What a crowd. Wow! Wow! Woohoo! So let's get started. What's your favorite movie? Many Black. But you knew that, right, Sarah? This seems a little rehearsed, right? Yeah. We will never come unprepared for you guys. So do you remember the scene with the girl, you know, the little girl? It's epic. Let's watch it. This is from YouTube, not Pirate Bay. Let's watch it.  Well, she was the only one that actually seemed dangerous at the time, sir. How'd you come to that conclusion? Well, first I was going to pop this guy hanging from the street light, and then I realized, you know, he's just working out.  Then I saw this snarling beast guy, and I noticed he had a tissue in his hand. I realized, you know, he's not snarling. He's sneezing. You know, ain't no real threat there. I saw Little Tiffany.   She's about eight years old. Those books are way too advanced for her. If you ask me, I'll say she's up to something. And to be honest, I'd appreciate it if you eased up off my back about it. Or do I owe her an apology? I told you it was epic. And that actually reminds us of how we look at ourselves. We are the analytical Will Smith that go for the ones that others overlook. Except for the part where he asks, or do I owe her an apology? Except from that part. This is... All right. We are back in minds. We use science, technology, and intuition to find the founders that other miss. And we actually think that if you want to be able to zoom in at the perfect spot, you need to zoom out to get the full picture. So we use other people's myths and traps to find great companies. So let's zoom out and have a look at our industry, the VC industry. VC. Society is changing, but VC is not. We have the same deal structures, management fees, titles as we have had for so long. Did you know that the 80-20 carried structure system actually origins from medieval times? And isn't it a bit ironic that the whole industry is based on disruption, but finds it a little bit too hard for its own work? I do have some problems with the clicker. Do you see that? Yeah. Come on. Yeah. Here we go. Myth one. Yeah, let's talk about some myths in our industry. Let's dissect them. So myth one, there are no female founders to be found, and especially not in tech. And if there were any, VC would surely invest in them, right? It's true. But as a matter of fact, 30% of the founders are female. And it's true that you very often hear investors say that they would invest in female founders if there were any. So we took a look at the unicorn founders, because the unicorns have raised most of the venture capital. And we found out that out of the world's unicorn founders, a majority don't even have a tech background. This means the criteria doesn't even exist on the checklist when evaluating male founders. All right, so... There are no men in tech either. Exactly. Next myth, age. The ideal founder, it's... Yeah, you know, who generates maximum return is around 28 years old, fast learner, great stamina, puts all their time into their venture, right? Everyone is nodding. Everyone agrees, right? No, as a matter of fact, if you look at the fastest growing new ventures, the average age of the founder is 45. This is Anne. She's the founder of Dynamic Code, a fast growing health tech company. She was told that she should bring on a male co-founder when raising money. She was also told that she couldn't run a tech company because she was too old. Today, she is transforming healthcare by providing diagnosis to consumers without them even having to leave their homes, like STDs, tonsillitis, gluten intolerance, you name it. And we are super happy to be part of her journey. She's awesome. Dynamic Code is the company. Myth number two, myth number three. Three. I mean, immigrants very often become Uber drivers, and when they start business, this is very often low-scale, like drive cleaners and kebab places. Actually, 16% of the companies are founded by immigrants. If you look at the Fortune 500 companies in the US, 55% of them are founded by immigrants. Entrepreneurs with immigrant background has much harder time to raise capital and get loans, and people with African heritage have the absolute toughest time. Look at this team. They look amazing, don't they? And they are, but as a matter of fact, they met so much cognitive bias when they were looking for funding. They contacted more than 120 different investors and didn't get one meeting. Since we invested in Transfer Galaxy, they've sent more than 40 million euros through their platform in less than one year. Have you heard about pattern recognition? VC is all about that. Our industry, we want to make sure that we go for the founders with the right background, the right schools, the right experience, maybe at Spotify or other places. But as a matter of fact, it's a huge advantage to have the wrong background, to be an outsider. If you have the wrong background, you don't know what toes you cannot step on or what rules you cannot break. You see disruption more clearly. And that's why we love outsiders. And we didn't have the right background either. Hallelujah. No, we definitely didn't have the right background and so didn't Pear and Adam, who started Virkesbussen, they just had a wrong background to enter the timber industry. And they also, the timber industry didn't make sense to the VC world either. That left us a space. And what we did was that we looked at all industries yet to be digitized. And we found in timber industry, which is huge, especially in the Nordics, but also in other parts of the world. And they actually already gained a prominent position with their digital marketplace for timber, using AI to optimize the sales. And we got a new hashtag, Forest Tech. Forest Tech, we love new hashtags. Forest Tech, I think it's ours too. And this is a myth that all our portfolio companies have met. There are no good companies outside of the big cities, like Stockholm, like Berlin, Silicon Valley, Helsinki. Or... But there are. 74% of the companies started in Sweden are started outside of Stockholm. And for Finland, that figure is actually 88%. So what does research say? I mean, does this correlate with reality, or is it just myths out of the blue? A research team looked at VC firms and how they evaluated entrepreneurs and founders, both men and women. And this is how they constantly describe the female founders. They are too risk-avert. They are hesitant to grow their companies and their companies underperform. The most interesting part was that even if they had the exact same information, the conclusions were totally different, depending on whether it was a female or a male founder. I mean, H, it's a number, right? But if the founder was young, the male founder was promising and the female founder was inexperienced. If the founder spent a lot of money, he was driven to build his company, and she was only wasteful. What was the results? How did the companies perform? So this research team, they looked at 24 different KPIs during five years. And do you know what they found out? Can you guess? There were no statistical differences whatsoever on the performance of the male and the female companies. So cognitive bias is actually a shortcut in our brain. It was once crucial for our survival. Today it prevents us from making the right decisions. There is huge potential there. And that's why we actually founded Back in Minds in the first place. Not to miss out. So who gets funding in Sweden and in the world of investments? We looked for statistics on this, but there were hardly no statistics. So we created our own database. We looked at all share omittances in Sweden during one year, and this is what we found out. So we started with looking at all the investments that went to stock-on-base companies, and then the investment that went to the rest of the country. And we saw that only 8% of the venture capital went to the 74% of the companies outside of Stockholm. You see the same trend in Finland. Only 12% goes to the rest of Finland. And in the states, you have three states that get 80% of all the investments. And then we looked at the amount of money who went to companies founded by one man, companies founded by women and men, and companies founded by women only. And this is what we found out. 96% of the capital went to companies founded by men. 4% went to companies founded by women and men. I know what you're thinking. There's a piece of the pie missing. Yeah, it is, because less than 0.1% of the capital went to female founders that year. And this was also later confirmed by Sweden's biggest newspaper. You might have seen other numbers on, like, female founders and how much money they get. But this is in VC, so less than 0.1%. Uh-oh, back. Sometimes it works a little bit too well. Okay, let's summarize this to make it even more simple for you.  