Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - 1 Hour of Inspirational Stories To Fall Asleep To (Calming and Powerful)

Episode Date: January 2, 2026

Enjoy one hour of beautifully crafted, calming, inspirational stories to close your eyes and listen to as you collect yourself in the morning or drift off to sleep More from Eddie Pinero:Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletterYour World Within Podcast: https://yourworldwithin.libsyn.com/Stream these tracks on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - @your_world_within and @IamEddiePineroTikTok - your_world_withinFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/YourworldwithinTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/IamEddiePineroBusiness Inquiries - http://www.yourworldwithin.com/contact#liveinspired #yourworldwithin #motivation

A little girl walked up to the edge of a river, took a piece of paper out of her pocket, folded it into a little boat, and pushed it out into the open water. The little boat made its way with the current, kind of unsure where it would take him or what it would ultimately mean, and for days he felt helpless, lost. Until one day a storm pushed him to the edge of the riverbank. A man picked up a little boat. and began examining it. Is this my home?

Asked the little boat. Well, wouldn't you be the only one who knows the answer to that? The man asked. I suppose so, said the boat. It doesn't feel like home. So the man nodded, started to put the boat back in the water. Before the little boat cried out,

wait, I don't want to go back in the water. I'm scared, I'm lost, I'm alone. The man, with the reassuring smile, pushed the boat back out. into the water and said, look, I've felt how you feel. And I've been where you are. I know what it's like to not know where home is, but the only way to find it is to carry on. That water is your path and little boat you're not alone. So the little boat kind of gathers himself, starts making his way down the river. A few more hours go by. Suddenly you runs into some plants

that are popping out over the surface of the water. He realizes pretty quickly he's stuck. He can't move. The panic starts to set in. He's freaking out. He's thinking, now I'm never going to find home. All these terrible thoughts start going through his mind. He's screaming for help.

But then he sees a mom with her son over on the shore. The child points to the little boat. Says, Mom, look, another one's stuck. We need to help it. The mom says, no, this one will break free too, just like the last one did. it some time. The little boat hears them and starts thinking, wait, someone else got out of this situation. The thought never really crossed his mind, that it was possible. So he takes a breath,

starts rocking from side to side, building momentum. A few seconds later, the plant's grip starts to lessen. He nudges his way to the front of the brush, and sure enough, slips back into the flow of the stream. The little boy points. His mom, look, the little boat got out. He nudges his way. He nudges his way. She says he sure did baby He just had to realize that he could So the boat again collects himself keeps making his way down the river proud now Right feeling accomplished growing into a paper boat of his own making When sure enough that wind shifted direction

Suddenly he's not able to go where he wants to go starts drifting towards the muddy riverbank How could this be happening again? He thinks to himself, but see, that little boat started to learn a thing or two about life, that it wasn't all smooth sailing, that it would present its obstacles, but that contained within that little paper sea vessel, it was far more power than he knew. So he unfastened the excess paper on the back and the sides of the boat and created a little sail, and at first nothing happened. He waited, knowing that this was it, this was make or break for him, he adjusted one more time. He could see the shore, feet from where he was.

And then suddenly he felt himself turned. The boat started making its way back downstream. Against all odds, he had managed to get back on track. And he was so excited about this that he didn't even notice the water had cleared out and led him to this giant opening. It took him a second to adjust, but when he did, he saw boats of all shapes and sizes from paper to the largest boats he'd ever seen. So he went up to the first one he saw, a little red and white canoe drifting around. He said, I can't even believe this. You have no idea what I went through to get here.

I almost landed in the wrong place. Then I got stuck in some brush. I thought it was over for me. Then to top it all off, I started drifting towards the muddy, really. riverbank and I barely adjusted course. I'm talking seconds. The red and white canoe smiles and says, well, so did I. And that's just it. That's the magic of this place. You can't even get here until you learn that the wrong stops are inevitable, but that they don't define you, that you have the strength to keep searching. Until you learn that you have the ability to get yourself unstuck. That life setbacks aren't forever, that you can.

find a way. And so you learn that some things you can't control, but how powerful are the ones you can. As the saying goes, you can't change the wind, but little boat, you can always adjust your sails. These are the things we all had to learn. Little boat looks at him and says, but how was I supposed to know that? That I wasn't the only one. Well, that's the thing. You don't really find out until you arrive. I guess it's just one of those funny aspects of life. Well, I'm going to tell the world, said the little boat, that no one is alone. That we all get off at the wrong stops.

