ve got a good job. You make good money. It’s not that bad, just stick it out. What you want to do is too hard, so few succeed.” The question is why do people do this? The answer is because they believe in a system and have lived their lives according to this system. If someone comes along who threatens their belief in the system it’s upsetting because it makes them question how they have lived their lives.

HGJ: Can you speak about the almost mystical occurrence that happens when someone finds and lives their PFE?

JS: Things just seem to happen; coincidences and people appear at the right time. When you are on the right path it’s as if the entire universe conspires to make your dreams a reality. When nothing seems to be working and nothing is going your way, to me that is the universe telling you that you are going in the wrong direction, you are not following your heart. It’s a good indication that you need to make a change.

HGJ: John, what’s the best way people can get in touch with you?

JS: The best way is to go to my website www.whycafe.com

HGJ: Thank you so much for being here with us today John, we’ll be looking for your book The Why Café in Borders across the country come this April.