And from our back-in-minds perspective, we can see, like, you can ask the question, what happens when everyone looks at the same company or at the same apartment, for example? It becomes very expensive. It's the same with companies, and that's why we invest beyond hypes and bubbles to find the companies and the founders that other investors miss. We do this because of a return, but the side effect is driving a change, creating new role models and owners in society. It's time for a fireside chat, a fire camp, whatever, chat.  So here is the fire. Did you bring the marshmallows? No, I brought a fire. Okay. That's good enough, right? That's nice. All right, so you can... This feels perfectly natural. Actually, the Slush team, they suggested, like, ten different moderators to us, but, yeah, we rejected them all. I'm not sure it was a good idea now, but let's try it. Yeah. All right, so we've seen a lot of statistics, but why does it look like that? Well, I think there's different reasons to this. One could be that if we look at the 100 largest VC firms, we see that only 7% of the employees are female, for example. Actually, in Sweden, it's more common to be named Johan or Hendrik than to be a woman in BC. So, I mean, this is a very psychological effect that we have, a similarity effect that we invest in and hang out with and recruit people that are like ourselves. Any Johan or Hendrik in the audience? I wonder what the Finnish name would be. Yeah. Yeah. Another thing can be, I mean, the industry relies a lot on, you know, tight networks. The deal flow is so big, so you need, like, people to point out the right companies for you. And in the end, it means that you, like, invest in your friends' friends. Yeah. And I mean, one of the most legendary founders of a VC company, I think his quote was, reaching me is the best qualifier. And that's like actually saying that it's much better if a founder just runs around looking for VC's rather than work with their own companies. And we believe very much in flipping the firm. Totally reverse. Like, in the future, we think that VCs and investors will be the one coming with the hats in their hand and asking for an investment in your companies. Because the thing is that there are so many more funding options for entrepreneurs. Just take, like, crowdfunding. Last year, it surpassed in amount VC. And there are so many more options. So I think it's going to be like the other way around. But we, VCs, need to go with the hat in our hands. Yeah. The question is, like, will the founders even choose VC when there are many financing options? Exactly. What do you think? Yeah. Yeah. So what should we talk about now? Yeah. Like, do you think that the industry will change? I'm very sure the industry will change because of return, as I said earlier, and also because of attracting the future founders. Yeah. Exactly. Because this swap. And also when you, maybe when you, like, understand the difference between the, like, perceived risk and the actual risk. When is this thing founders? Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, there are so many things going on. I mean, so many things are happening and we're trying more. Like, VCs are looking for female founders. You know, you want to have women in a lot of panels. You want to, like, do pitching boot camps for women and so on. What do you think of that? I mean, there's definitely progress going on. And I think that all initiatives are very good. It's a good intention. But I think that we also have to ask ourselves what is that doing with the founder when we talk all the time about how the founder should change. Like even putting up boot camps for them to be better pitchers. I think that's a little wrong, actually. I think that it would be much better if the whole investor network would go to training and maybe learn how to see beyond their own cognitive bias. And actually, I mean, research says that... That's actually based on research. It's not that like a woman or someone of a minority do, you know, a pitch that is not good enough. So it's actually we that need to look beyond our biases. And yeah, we need to change. So maybe a summer would be like, maybe we come from the wrong angle when we talk about what the founders need to do differently. And we should talk much more about how the investors should do things differently. But I mean, we heard just before us was a woman on stage who just started a $550 million fund. And started a great company with social services in India. And she also said like she was so sick and tired of the fact when she's invited to a panel like we are looking for a female founder. And that's probably something you can all relate to. How does it make you feel like you've been to a lot of panels and you get a lot of questions? Yeah, exactly, okay.   And the first question you get is always, how does it feel to be a woman in a manly dominated industry? It makes one feel like this. Can you describe that? What is it on the screen?  The fun thing is that when we sent this through to the slush team, the only comment that we got was... We thought it wouldn't pass, but like they will never let us use this picture in our PowerPoint. Exactly. But the only thing they asked was like, can you change the background color on the slide with the guys in the hot dog suits? In the hot dog suit. Yeah, anyone up for hot dogs? I don't know. No, but there is so much, there is actually so much more to talk about. And maybe we should all agree on the fact that, I mean, just skip the prefix of founders. Let founders be founders, and not female founders or female investors or immigrant founders. The same goes for, you have the Femtec category.  If there's a product by a man for men, then it's like for human beings, right? And if there's a product by women, for women, it's always Femtec. So... Yeah, so it's a lot of stuff there. And what's your, like... Do we have some more quotes? Like, these quotes are interesting. Yeah, Survival of the fittest is a good one. Yeah, Survival of the fittest, yeah. It's also from the VC industry. How does that make you feel if you don't get funding? And it's... Now, but I think that's where the industry comes from, a place where it's very, very normal that the founder uses all his or her time to try to reach the VC or the investor. And it's actually, we very often hear from people in our industry that this founder was so driven, he was actually waiting outside the ladies room when I got out. Actually, I've done that. I've been waiting outside of the restroom and like, hello, but that's really creepy. Yeah, exactly. It's not a driven entrepreneur. It's actually only creepy, right? No, but I think... And that's how we see, like, entrepreneurs, you know, they're like, no, we can't come to your networking event because we need to launch this or we need to hang out with our customers. That's only a positive thing. Yeah, totally. We were actually kicked out once from the founder. We traveled a long way and we sat at his office and all of a sudden she said, now you have to go. There are too many customers calling at the call center. And we loved it. We invested. That's a good suggestion. And looking at... like, fears. What's your biggest fear? Missing out of deals. We have an album of investments that we should have done. I think all the investors have an album of investment that should have made. Companies that have grown much more than we thought. Yeah, and I think we're both, like, super competitive because we really, like, we're going to do this for, you know, maximize return and, like, yeah, maybe have better return than everyone else because the key is return here. A lot of people, like, are you doing this to be kind to these entrepreneurs or, like, some kind of charity? This is no charity. This is pure business. But while doing this, we, yeah, create the new role models and a lot of new... Yeah, new outlooks of the entrepreneurs. One fear could be the representation trap. When investing in someone that other have missed and that person would actually not succeed with his or her company, it would be easy to think, I was right about that group of people or entrepreneurs with that background and vice versa, if that person succeeds, then you don't talk about representation anymore, then it's very often okay, that was just the exception of it all, so... I recognize that very much from my upbringing, with, like, Iranian parents, so you're like, if I do something wrong, I will destroy so much from other, like, immigrants with the Iranian background and you have a lot of, like, weight on your shoulders, so you have to prove a lot of things. But, yeah, but I don't think we should worry about this because the companies are doing great, so... All right, time's running out. Yeah, time's running out. Only 30 seconds. Yeah, should we, like, do our brave heart? So this is the time for the, like, the William Wallace Braveheart end here of it all. Have we got something prepared for that? Not really. Not really, let's... Yeah, so you could all go out and swim with the sharks or you can join Meen Sarah in the Blue Ocean to find the true future successes. I mean, in Nordics we are among the best of the best. You are among the best of the best, but don't stop there.  Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.