That we all get stuck. That we all have to adjust course. But the trick is to keep sailing downriver, no matter what, keep sailing downriver. I'm going to tell everyone that they are not alone. That's a brilliant idea, said the red and white canoe. Now, come on, I'll show you around. You're going to really like this place. What's up, guys, Eddie here.

And before we jump into the next chapter, just a quick note. So, as many of you know, every single video that I've ever put on this channel has been created with the intent of building momentum in your life. If you want something physical to anchor that momentum, we've created the brand AGNS, or always grateful never satisfied for that exact reason athletic apparel that embodies the very ideas and concepts i talk about every day because you're watching on youtube or spotify we've created a code for this exclusive community yww 20 you can use that on the website agnsd lifestyle we're right under this video on youtube all the stuff is there in the shop again code yww 20 gets you 20% off the entire store it's a great way to support the

channel and also elevate your journey. Let it be a reminder to keep showing up. Appreciate your time. Always grateful. Never satisfied. On to the next. One of the most important things to understand. A cause for so much of our pain and discomfort comes down to this simple notion. Growth is very rarely about getting that magical thing you need and instead is about eliminating the things that you don't. It's about less. If you imagine yourself as a backpacker, hiking, climbing mountains,

it's instead of filling it with rocks that don't support where you're going, don't help you with the ascent, emptying that bag, removing it, and taking with you only the essentials. There's a story about a woman who loved her garden, more than anything. And she'd rise with the sun, she'd kneel in the soil, care for the plants.

Like they were family, right? It was like that important to her. Watering, trimming, whispering encouragement, like the earth itself was listening. And over time, her garden became her masterpiece. But as the seasons passed, became something else too. something heavier. The vines grew wild. The weeds wrapped around the roots.

Some plants that once bloomed now stood still and lifeless, confined. But she didn't remove them. She couldn't. Because she felt like they were a part of her. They reminded her of what she used to be. She held on out of habit, out of comfort, out of memory, out of fear of what removing them might mean.

And, you know, we all have this story that we tell ourselves. Sometimes closely aligned with reality, sometimes very far from it. But in this case, she would tell herself, it was loyalty. She would leave the excess and the mess and the chaos because of loyalty. In reality, it was fear in disguise. Nothing more, nothing less. And one afternoon her neighbor looked over the fence, said gently, Hey, you have a beautiful space.

I see how hard you work on it. I see how much you love it. And, you know, please excuse me for saying this, but it seems like it's gotten a little crowded, a little out of hand. Nothing new can grow in that soil that's already spoken for. And the woman got mad at first hearing that kind of, you know, it hit purse. personally, but after a few seconds she calmed down and something seemed to click.

Thank you, she responded. I'll keep that in mind. That night, as she walked through her garden, she did so with new eyes. Like, she finally saw what had taken over, the overgrowth and the clutter, the lifeless things still clinging to space that once belonged to beauty. And so she began the painful, sacred process of letting go. Not in anger. Not in resentment, but in reverence. She finally arrived at that place because it served her.

And now it was time to create room for something new. The same way that, you know, we all go into our closet to get dressed in the morning. Right, you open it, sometimes you immediately feel overwhelmed. Clothes stacked from 10 years ago. Jeans that don't fit anymore. Jackets you haven't worn but paid too much for so you keep them around. And every time you try and find something to wear, you mutter, I have nothing to wear. Right?

We've all been there. But the truth is, it's not that you have nothing. It's that you have too much of it no longer fits. It's the same idea as the garden. And eventually, you know, there comes this moment, a breaking point where you say, I'm cleaning this out. Right? This is out of hand. You take everything off the hangers. You sort of piece by piece go through it all and ask, does this represent who I am now?

Does this fit now? Do I still want to carry this version of myself into the future? Not literally, but that's the idea. That's what we're asking. And what happens? You make space. Your closet breathes again, and you walk away lighter. Not because you lost anything, but because you released what no longer belongs.

