Daily Motivations - GREATNESS BEGINS WITH BELIEF

Episode Date: September 15, 2024

Visit joinmochi.com and use code MOTIVATIONS for $40 off your first month. "You are what you believe yourself to be." - Paulo Coelho Discover the transformative power of the words "I am" Speaker: Eddie Pinero

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Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BidMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. The words I am are a spotlight used to highlight the parts of you that you want to illuminate. Those two words are a portal through which massive transformation can occur. I am strong, says the man in the mirror, as his newly crafted identity takes him by the hand and leads him to the gym to lift weights. I am talented, competent, relentless, says the woman over coffee before walking into work and moving one step closer to that promotion she's been working for.

One of my favorite ideas. People follow through on who they believe themselves to be. Always. But this power is a tool. And tools can be used for good or they can be used for bad. They can be used to build or they can be used to tear down. It's up to the person carrying out the task the words I am

those beautiful life altering words they can also become a jail cell that surrounds the now and keeps it exactly as it is and you know what I mean I can't, sorry I am not a morning person. I am unathletic. I am slow.

I am not like those financially well-off people. They're different. I am simply not ready. Well, used that way, right, those words, they're a sealed fate. Because we only act in ways congruent with how we see ourselves. Again, who we believe ourselves to be. See, a lot of these things come to me, at least initially, in ways I like to describe as woo-woo, right? I'm a pretty practical person.

So when someone says something like, you know, Eddie, law of attraction, you know, put pictures all over your bedroom and, you know, it'll come true. What you see, what you look at will materialize. That's scoff, right? Looking at boats, unfortunately, doesn't drop you onto the deck of one. But then when I let my little ego chill out a bit and I thought through the idea practically, it's like, well, maybe there's something to this. Maybe looking at those things

simply reminds you that they're possible. That boat, that mansion, the love of your life, that dream body, whatever it is, it's not some far-fetched narrative written for someone else. No, that's obtainable. That's for you. Maybe I can have that too. And then maybe those results change the standard. They change the expectations I set for myself. And then, and this is the needle mover, because of that, I start acting in a way congruent with those standards. I bring it to life.

Boots on the ground, doing the work, creating the change. It wasn't magic. It was just a shift in narrative. I think we all understand at a deep level, people tend not to acquire things they don't believe are possible to acquire. That's why so much lack in our lives can be remedied by a mindset change. You don't step out your front door if you don't believe there's anything worthwhile out there. Which brings me back to those precious words I am and they're precious because they are a permission slip from you to you to be that person you most

want to be to create the change you most need to see. Being in and around, you know, the personal development space for so long, I've kind of seen a tug of war with the idea of fake it until you make it, right? A lot of people have different takes, different philosophies on it. Some people say, you know, do it, act like it. Why not?

Other people say, don't lie to yourself, go earn that confidence. To which I say, they're both the same thing. The idea is not to deceive yourself. I'm going to paraphrase Tony Robbins again here. The idea is not to close your eyes and say, there's no weeds in my garden. There's no weeds in my garden. Open them and hope that the weeds are gone. It's about giving yourself a target to hit. It's about wearing the shoes so that every step you take in them becomes a little more real to you. Let's face it, right?

You live with a healthier lifestyle if you say, I'm a healthy person than if you were to walk around saying, I'm an unhealthy slob, but I'm trying. You will act out who you believe yourself to be. It is that simple. So we rig the game in our favor. Be very methodical

with the words you place after I am. They are precious. They are the gatekeepers. I am what? Yeah, but Eddie, I'm not in shape and I want to be. You know, it doesn't make any sense to walk around saying I am in shape. Okay. How about I am healthy?

I am working every day to get stronger. I am the type of person who finds a way. I am driven. I am focused. If you believe yourself to be those things, you've built a foundation more than strong enough to support the goal, to support you getting in shape. That's what this is about. Creating a foundation for you to evolve. The relationship you have with yourself, it sets the precedent for everything in your life.

So cherish it. Respect it. See the power contained in the words you utter about yourself. I am on the journey of a lifetime. I am happy. I'm lifetime. I am happy. I'm healthy. I'm talented. I'm kind.

I am grateful. How about you? This episode is brought to you by Mochi Health, your go-to telehealth platform Thank you. you to create a customized plan that fits your lifestyle. With science-backed medications like GLP-1s, including Ozempic, and personalized nutrition guidance, you'll make real, sustainable changes toward your health goals. Best of all, Mochi services are affordable and accessible across the U.S., regardless of insurance. Mochi Health's mission is to make their patients feel heard Thank you. for $40 off your first month. Links are in the show notes below. When our backs are against the wall, we're forced to become more.

When the clock is ticking, we are tasked with finding answers that hide among us. It's in the darkness we find light, and while lost, we find ourselves. The paradox of life is that from our pain comes our purpose, our evolution, and our greatness. I love thinking back to about 2014, making my way around Boston, having just quit my job, essentially purposeless, clinging to a YouTube channel and a podcast idea that I would name Your World Within.