Hello. Hi. Welcome to above life channel. The purpose here is to inspire your spirit and to fill you with hope today. We're going to have a Sunday morning coffee conversation. Welcome to the podcast. I know it has been a time in this transition into the new year. I'm just going to double check to make sure that our audio is working. Just waiting, just waiting. If you are in the chat. Hello. Can you give me a thumbs up and let me know if the audio is working? I'm waiting for my phone to load here. It's not loading. Here we go. Oh, it says I'm live, so that's good. But let's just see. Hi, Patty. I hope you're doing well. I sent you an email. I just saw your email. Sorry about that. Oh, good. OK. Patty is one of our moderators here. So hi. Thank you. Hey, thank you. I know. Nice to see you. It's not technically Sunday morning.  I'm in like slow motion that the new year. Hi, seeing you in the chat. Nice to see you. We're going to talk about energy. We're going to talk about energy dip. That's kind of happening. It's a dip, but then it's going to come back up and it's going to dip again. There's a couple of dips during the month of January. It feels like now I don't do astrology, but I follow some astrologers. I would recommend Molly McCord as one of them. She's great. And thank you to my friend Sandra in Texas, who recommended her to me months ago. And so she is just fabulous. Molly McCord is really good. She's got a podcast so you can listen to her on your iTunes or also, I think she's also on YouTube, Molly McCord. OK. And so I have heard that there are some just nuances, we'll say, to this energy in this new year so far in January. And like it doesn't really feel like the first of the year yet for many people. And it's like there's this blur in a way like we transitioned. We stepped over this threshold into 2024. But yet it's like to 2023 really happened like the last month of 2023. And I thought it was just me because of all the stuff I've been focusing on for my cocooning, my personal physical body healing. I thought it was just me. I'm like, oh, it's probably just me. But no, it turns out it's a lot of people. And then my psychic friends that I've been chatting with too have also indicated that they've been feeling that too. And so there are definitely energy dips. So I want you to be aware that if it feels like you're on one of those big yellow slides that they have at amusement parks, you know, or the state fair and you kind of go down and up and down and up. Yeah, that's normal. That's that's kind of typical right now. And it's what you do with the energy. It's what you do with those those dips, those laws. And it's not waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to so to speak, where you're going back up again, like, OK, it's easy, it's hard, it's easy, it's hard or OK, everything seems good right now. I know something not so good's coming. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So I'm here today to ease your ego mind because I myself have been super ultra triggered in just the first couple of days of the month. In relation with other people and that old kind of stress paradigm that comes through where it's like there's this expectation inside your body that you respond in a certain way to similar situations, like somebody asking for money.  Yeah.   Can't count three grown as adult kids right now. And only one of them is like, oh, my God, you know, but still it's a lot.  How do you help when you draw the line? And I spent two hours this morning on the phone with a friend of mine talking about the whole old paradigm stuff. And she's got a situation with her her grandbaby coming up. And that is a lot for her to kind of process. And then she was giving me the extra, extra, the externalities. We'll call it that these other things, these other people, these other involvements, these entanglements, these complicated old patterns from past pain and hurt and how it's so influential on the situation. And it just causes a real difficulty in movement. And so there's like this dip of energy and the dip for some can be like heavy and and really just not just stagnant. OK, for some, the extreme is very deep heaviness, which is like a depression. And for me, I can relate to that. And I have felt that I've had moments of the heaviness, not to the extent that I did this time last year, as I shared with you all that I've shared with you here on Above Life Channel. I've been open about my struggle with depression last year, my diagnosis of the depression and and connected to this big dark night of the soul that I was working through and working on in discovering new parts of myself and having it just totally up up and my entire life and my separation and all that at that time. And now this energy of this dip, it does sneak back in and it does feel heavy, but the weight of it is up to us. It is negotiable. OK, so the energy dip weight is negotiable.  Angry, expressive moment. However, I highly recommend that you let yourself feel.  And that anger and that energy is you. It's not that person. That person is just doing the same stuff they've always done. And they're in the same energy patterns with you that they've always been, whether it be your kid, your spouse, your co-worker, your boss, even if you're in a different job, by the way, you tend to find the same bosses, don't you? You tend to find the same lovers, don't you? And so the thing is, is the common denominator is you. You, I am the common denominator. So when the dip is happening, I get to negotiate how low I'm going to go. And what that means, the definition of the low, the definition of the dip. OK, it's not despair. It does not have to be despair. You don't have to freak out and unplug from the world for three months. You don't have to do that. You can freak out and unplug from the world for a few days. But then you have to access your tools for energetic support, for healthy, intuitive awareness, for your physical body health. You have to eat again. And if it's hard to eat because you don't have that appetite, you have to recognize that your physical body is asking that you eat nutritionally and that you do some things that are going to help your physical body, like stand outside and breathe the air. Yes, I know, I know it's hard to stand outside and breathe the air when there's a full on snowstorm. There's not any here, by the way, yet in Minnesota. I'm talking about my friends on the East Coast. Yeah, like my like my friend, who is in Miss Main, who is driving home from the hospital and like, oh, my gosh, look at this snow. Oh, my goodness. And I hope she's cozy it up. I hope you cozy it up. I hope you're not watching this. I hope you're cozy it up. And I hope you're getting sleep for your next ER night shift. Anyway, the energy of the dip and how it affects us or how much it affects us is on us.  It's totally normal. OK, you don't get on, you don't when you go on social media and you see people all like, yeah, life is so great.    I'm living in my car and I haven't showered in two weeks because I can't afford the the the new subscription now because they raise the rates at Planet Fitness and that's where I shower and, you know, that kind of thing. Like, you see this total contrast of yay. And, and so what I'm trying to say here is that dip doesn't have to be the OK, and the my life is great.  Well, there is a time when they when they weren't OK. And there are times when they aren't and they're just not showing you that because they're not comfortable doing that or that's not their shtick or that's not the situation with what they're doing on social media. So you can't use that as a comparison. It's not realistic at all, like the fake versions of love and the fake versions of success and the fake versions of relationships that were sold in movies, on television, on TikTok, it just it's not realistic. So do not compete with that, please. If you aren't a dip, acknowledge that you can negotiate how you manage and handle that dip. Now, some things I've been doing are and my tip isn't that low. I had kind of a crappy day. Was it yesterday or the day I was? I think it was yesterday. I was really kind of Friday was a fantastic day. It was so good, you guys, you guys. Friday was 12 weeks post surgery. So 12 weeks since my open heart surgery, 12 weeks. That was Friday and I was feeling great. I was doing great in cardiac rehab. I had cardiac rehab that day and I was on the elliptical and I was riding the bike, which I love the bike. Oh my gosh, I'm riding the bike and I was kicking butt, man. I was doing great. My numbers were good. I felt good and I've been doing yoga for a week now and I have to adapt. Obviously, I have to modify because I can't let myself get discouraged and I won't because I'm in the dip already. I know I'm in the dip a little, right? I'm not totally all the way in the dip, but I'm in the dip. I'm kind of in the midways dip. I'm in the shallow end of the pool where I can wade in kind of thing. And I have to be aware of that self-talk about comparing to either the lady that's teaching the yoga or to my old version of myself because three months ago, 12 weeks ago, everything went crash. I hit the wall and I literally couldn't exercise or do activity at all. Couldn't do the walking that I used to do. Couldn't do the weight weights, the weights I used to do. Couldn't do any of the machines. Couldn't do any of the yoga really.  