And whether it's a garden or a closet, the principle is the same. Letting go is an act of self-respect. And yet, it's oddly something we resist. We think growth is about acquiring. Of course we do. More friends, more commitments, more achievements, more achievable. But true growth is often about subtraction. Removing noise and clutter,

letting go of identities and habits and stories that once served us, but now hold us back. Now they are the weeds in the garden. Now they are the old unused jackets taking up space in the closet. The question is not is it good or bad. The question is, is it aligned with who I'm becoming? who I'm becoming. And they're very different things.

There's a certain courage in letting go. I can, you know, speak from personal experience. I've come toe to toe with that demon over and over and over again. It's not easy. There's a quiet strength in choosing space in trusting that what you clear out will one day be filled with something better. You have to put trust into the universe and yourself to navigate it. That space, that silence, that empty soul,

or open hangar. It's not a loss, it's an invitation. So here's my ask. What are you holding on to that no longer fits? What emotional weeds are choking out the light in your life? What memories are you watering long after the lesson's been learned? Because maybe, just maybe it's time to weed that garden. To open the closet doors of your mind and say this no longer serves me and not just say it, but act on it. Letting go doesn't mean the past didn't matter. The past was everything. It was your lessons.

It was your path. But there's a saying what got you here won't get you there. Choosing less means you're no longer choosing to live in yesterday. You're not betraying who you were. You're making peace with who you've been so that you can become who you're meant to be. When that woman cleared her garden, when you clean out your closet, what you're doing is reclaiming space for clarity and creativity for purpose. And in that space, I promise you something beautiful blossoms. So here's to clearing the weeds.

Here's to letting go of it no longer fits. To, yes, honoring that past, but building a future that breathes. Because this is not about gardens or gardens. closets, it's about you, and the life that's waiting for you to make space for it. This symphony of struggle sounds negative, doesn't it? I mean, even a little struggle seems unfortunate, let alone an entire symphony, that is, until you pull back the curtain. Because what we're deconstructing is a beautiful,

orchestral musical composition, where the entirety of the result is more than the sum of its parts. Each note is emergent. Each piece dissipates into something greater, like drops of rain falling into the ocean. It comes down to this. The pain, the difficult moments, they are not an obstacle in the way of the thing. No, they comprise the thing. Hard to see. Hard to understand.

The same way, you know, someone picks up a guitar and plucks one note, it's incredibly anticlimactic. There's nothing special. There's no way you're seeing value in a random G-sharp. But wait. Connect that to its accompanying notes. allow it to play its part in an overall theme, and we have beauty. It transforms into a power so magnificent can bring any man.

I grew up in a military household. Father's side of the family was Army, Mother's side was Navy. And I remember when I was young, you know, bouncing in and around Mass Maritimes campus, I'd hear that famous JFK quote reference from time to time. where he said all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean and therefore we have salt in our blood in our sweat in our tears we are tied to the ocean

and when we go back to the sea whether it is to sail or to watch it we're going back from whence we came and while that ratio is not exactly spot on, you know, the sentiment is received. It's a beautiful message. And this idea, you know, it sparks something within me. The thought that we are comprised of the world around us, dust from stars miraculously

brought to life, a peace in an incomprehensible wheel of life, a part of a whole. And I believe you can take this same concept and apply it to our individual. struggle, our adversity, our pain by itself, that pain is at best insignificant and at worst, detrimental. That's how we feel, but put it all together.

It is what makes us. Our courage in moments of fear is the DNA comprising that thing we call reality. Life can be broken down and traced right back to those moments we stood at the edge of comfortability

with shaky hands, wondering what the world had in store for us. Our battles, they become the precursor to our strength, our understanding, the lessons become our armor. We are the sea, just like we are the ocean of crossroads that we've had to navigate. A symphony of moments where we moved headfirst into chaos. And so what does all this mean? Well, when you feel the pain of life, and I think it's fair, we leave it that broad, that general,

as life's beauty does not exist without pain, you must remember that value is unrecognizable until it compounds over time. The hurt now, the very reason you want to stop now, the reason you question everything now will be the reason you win later. You're not battling and discarding these demons.