And why? Why do I think back? Why does this mean everything to me? Well, because at the time, I knew nothing. I understood nothing. Nothing about speaking or media, audio, video, nothing about running a business. But more importantly, I knew very little about life and what's truly required to progress in a world with

infinite moving parts. I didn't know that my lack of understanding is what made everything feel overwhelming and complex and that it was up to me to simplify. I didn't know the extent to which I'd have to befriend failure. And that was the most eye-opening realization. Because when you gravitate towards a risk-free existence and you box yourself in as I had for so long, of course you don't get the upside, but you also don't fail as dramatically either.

Life was a simple game of cause and effect. Do work, get results, not much room for more than that. And so stepping outside that box in the way that I did changed some rules. I learned some things. First, you can spend time on something. You can exhaust energy on something and get nothing in the short term for your efforts. And I mean nothing. Unless you count getting your pride stomped on. Unless you count your friends disappearing when you need them most. Unless you count self-doubt and a constant worry about not amounting to anything. I mean, these are very raw, very real human emotions. They tend to arise when we start something new,

but in them is also the power. This is where the light bulb turns on and the path emerges. It's where I learn that we only get what we want when we endure what we don't. And what a

foreign concept when you think about it, right? It's like, Eddie, take this mic. Go stand in front of this audience and pour your heart out. Your knees are shaking, chest is pounding, but dude, trust me, it'll be good for you. And funny enough, it was. It was because the fear in my stomach became the indicator that something new, something exciting, something more was around the corner. Like Pavlov's dog hearing that bell, anytime the fear kicked in, I could feel myself getting closer to something meaningful, to a higher version of myself.

The pain is an invite. The sheer terror, and let's face it, that's what it feels like sometimes, it's an upgrade. Disguised as the monster that you think you should be running from, when it is, as I recently mentioned, the adversary you should befriend. We have to change our relationship with discomfort because our initial understanding, the one that comes stock in our minds, is never sufficient to build anything of significance. Its default setting is to preserve the now, not expand it. And so just like those stock speakers that came in my 1999 Ford F-150 when I was in my early 20s,

let's rip it out. Let's customize. Let's upgrade the quality of the sound we hear and the things we say to ourselves. What an advantage it is to know that the hard things are what make us level up, to find that awareness. What a blessing that when life's difficulty startles and scatters the masses,

you could be the one that remains, standing tall, seeking out the advantage amidst the commotion. Every little act of courage becomes more and more meaningful, powerful But we must lose ourselves to find ourselves We must embrace our fears if we are to become courageous We must fail in order to succeed And sure, sometimes the price seems steep

But I promise promise not going costs more wishing costs more if only cost more so maybe for you it isn't a YouTube channel or a speaking career. Maybe it's something totally different, but it is something. And should you bring yourself to pursue that which your heart pulls you to pursue, you'll have those moments of defeat where you're mad at yourself for leaving the comfort and safety of your previous world. You'll have times where you have no idea what to do, where you feel alone or stuck or unsure. The difference will be whether you see this

as the invite you've been waiting for or the reason to turn around and settle for less. That's the question. How do you internalize all that emotion that will feel like it is consuming you I couldn't believe how strong that temptation was to go back nagging at me every day just come off the edge just be comfortable again but as my old coach would say in college, when we're doing wall sits or something physically taxing, 15 seconds. You can do anything for 15 seconds. And isn't life just a culmination of 15 second windows?

It's compartmentalizing the process. It's turning the difficult into the advantageous. You have the ability to not think like everyone else. You have it within you to rewire your previous conceptions of the world, to see darkness not as your reason to hide from conjured up monsters, but as your invitation to become the light. Remember that the best way to be more is to have the courage to put your back against the wall. And you won't want to in the moment. There will never be a perfect time.

But committing to that vulnerability will release from within you the power, the strength, the greatness that has been for so long tucked away. By moving into the chaos, you are simultaneously creating the calm you always dreamed of. You're realizing the possibility that just needed the door left ajar to make its way into your world. There's a delicate balance that occurs when moving toward a goal. We need to be thinking about the possibilities, the future, what can be. Goals are impactful because you're creating something meaningful in a place where it doesn't yet exist. But that's also what makes the journey so difficult. Because it means there's going to be a substantial stretch of time where you wake up and haven't yet accomplished your primary objective. That's a lot of mornings, working toward a dream, holding on to hope and trust,

believing you'll get to the top, knowing that you will conquer whatever is in the future. And while tomorrow may contain the treasure we so desperately seek, let us not forget about the many steps that occurred before today. About the persistence, the courage, the self-belief. You would not be standing where you are right now without the platform that you've built over time. And that's an accomplishment that should never be overlooked. When eyes are only focused on what you've yet to acquire, on what you haven't created, you're minimizing your own momentum. Look, mindset is the beginning and the end of every endeavor. If you feel like a winner, you will win somehow, someway. So just as important as building and working toward the next milestone is recognizing

and feeling good about the milestones of yesterday. These small victories have become ingrained into who you are. They have built you up and will continue to push you to greater things. They are your proof, your reassurance that you'll find a way. That is your identity. Accomplishments are a balance, a balance of forward progress where you need to go and of earned confidence comprised of the many steps that got you to where you are now. So don't forget every once in a while to look back.