And now I'm climbing back into kind of a balancing place where I'm like trying to figure out what works and what doesn't and that takes trial and error. So when you're in the dip, it's trial and error just because something doesn't work. Like I can't do planks. That's my goal for this year by the way. And I'm hoping in the next three months I'll be able to do them because I'm doing them on the wall but I'm not able to do them just full outstanding because I can't to hold because I had this sternum thing like had open heart surgery and they cut my chest open. So like my sternum, the bones on my rib cage have to like, they're like wired together right now and they're healing together but it takes some time for the bone to cover over and for the muscles and the tendons that were moved and torn and stuff to kind of heal again. And I can feel it right up here like in my pectoral muscles. And then under my shoulder blades especially the left side shoulder blade, I can feel it because of the way my arms were in the surgery for so long for hours and hours and hours like I don't know how many hours, nine hours or something. I mean, it was fricking long, right? And so that really wears on those rotator cuffs. You know what I'm saying? And this one was already a little wonky. So listen to what I'm saying.  Okay, that's what it is if you don't know yoga. And by the way, the yoga I'm doing is that 30 day free yoga with yoga with Adrienne. You can Google her on YouTube and it's free and it's flow, it's what it's called. It's really good this time. It's very gentle. Of course I'm modifying, so it's very gentle for me. I can't even do like the cobras and stuff. I can't do the stretching and stuff.  And getting very, very strong and it's no big deal. I'm not stiff like I used to be. I just have to be still careful here about the midline. And that will take time to rebuild these muscles because they're half the heel which they have been healing, which is great. But now I have to teach them again how to strengthen themselves and work together. And so it's gonna take some time for that.  Okay, that's a buzz kill. That's a deal breaker. Whether the comparison is in relationship and romantic relationship, what kind of marriage do you have? What kind of relationship do you have? By the way, there's multiple types. Did you know that? There's not just black and white. There's not just happy and bleh. There's like an in-between, right? And same with your friendships. You have some friends that you probably talk to once a year or twice a year and you probably have friends you talk to every single day and you probably have friends you haven't talked to since high school, but you could pick up the phone and talk to them like it was yesterday or whatever. Like I have really good friends like that from childhood that every couple of years or so, my sister was best friends with the one of the girls and I was best friends with the other girl. And so they're sisters and we're sisters and we lived across the street from each other, the Gullixons. And so we would, you know, we catch up with them a couple of years ago. In fact, they're the ones three years ago, this January, no, two years ago, one, two, two years ago, this January, they met us and we went and saw air supply in concert. So it was so much fun. But so there's a lot of degrees and levels and variations of things. So there's not a canned one way to do something when you think about a recipe, okay? And I'm thinking recipes because my husband has been making bread and cookies and oh my God, so much yummy and he has the best chocolate chip cookies. But he started with a recipe for chocolate chip cookies and he didn't like it and he experimented and he used one of his mom's recipes and he changed it a little bit and he wanted a little more cake-like and then he didn't like the taste and he experimented for a while. So you start with a recipe, you start with the basics relationship, basics. And then you adapt it and adjust it till it's really satisfying like that. Did you see what I'm saying? Same with like the exercise scenario. If you're just starting by getting off the couch and you're walking to the mailbox every day or you're walking the dog around the cul-de-sac, that's enough, that's great, okay? Don't let the skinny minis on TikTok that are trying to sell you the protein powder make you feel like crap, no, we are different people, we are individuals. So like when I share stuff here in Above Life Channel and we talk about psychic stuff and we connect with the afterlife and we talked to Freddie Mercury and like we just talked to Matthew Perry a couple of weeks ago and Prince and there's all the people. It's different how it impacts each and every one of us because we're individual, we're not the same. And the way you connect is different to your favorite celebrity or your grandma in the afterlife, you know? I mean, it's not the same, there's no one way, there's no one size fits all. And so I wanna remind you to make sure that you take in the information like that I'm giving you or Amanda Ellis gives you or whoever your favorite person is or like the astrology lady I recommended, Molly McCord or Esther Hicks, Abraham Hicks or whatever you listen to, that's your jam, okay? Take it with the information with not, this is the expert, this is information, you know? It's not the right answer, it's not the way if you're looking for the magic pill or the cure, there's not that. It's a process of putting things together, gathering things up that work for you. It's like putting a bouquet of flowers in a vase and each of the flowers are tools that work for you. So you might love yoga, it might be something that work for you, it might not. So maybe a breath exercise or a certain type of meditation might work for you. So that's a different kind of flower that goes into the vase, do you know what I mean? And like oils, you know, I love oils, I love the Emerald Temple oils, I'm now getting really into blue dragon alchemy. The beautiful soul's name is Argonne and he, they create the most beautiful oils. So, oh, I love them. Oh, they're very connected to the 13 moon Oracle deck, the archetypes and the energy in there or to Ariel Spillsbury's work in the 13 moon mystery school. Also, I should mention another connection to that would be Priestess Presence Temple with Elaine Kalila, Sophia Dowty. So these are lots of different types of resources, right? And but then they don't fit everybody. Like the deep divine feminine, the deep archetypal work doesn't fit everybody. And I'm gonna talk in Carolyn Mace archetypal work or Carl Jung archetypal work. I'm talking divine feminine archetypal work as channeled through Ariel Spillsbury and her 13 moon work, which 13 moon is this. This is the deck that I use, right? This is the one that I use that you've seen. This is what I use in my like, my mentoring work. I use this, I do use some of the archetypal energies. I think it's a really good way to kind of a good container to hold, especially if you're doing mentoring work and things like that with me. It's quite beautiful. It's very deep and you do a lot of your own work. It does have a lot of shadow work in it, but I know, like I said, with the dips, it's a balance, okay? It's not just peaks and valleys. There's a pause that happens sometimes when you're in the dips and the pause is required so that you can process and digest whatever archetypal energy you're working with or whatever new tool you got introduced to. Maybe you learned a new healing modality or a new clearing modality. Maybe you're using dowsing rods. I should show and tell all the tools I have. I have so many. Maybe you're doing singing bowls and my friend is doing a sound bath today. And so she's discovered these beautiful connection that she has to singing bowls and she's doing a sound bath in the yoga studio that she teaches in. And so like that, like that kind of thing, you know? And I, yes, I have singing bowls. Yes, I have two drums. Well, I have one that I made years ago, years ago. Before that was a cool thing. I also have, I'm looking right at it right now. I also have a rattle. So I mean, and I have a cauldron over here and I have a chalice and I have incense and I have owens, Celtic tree wisdom. And I mean, just I have so many tools and so do you. So when you're in the dips, it might be a time for integration, for just to be. And it's frustrating because you wanna go, go, go because of your ego mind, right? Your ego mind is used to that. So we have to teach the ego mind. So maybe right now in the dips and in this 2024 and January, it's a time to train your mind, to work with your mind to help heal it. Not to tell it it's wrong and it's bad. I do not believe that ego means that that edge got out. I know that's a popular saying that Dr. Wayne Dyer used to say. And I think maybe Luis Hay might have said that I can't remember, but I know Dr. Wayne Dyer did. And I don't believe that. I don't think the ego intends to edge anything out. I think it just is doing its job and it's very, you know, focused and very logical and very, and that's okay, that's just the way it is. So maybe we work with it. Oops, sorry, sorry, I have a session in like an hour, 15 minutes, I'm gonna have to wrap in a little bit. But I think that the ego mind is a great opportunity right now during the dip to let the ego mind chill, to learn ways to manage that stress, maybe through EFT or tapping with the tapping solution. There's a lot of different things you can do. You can utilize and activate to really support the brain in a way that softens it to the new stuff that's coming in. Cause there's new stuff and it just doesn't know. It's gonna be slow to change. You know, it's just gonna be slow. Don't let it be the judge and jury. Just know that it's gonna do that. It's gonna be a negative Nelly. And it's gonna be like, complain, complain, complain. It's bad thing, bad, bad, bad, bad. Cause it wants you to stay safe and the best way to do that is stay in the womb, never leave the house, never do anything. Wrap them in bubble wrap.  