You're navigating. and letting the lessons ring into the symphony of your life. You are taking it with you, not some of it, all of it. In fact, when you are on the mountaintop, it will not be because of an absence of pain, but because of what you turned that pain into, because of what you let the suffering become, because you didn't castigate it as misfortune,

but instead understood you and the suffering are one in the same. Hindsight's 2020. The best you can do now is understand that. To know that there are things you don't know, that you can't know, that are impossible to know, but that your heart, your soul, your courage will ultimately make sense of it all. Just keep moving. I know it hurts. I know what being lost and stuck and alone and confused feels like.

Just keep moving because you are composing writing. narrating. The greatest story ever told one seemingly unfortunate moment of struggle. There's a moment always. In every workout, every pursuit,

every journey worth taking, where the weight feels just a little too heavy. The fire burns just a little, little too hot. The voice in your head whispers, hey, you don't have to do this. But that voice doesn't understand what a gift this is. You see, we live in a world that glorifies ease, that sells comfort like it's the destination. But the truth is, growth lives in the fire. Peace is found through the chaos.

And meaning, well, meaning is sculpted in the trenches of effort. I've talked quite a bit lately about a new chapter in my world, my fitness journey, and it's been invigorating to say the least. Minds changing, body's changing, it's exciting.

But like all things of value, it's also difficult at times, sometimes incredibly difficult. My trainer, Eric, who have also tipped my cap to quite a bit recently has played a large role in how I look at those moments. In fact, there was a very specific moment not too long ago that was a turning point for me, finding myself at that edge, about 15 minutes into a 20 minute ab session. My legs are shaking, core is screaming from doing a hold, right, where you're kind of on your tailbone leaning back, your feet are lifted off the ground

in your hands are in the air. My body's fighting, my mind's racing, my breath is short, and I close my eyes, thinking that, you know, look, I'm going to have to drop my feet for a second. I'm going to have to rest here.

And I start hearing Eric, he's doing the workout next to me, break into prayer as he's doing the same full body hold. Starts quiet, and I start making sense of what's going on around me. He says,

Thank you God for the opportunity to do this with my brother Eddie to get stronger. The opportunity to grow and step into the person I know I can become. Thank you. Thank you for this moment. Thank you for the opportunity to suffer because I get to. I get to feel this burn. I get to test my limits. I get to push when so many don't have the chance.

You kind of shocked me in the moment. Immediately twisted the victim narrative going on in my brain and reminded me that, hey, it's a privilege to suffer like this. It's an honor. And I should never take for granted all that I'd been given. What a powerful moment. Again, there are people who would give anything to walk, to run, to lift, to climb. And here I am, drenched in sweat, heart pounding, body trembling, alive.

This is not punishment, this is privilege. See, somewhere along the way, I think we confuse discomfort with danger, difficulty with doom. But suffering, the right kind of suffering, the voluntary kind, it's sacred. It's the arena where identity is forged. It's where weakness becomes wisdom, where potential becomes power. No, it's not about being a masochist. It's about reverence. Reverence for the gifts of giving everything you have to something that matters, that means something to you.

It's paying respects to your evolved self. You suffer in training not because you hate yourself, but because you love who you're becoming. And by the way, that doesn't end. in the gym. In fact, it starts in the gym and carries out into the world. Every meaningful thing you'll ever build will demand a piece of you. The business that scares you, you'll suffer for that. The relationship that matters, my friend, you'll suffer for that too. The dreams that keep you up at night, you guessed it. You'll suffer for those. But the secret is you want to.

Because a life without sacrifice is a life without depth. A life without challenge is a story without climax and a life without suffering. Well that's a life where you never learn to rise. So suffer. Choose to suffer. Get to suffer. When your muscles ache, thank God. When your mind resists smile.

And you're afraid step anyway. Step harder. Step ferociously. Because that's the price of becoming. That's the toll for greatness. That's the currency of transformation. And I promise you at the end of the journey, you will not remember the pain itself. But you will remember what it meant.

You'll remember the moment you chose not to quit. That fork in the road where you picked your head. head up and kept going. You'll remember the moment you whispered and earned your place in that fire. We don't have to do hard things. We get to. And what an honor. What a gift.