The world reflects back at us what we currently are, like a giant mirror projecting the movie that's playing in our heads. We lay on the horn in traffic, not when we're at peace with ourselves, but when we're in duress. We gravitate towards the negative, not when we're living in abundance, but when we're in duress. We gravitate towards the negative, not when we're living in abundance, but when we're living in scarcity. We quit, retreat, contract,

not when we're confident in the road ahead, but when we're doubtful, alarmed. In other words, we find out in the world what already lives within us. Life, in many ways, is not absolute. It's evidence. It's evidence that we'll use to justify the things we already believe. Wayne Dyer used to use the metaphor of an orange.

It can be squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, but there will never be grapefruit juice pouring out of an orange. It can be squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, but there will never be grapefruit juice pouring out of an orange. No, grapefruit juice doesn't live there. You can only find on the outside what lives in the inside. You can only extract from the orange, orange juice. Recently, a good friend of mine said to me that they'd like to change their financial situation, to which my response was, perfect, you most certainly can, right? Like anything, yeah, it'll take work and some planning and some restructuring, all that good stuff, but you most definitely can.

And his response was, sure, that's what all you motivational people say. Okay, smart guy, now you're an example on a podcast episode. Congrats. Why? Because you want the people around you to realize how much is possible for themselves, right? It's not sorcery or witchcraft to believe something better is possible. In fact, if one doesn't believe it's possible, they're effectively cementing their feet to the ground, at least with regard to that particular pursuit. Let's face it, you don't begin journeys that are not possible. We don't allow ourselves to do that. And so, to not believe in an outcome and somehow still wish for that outcome, well, that's essentially our orange metaphor, right?

Can't squeeze financial freedom out of a mindset that only sees monetary constraint. Believing it's possible starts the journey. See, there's so much pragmatism in growth. You know, people talk a lot about the law of attraction, and yeah, I get it, right? It sets targets. But the picture of, let's say, a dream house on your wall is not why you'll eventually have the dream house. The picture of the dream house on the wall reminds you. It helps you believe that you're someone capable of someday acquiring that house, obtaining that type of success, which results in you, wait for it, doing things that help bring that to life. It is the doing, but that doing must be connected to belief. Mid-twenties.

I was unhappy, wanted more, but didn't really believe myself capable of obtaining more. That was the issue. Back to the old orange expecting grapefruit juice. Can't get results in an area not conducive to their creation, right? It wasn't until I said, you know what, maybe, not definitely, but maybe it could happen. Maybe I can take control here. The odds have to be greater than 0%, right? It's Jim Carrey and Dumb and Dumber, so you're saying there's a chance.

Yeah, it's like starting out, that's all you need, a chance. The door cracked. In the beginning, I just needed to convince myself something different was possible. The beginning of transformation and that internal change prompted how I interacted with the external world. You do things differently when you believe differently. Or, if you want to phrase it another way, believing that you can bring something to life doesn't guarantee that you actually do. But believing you can't guarantees that you won't.

And why not stack the odds in your favor? I often juggle back and forth between the philosophical and the tangible or the tactical, right? Three ways to do X. Life hack to change Y. Yeah, of course. Life does in so many ways come down to the tactics, to the how, to the steps. But does that even matter if you don't believe in the pursuit? Does it matter what Google Maps says if you never step out your front door? You have to convince you. You have to create an environment in your world where change isn't crazy, more isn't absurd. It might be challenging, but it's possible.

And possible is enough. It is enough to begin, enough to step out, enough to see the trivialities as tools and the resistance as part of a beautiful game. Remember that the world is a mirror, reflecting back at us our worldview. We find what we look for, so give yourself permission to look for things that make life beautiful. Give yourself the gift of believing change is possible. There will be no surrender. No, not in this lifetime. There will be knowledge picked up along the way. I have no doubt.

There will be knowledge picked up along the way. I have no doubt. There will be adaptation. There will be adjustments made, but there will be no surrender. And look, should life require change, I will evolve. Should it demand growth, I will rise to the occasion. Should suffering be entangled in my pursuit, I will weather that storm. But these things, they will not be the end of me. No, they are little beginnings. The consistent rebirth attached to one who refuses to back down. Because look, I may not be the most talented.

I may not be the best suited or best equipped to break through. I may not be the most knowledgeable, but I will always have enough. Enough in the face of danger, standing in the shadow of adversity to take one step forward. To transform the chaos into triumph. One courageous yes at a time. There will be no surrender here. Not now,

not today, not in this lifetime. I will find a way through. When night is dark, when the road is long, when the path so lonely that the world speaks not a sound, I will find a way. And sure, there may be frustration, maybe even fear, but there will, because of an undying self-belief, be no surrender.