How many times you go to the ER when you have kids and stuff and the doctor and it's like, oh my gosh, I gotta just wrap them in bubble wrap like that, right? That's kind of the way the brain thinks of us. It thinks we're really, you know, not like, we need to listen to the brain. So it's gonna amplify. It's gonna get like more intense. So we need to like be peaceful with it and compassionate to it. And recognize that when the brain starts to, when we start to have feelings that are coming from our negative self-talk, we need to then give back to the mind. Not run away from it, not hide, not do old patterns of distraction, vices. And I'm not, I gotta say in the Sunday morning coffee, I mean, I do coffee, but I did decaf for like three weeks, you guys, and it about killed me. So I just started back on caffeine Friday, but just one and very, very watered down. So it's like an Americana and I'm better for it. I just tell you, cause then my brain works better too, like I can't remember stuff, but I'm sorry, okay, I'm trying to say, like we don't need the vices to distract us from our minds, we don't need extra chocolate, like that's mine, it's food. Like I'm a food person, like I will eat food to distract me from my emotions, but my emotions usually feel the way they do because of my brain. It's not because of me, cause me inside is so sweet and wonderful and awesome. And so too are you.  Don't do that, I don't recommend it, it's not a good idea, okay? It's not a good idea. Well, what am I gonna do with this hair? I get it cut next week, so we'll have to see. Anyway, I wanna say hello to the chat and then I got a wrap so that I can maybe switch to tea for my session. I was gonna say my counseling session, but it's my session with my client session. I am, yes, I have started doing client sessions again. They're somewhat limited, so I might be a little limited, but I have a pretty good schedule right now. It's pretty open. I do like one a day, I can do one a day. I haven't done one a day, but I can do one a day. Hi, Seal, nice to see you. It's always a hard one for me. Yeah, it is. Hi, Drew, oh my gosh. Wow, hello to Denmark. Oh, hello, Anna. Hi, Cynthia. We don't focus on negative dramatic stuff. Lisa from Florida, nice to see you. Yeah, you're welcome to stay though, Cynthia. We just aren't that kind of channel. We are not that. We are not drama mama. Patty Patty, right, thank you. Sunday is Sunday morning coffee. Hi, Vayan, nice to see you. How am I feeling? Pretty well, actually. Pretty well, the medication makes me a little tired, but usually it's later in the day, so it's fine. And I'm feeling awesome when I get to exercise, and I'm so happy. Because like guys, I'm walking the treadmill, doing like a mile and a half on the treadmill. I'm doing some leg weights, and I'm also doing a bike. I have a bike at home, and I'm doing yoga during the day, to like trying to get back into the physical shape. And it's hard. It's not easy. Let's say it's hard, yeah. And I have missed a couple of Sunday morning coffees and channeling also because I've been in a dip. I've had a dip. I did have a dip after my kids. My kids were here for the holidays, and then when they left, I kind of felt some sadness. There was some stuff. Happy new year back to you, thank you. I felt some stuff that came up for me after, because I got to see all my kids together at once in my house all together for the holiday for just a day, but it was like a lot. And I had so much emotion that I couldn't really express it, because that was the first time I'd seen them since the event, since the open heart surgery and since I was back. I mean, I've seen each of them individually, but I haven't seen them all together because two of them live far away. One of them's in Iowa for college and one of them lives in Minnesota, but like two hours away and has a job there. And so she works at a hospital. And so I don't, and she works night shift too. So I don't get to see them all together at once. And so it was kind of, it was a little surreal, overwhelming. And I kind of didn't know what to do about it. Kind of, it was so, it was different than it's ever been. And I was like, like I didn't know. It was very mixed for me. So I had some stuff after that. And then, yeah, I just had to kind of handle it, you know? So it's crazy. So, because the surgery was a traumatic experience, which I'm working through with my counselor. So, but I am doing well, I'm feeling really good as far as physically, I'm physically able to do things. I can do sessions. Yeah, my seasonal depression or my seasonal affective disorder, that's the thing that's been my little bugger lately. I've been sleeping a lot more and I know that's the dip for me too, you know? And that's normal during January, like Ciel said too, during January. So, hi, Michelle, thank you for asking. Thank you. Just gonna make sure I say hello and then I gotta pop off here so I can get ready for, I'm talking to somebody on the East Coast again today, long-term client and she, she's awesome. I just, I really love her. And I have the best people. I'm so, I'm so lucky. Just make sure I didn't miss anybody here. So, so lucky. I guess it's snowing there too, so. You're in a dip and it sucks, I know Patty. You guys, Patty needs some love, love for Patty. She's a mod and she heard her foot. Yeah, broke it, I think it was, right? And so she has really had it rough. And I think it was right before Christmas. I hope I'm not speaking out of class here by telling people that. So let's give some hearts to Patty for healing, to help support her as she, let me see if I can find some here. Patty, Patty, am I right Patty? Oh man, dude, the old school. Looks and kisses, there we go. And sending healing, yeah, there you go. I've been sleeping more, yeah, you know what? Also the sleeping, I hit my head in my home. Oh, that's not good. Oh, you guys, sounds like we're accident prone here. Energy vibes for Drew, also for healing. All right, you guys, I need to do a session or we need to have an above life channel session for healthy energy. I said that last week when I was on, but I really think we need to do it because I think that's a piece that can, that's talk about a dip, right? And I'd really like to help support that. Maybe tomorrow if I can jump on, I can do a little healing work with all of us and see what we can do about that for everybody and to help with the current healing right now. Not focusing on any kind of drama or trauma around it necessarily, just acknowledging that it happened and then what the uplifting energy of kind of buoying us back to shore, getting us to where we need to be kind of thing. So all right, my beautiful people, thank you so much for being here on Sunday Morning Coffee at Above Life Channel. So yes, I am a psychic. Yeah, I'm also an intuitive life coach and in the work that I do here in Above Life Channel, it started off as afterlife celebrity channeling. So if you're here for that and you really want that and you really need that and you really think that that's the best part of this place, go check out the playlist. There are hundreds of videos for all your favorite celebrities from Elvis to Marilyn Monroe, to Natalie Wood, to Judy Garland, to Robin Williams, to all of these incredible people that have given us support in our own exploration of intuition and how to be a better person, how to show up more in our human life from this advice or advisement that they're giving us from the afterlife, which is quite beautiful actually. And so I'm hoping soon I can return back to channeling. We usually channel on Mondays. So if you're here, we usually channel Mondays. Haven't officially done that for a bit because of my healing status. Really, I need to keep my physical body pristine. I need to really protect my energy and not allow other things to commingle right now. It's just too messy, messy, messy, messy. So tomorrow I will show up and do, my goal is to, unless I get like a migraine or something. Sometimes I get these little weird headaches and I think it's from the medicine or from the blood pressure thing. And then I can't work. Like I can't see to do it. It kind of makes my eyes wonky. So that doesn't happen all the time but I've had them the last like four days though. So it's kind of weird and it's not painful. It's not like a normal migraine. It's just, I just can't see. Like I can talk on the phone and I can't see. So hopefully I'll be fine and I'll be here. So let's focus on doing some healing work tomorrow. Okay, everyone. All right. So thank you so much for being here. I hope it inspired your spirit and filled you with some hope and encourage you to live your life. What's your life after all and you get to live it? Okay, trust me on this one. Live it. Just live it. Thank you for being here, everybody. Thanks.


Going on everyone Sam here with late in sports cards rip in 22 23 But maybe one-on-one basketball hobby 10 box full case break number 24 cheered random team style Look again at your random results as always you can find these all on the website under the results tab as well as the link in chat So good luck Kevin s with some paper based spots in Woman draft jump up. I wouldn't mind. I'll leave us open. I'll be pretty New York Raul said I'm right outside the city queen. I think that's somewhere, but that'd be really cool Over on some points. We took the old me and forced at the over on some assists Pretty sure All right Yeah, we don't really have a point Allow the most points to point cards. Yeah, well, fortunately, we don't have one, but Sugs is our short guy on the court. Oh, it's a very true Good luck here everybody wish we had a point card tharys maxi to 99 for the sixers And crats on that one Very nice We've got a to 35 John the Kaminga nice one there for the Warriors game-warrant jersey on That does sound like a lot of fun Jeff That does sound like a lot of fun. Yeah, I don't like that or Wimbledon. Obviously Wimbledon be a bit more of a journey true Bit more buddy healed to 99 for the Pacers. There you go Brent That's buddy. Oh timeless moment.  That's so dope the smurf Adam Silver on the back. Let's go He looks terrifying in all blue.  You got in the you got in the pool They got a maiden blue Classic prank from palace and the bottoms and they're different to bottom palace hands blue Remember they started doing it. That is a shade on sharp to 99 for the blazes on the rookie And then for the Rockets that is tie tie Washington 24 of 35. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you That's on that's rocket Sioux fun. Good stuff, buddy Good stuff Sioux fun. We've got a Josh Minott 240 nice one there for the T-wolves. Hi Benedict Matherin's 49 there you go, um right Brent. Let's go, baby. That's what the spot tomorrow. Thank you, buddy Dude was lighted up last night, too Then the baller been the baller In the bucket in the bucket. That's what it is. Yeah, Ben the baller. You can't really do 16 to go on 10 bucks.  Let's go Spencer He shot like 12 threes the other night. I have no idea why but So because that again, yes that again. We got shot. Yeah, I walked in the other day and Bryson's like you see the game last time I was like no the first thing he says it's sunshine 12 threes.  That was your idea. I guess. No, it was your idea We've got Tyler hero for the heat to 99 That's when they're Miami Jalen Durin 86 and 99 team Titan signatures with the throwback love that Just have them in the throwback Jersey, too I love that throwback because that was the Chauncey bills when they always came to town. That was the pistons Sometimes you gotta push it a little bit Take those alternates He's highs you can't Shoot somebody random to have a career night That is Charles Barkley to 15 for the Suns Congrats on that like could you imagine if betting was legal when Terence Ross went for 51 you bet that one game for Terence Ross They go 50 plus That is gonna be Andrew Nemhard 22 or 49 there you go again Brent Congrats on that buddy Nice one there my friend another pacer rookie on it. That's no breaks One downtown. Oh, and I know let's see a cool downtown. We're not timeless Spencer channel five. Yeah, Clyde Drexler 299 Grats on that one there blazes the blazes Vlad the glad and Dallas Mavericks to 49 is gonna be mr. Jaden Hardy. It's one there three colored RPA Ready to a 49 Jaden Hardy to a 49 Jaden Hardy take that maps Do to go Something big man. It's my favorite picture. I think yeah, that's our product is this one This one's so dope for the Pistons Jalen Durin 73 of 99 on the rookie. Yeah, it's such a great photo Clean too. So cool man. Love shiny love that and Then for the jazz 11 to 25 Walker Kessler. Congrats on that one Utah Not too shabby at all. There you go jazz Very nice. There you go, Utah. Thank you. How about Jennifer taking five spots in TC black Star Wars? Thank You Jennifer. Appreciate you my friend Yeah, I'm still 16 to go on 10 bucks basketball 16 to go USA made it farther than Canada in the world hockey Say Happens though David Roddy to 40 for the Grizzlies Congrats on that Grizz and then for the Pistons rookie auto rookie patch auto Jaden Ivy the 35 nice Congrats on that Detroit Not too shabby at all Detroit. I free here you go, buddy. Do a quick recap here just of the autos We add that Jaden Ivy Walker Kessler, that's Jaden Hardy Andrew Nemhard Jalen Duren Ringo bear Benedict Matherin Thai Thai Washington John and coming up. That's game use Jersey as well. And then of course the Palo Timeless moment to 25. I'll do it for the break everybody. Thanks again for the film coming up next is 10 bucks


CRISPR has been making a lot of headlines in the world of genetic engineering recently, and no surprise either. I mean, the things it's done and is capable of doing is just crazy, yet most people don't know what exactly CRISPR is and how it works, so in this video we're going to be taking a look at just that. The origins of CRISPR technology are quite humble. You see, it was discovered that bacteria had a natural mechanism for protecting themselves against invasion from viruses. When invaded by a virus, bacteria capture some of the viral DNA and store them in segments of DNA called CRISPR arrays. This allows the bacteria to remember the specific virus, as well as other strands closely related to it. So that way, if it's ever invaded again, it will instantly recognize it's invaded and produce the complementary RNA sequence to the CRISPR arrays, which guide an enzyme called Cas9 to the specific parts of the invading virus's DNA, which complement the RNA where it's cleaved, thereby rendering the viral DNA useless. So how do researchers use this in a lab? Well, let's say there was a specific part of a DNA sequence scientists want to edit. What they do is create a strand of RNA that is complementary to the DNA we have and attach that RNA to a Cas9 enzyme. The Cas9 enzyme guided by the RNA sequence finds a target DNA sequence and cuts the DNA at that specific location. When the DNA is cut, researchers can proceed to add or delete strands of customized DNA using the cell's natural DNA repair mechanisms and enzymes. Outside of the lab, CRISPR has many applications as well. In agriculture, it can be used to grow plants that are bigger and more disease resistant, and in one case, CRISPR was used to make low-fat pigs for healthier bacon. Most importantly, it's making strides in the medical field where it's being used to combat genetic disorders such as sickle cell amenia and is now even being used in the fight against diseases like HIV and cancer. As promising as CRISPR is, only time will be able to tell what the fate of this technology is. But, while you don't know what will become of gene editing in the future, you do at least know what exactly CRISPR is and how it can be used. We'll go more in-depth about the ethics as well as more advanced application of the technology in later videos. And for now, I wanted to help you understand the very basics of this technology. Anyways, that's all for today. If you wish to learn more about genetic technology as well as other topics in biology and the natural sciences, then be sure to hit that subscribe button. And as always, stay tuned for more science videos.


Speedway, happy 100th anniversary. Speedway, congratulations on 100th anniversary. Happy 100th anniversary for Speedway. Speedway, congratulations on 100th anniversary. Happy 100th anniversary. Speedway, congratulations on 100th anniversary. Speedway, congratulations on 100th anniversary. Hey Speedway, congratulations on 100th anniversary. Speedway, happy 100th anniversary. Happy 100th anniversary. Speedway, congratulations on 100th anniversary. Ice Breedway, happy 100th anniversary.


Chess is art, his creativity paints a stunning canvas. If Chess is science, his original ideas and intuitive play question many a hypothesis. And if Chess is a sport, his fighting spirit and passion over the board brings in the adrenaline. He is the 2017 World Cup winner. He's a former Blitz champion, world champion. He's also won several elite events, including the Sinkfield Cup, Norway Chess, Cranker Chess, Waikanzé, Stahl Memorial to name a few. And he returns to Gibraltar as the 2018 winner. We are privileged to have with us the one and only Levon Aronian. Welcome back to Giblev. Thank you. How is it to be back here? It's great, you know, where the whole Europe people are shaking here. There is sun and there is daylight at six o'clock. It's wonderful. Great. Now the tournament's about to begin. We're going to start the Masters soon. What's the general feeling when you return to an event as the defending champion? General feeling is especially when it comes to Gibraltar tournament is you want to start on a good note because this is the first event of the year and you want to have a good tournament. And generally it's a fresh start. It's very exciting. So there is no better place to start the year, I think. That's really nice to hear. Now, Lev, there's been a shift in the chess calendar of the very elite players in the world. There was a time when this was a very decided calendar. You played amongst each other. There were these closed events that happened. But we see more and more elite players participating in open events like Gibraltar. What do you think is the reason for that? The reason is I think the elite players are tired of playing against each other. We want some excitement. Some action. Yeah, we want to face other players. We want to see what does it feel like to play some riskier openings to try to win more with black. So I guess that's why the elite players like to play in open tournaments. And we normally get accused to say, oh, they all play against each other. But that's not our design. We like to be open. And that's why I think tournaments like Gibraltar Chess, I Love Man, is something that we all look forward to. Right, now in these events when there is no set players list and you don't really know who you'll be playing against, what's the preparation like for such an event? You have to try to be fresh. Generally, just to play lots of Blitz is useful. I think that's what I'm going to do tomorrow. Generally, you have to prepare creative. You have to be more open to new ideas in the openings, I think, to be having a good tournament here. To be open to taking more risks. I guess. Right, now also give us some insight, a player like you, one of the elite players of the world, when you're deciding your calendar of the year, what are the factors that come into play to decide what tournaments you play in and what you don't play in? Well, most of the things are decided with the World Championship cycle, because you want to be part of it. That's like the most important. But if you're not a part of it, then you kind of choose to play somewhere where you really like to be, I guess, and also the tournaments that respect you. I guess that's what's the most important for chess players. How big a motivation is it for you to fight for the World Championship? Well, that's something I'm going to do till I can't play chess. Something that I live for. I mean, not really succeeding. So this sentiment is very active. It's something I want to dedicate myself to, till I succeed. So basically, that's what I do. Right. Now, just taking that thread a little forward. Lev, you've won so many tournaments, but the candidates remain that elusive event for you. With the experience that you've had, and you look back at it and you analyze, what is it that you think has not clicked so far? In some candidates, I was too prepared, and some of them wasn't prepared at all. So I think there are different factors. But you try to change things, and then to some people, it comes more natural, playing well in such event. To me, it doesn't come naturally. So I'm trying to change and fine tune the ways in order to play well in the candidate tournament. I think, as of today, I know what I need to do, but qualifying there is going to be a difficult task for this year. Right. Now, the popular belief and the popular opinion is that you and Fabiano are the toughest challengers for Magnus. What do you think is the reason that separates the two of you to the rest of your colleagues? I think the fact that I get this respect is because I won many, many tournaments, and some of them were ahead of Magnus, and some of them were I won against him. I guess that's what makes my fans positive. I personally believe that I can play well against Magnus, but it requires a lot of attention because he's one of these players that is always there. He's waiting for a mistake. He knows that the people are not going to play continuously well, because that's what his strength is. His average move is much stronger than anybody else's average move. So I guess the people think that I can be strong because I am willing to take risks and I'm willing to adapt and I'm willing to learn new things. Of course, when I count the opportunities that I've missed against Magnus, I could write a book about it. We look forward to it. But I would be a very depressive book, so I wouldn't do that. Hopefully with a happy ending. That's what I have for us all. But yeah, I think that's part of Magnus. He believes in the quality of the moves. He believes that even if you're in trouble, if you work hard, you'll be able to come on top and he benefits from it because he does play really well when he's worse. This entire rating race at the top, does this number game, what does this number game mean to you? Well, rating is representative of your current strength and it's the most objective way to measure somebody's strength. So it's an important number. And what is your opinion about the current work under the new Federation, especially in relation to this new Swiss grant tournament that's being planned for a spot at the candidates? Well, I'm very excited about the new FIDE because I think finally we have people who play chess themselves in the Federation and who understand the players more. And of course, one example is this Grand Swiss, which is a great idea in my opinion, just to give a chance to every player to qualify to the candidates tournament. The only thing that we're missing, I think, because of the FIDE contract about the wild card, I think the wild card doesn't belong to the World Championship cycle. We need to get rid of it and then we'll have a very, very good system. That's very interesting, especially coming from you who has had a wild card spot at the candidates. Yes, well, I've got a wild card, but I don't think I deserved it. I was just lucky because my country loves chess. It was between me and Kramnik at that moment. So, I mean, I cannot say I completely didn't deserve it, but generally we shouldn't have that favor in the game of chess. I'm sure your fans will strongly disagree with what you just said. Talking about your country, I love your term as a national treasure in Armenia. In fact, in 2017, when you got married, the then president, Mr. Sarguzian, I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly, he was there, he was the godfather at your wedding. Tell us a bit about that, about chess in Armenia and the chess revolution that, in a big way, you're responsible for. Yeah, there is a lot of love towards chess. I think it comes from the times of when Tigran Petrosyan became world champion. Then we had Rafael Vahanian, who was a very good player. So it kind of, it's in the system of Armenian people to love the game and to play in the parks. Yeah, I did help it by winning the World Cup, I have to say. And then we had this tremendous success with the Olympics and the national team. I can say that our president, Sarguzian, our previous president loved chess. He played many times. He has been in the Lomgin of many, many times, remember, when they played. So many people, also in current Armenia, with the different government love chess. So I hope we'll be able to keep that level, because it's something that is kind of a dream when you walk on the street and you can be respected as a chess player. I was just going to ask, do you get recognized a lot on the streets in Yervan? Yes, almost every time I'm out. One time I had to visit a friend and I decided to bring my dog along. And I took a taxi. It was kind of a Monday.  Anyway, so we're on the way the taxi driver doesn't recognize me. He asks me what you do. I say, well, I'm a chess player, but he doesn't. It doesn't connect, anyway. So then we're stuck in some sort of a traffic. At some point there was a little incident. And my dog gets nervous. So I opened the window. I put him out for him to breathe and look at the things. So we go slowly. They see the dog, the people passing cars. They see the dog. They love the dog. And then they see me and they recognize me. They start talking, asking about me. So one car, second car, third car.  They recognize the owner. So, so. That's fantastic. Yes. So you understood that my dog is very famous. Right, now you also mentioned about the big success that the Armenian team has had. The national team led by you has won Olympic medals, European Championship. The Armenian Eagles were also the protest league champions. What is, what do you think is the reason that, that the team is so successful at team events, despite often not being the favorites on paper? Generally, I think many Armenian players are underrated. So they, because as a, as a nation, we tend to get carried away at some point. We get some success and then we're like, yeah, well, the world is ours. So, and then our rating drops, but we're very good players as the team showed with Gabriel Surgisian, Vladimir Kopian, Sergei Mofsesian, Tigran Petrosyan, and the other players. We won three Olympics, the World Championships. So it shows for the strength of the players. Yeah, generally the Armenian players, and also players from Caucasus have this special style. We like to maneuver a lot. We don't like to agree to droves. We like to play long games. So there is this common something that unites players from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Right, this same spirit of fearlessness over the board. Now, Lev Karyakin once said, he related your style of play. He called you the messy of chess, talking about your style of play. Did he say he was messy or... Maybe he meant that you're really messy on the board, but we're going to go with Lionel Messi for right now.   Tiana called you the David Beckham of chess. Which of these is the most flattering or the most amusing for you? Well, being compared to probably the greatest living football player in history. Wait, David Beckham or Messi? Messi. That's very flattering.  I don't like losing at all, but I try to pretend I'm okay with it. The thing that I believe in, that when you lose, you have to respect your opponent. You have to appreciate the fact that he played a good game. But generally, since I normally come back with wins after losses, it shows my attitude towards the losses themselves. I prefer wins. Absolutely, you are known for your wonderful sportsmanship. Now, when one studies your games, Levon gets a feeling of beauty in chess. What is it about the game that brings you pure joy? There are certain things that I really enjoy the most in the game of chess. I love maneuvering a lot. I love when you can transfer your pieces in a nice way. I love domination, especially the some brand of domination, which I think was branded by Boleslawski by some of the most beautiful domination in the game of chess is when you attack a minor piece and it cannot move when you attack the minor piece and you dominate the position so much that you win it. There are many, many beautiful things, but one thing I can say that I don't stop getting amused by the amount of beauty there is in the game of chess. I see it every day and it's something that inspires me all the time. Many forms of art are something that really affects me just in a positive way or literature and same way I can say about chess. So yeah, I can say I'm very romantic, although nowadays I think for most of the people it's a sign of being vulnerable, but I don't feel vulnerable. I'm there to fight, but also to appreciate beauty. You've also been in the top 10 for a very, very long time. For a player of your level, what are the biggest challenges involved with being one of the best players in the world? I think biggest challenges when you start losing is the way to come back. That's the biggest challenge because you need to change things. I always get inspired by people like Boris Gelfand Vladimir Kramnick, and because they always try to learn new things and Vasily Ivanchuk, my most favorite player. Mine too. I think I've learned that to have more fighting spirit because the younger guys, especially Magnus, who started this, I mean, he basically copied everything that Bobby Fisher did. He didn't really start it, but he copied Bobby and Karpov's approach, is to play chess without really thinking about the objective assessment of the position. That's very important. Just to play good moves without really thinking that I'm better, I'm worse or I want something. Playing chess without wanting is very important. Have you also studied a lot from chess books? I studied a lot from chess books when I was little. I think I've read at least 200 books till I turned, I would say, 17. I've read one after another. I actually love to read. I read at least one or two books a month. And is there one particular chess book that had a huge impact on you that you would highly recommend? Oh, yeah. One of my most favorite books was, actually, it's a modern book because people always say, oh, you know, this 2-53 or, I don't know, are they against 200 games and things like this? But they're all great. All of those books are great. But the most profound thing that the book that was influencing the way I think was Rosen's Chess Seven Deadly Sins, because it talks about the subjects that I knew were there, but I couldn't express it. And I always wanted to write something with Jonathan, something like an improved version from a different perspective, but we're both very busy. So maybe one day we'll do it. That's a great recommendation that's actually been spoken about a lot by the top players. Right now, Lev, if you could take three qualities from any of your colleagues, three different colleagues, you could include yourselves in this list and sort of create this Uber chess player, this Mutant X version of a chess player. What are these three qualities and from whom would you take them? Well, I would take Fabiano's Diligence. Okay. I would take Magnus' Attention to Detail, you know, Precision, the Swag, the Spagger, my Spagger. So that is the Mutant X chess player. Yes. It would be Diligence, Precision and Swagger. That's what you need. That's great. And now finally, what is your professional and personal goal for 2019? 2019, I would like to have a similar year like I had in 2017. So a good year with many wins. And personal, well, I'm so happy, generally in life, that is difficult to ask for more. That I just want my family to be healthy and the people close to me to enjoy what they're doing. So that's what I want. And on that wonderful note, we're gonna end this interview. Thank you so much. It's been an absolute pleasure chatting with you and we wish you all the best for the Gibraltar Masters. Thank you. Thank you, love.