What a life. You are thinking yourself out of greatness. Period. There is a next level to your life and your reality that you have. seen, touched, even come into contact with because you're coming up with a thousand different reasons why it's not time. You're not prepared. You're not good enough. And I want to share with you. I mean, obviously, you know, the creative route, the entrepreneurial route, I've been doing this for about 10 or 11 years. And arguably the single most important lesson I've learned is that you're

never going to feel ready and you're never going to be fully prepared. Going is a prerequisite to feeling comfortable. You know, there's a lot of talking about earning your confidence. Well, what does that mean? How do you earn confidence? It's not bestowed upon you and then you leave. You go out, a rookie. You step out your front door, a student, having no idea, understanding that you'll make mistakes, but trusting yourself to pick pieces up along the way. Right. And so this is a very simple kind of anecdote, but I think everyone will understand it. If you look at just the content creation, my output, right? So writing these speeches, podcast episodes, you know, year one and two, I would write something. I would send it to 50 people. I'd get feedback.

I'd change it 20 times. I'd adjust volume levels. I'd change words around. I mean, you get the idea. I'd finally release it. And if I showed you where I started, from where I you know finally hit the upload button very minimal difference right it's fear it's resistance this isn't perfect this isn't everything where our development and our evolution comes from I believe in this I made it it's going out or I want to do this so I'm going to give it a try and it's not going to be perfect then you take a step back You look at the results, you analyze, and you go again. Life is a repetition game.

It's an adjustment game. It's not a perfection game. And I would argue that one of the great tragedies in life, and some of the most talented people I know, truly brilliant minds with brilliant ideas and potential that goes on forever, they're not tapping into that. And they're watching life go by, telling themselves the same story over and over and over again about how someday the stars will align, and they don't.

They don't align because it's up to you to make them align. There's a very simple idea, the thinker and the doer, right? And so I don't know if you guys have seen this, it's almost like a little meme where you have the two statues, right? And one's a thinker, one's a doer. and for the doer, the guy or whatever, the marble guy is no longer attached to the top of the statue. You look and you see footprints and he's left the statue and he's on his way, right? And then you look at the thinker and he's still sitting there in like the thinking position.

And that stuck with me because that simplicity beautifully articulates this dilemma. Our biggest, I'll call them adversaries, usually are not complexities. They're very simple things that we're getting wrong. You can think and strategize and plan all you want, but hey, life has a say. And life will always have a say. And so you make this plan, you step out into the real world, you're going to spend 90% of the time adjusting that plan anyway. You know, re-navigating variables. the person that just blindly goes and understands, hey, this is a journey, it's not going to be great,

I'm going to adjust. I'm going to make moves. I'm going to adjust. I'm going to make moves. I'm going to adjust. That is the million dollar idea. And so my question that I want to pose to you is, what are those things in life that mean something to you that you'd love to do? Maybe you've even told your friends and family, I'm going to do this, right? You fantasize about it at night. you think about what that life would look like, but you haven't gone. Because it still feels a little premature. And you feel like an amateur. You got that imposter syndrome thing going.

It's like, I don't want to be a clown. I don't want to be the only one here that doesn't know what they're doing. That's the game. And so I'm not asking you to have all the answers or perform any miracles. I'm asking you to just start. To just do one little thing that will make you. A, realize, oh, wow, I sucked at this and it didn't kill me. And also, now I'm a little bit further.

I'm a little bit further along because of my courage. You know, I'm immersed in a fitness journey right now to levels that I've never done before, right? And I've been a D1 athlete. This is taking more out of me and my discipline and my body and my habits and all these things that I've ever, you know, I've never gone down to. road like this and you bet there are times where I feel like a clown at the gym, right, where I know my technique is slightly off. I mean, thankfully, I have a great coach who's sort of helping me through these things, but that's the nature of the beast, right? I mean, there was a point that I'll

never forget this because this is just, there's no scenario where this is cool, right? I had a full body shutdown at the end of one of these interval trainings. And, you know, after doing some sled pushes, is that the idea is 20 pushups. And my body was just, no more. I can't, right? And even on my knees, I couldn't. I couldn't get myself up. And he is in the center of the gym,

hands on my torso, up, down, up, down. Brother, we're getting 20, up, down. And I'm like, this is, if I had pride, it's gone. Right? It's just, but I left that workout, that session. stronger. And, you know, the next week, the next two weeks, I'm a little tougher at the end of these workouts

and a little tougher and a little tougher. And I just think, like, imagine, imagine if I said, hey, you know, Eric, Brandon, I can't do this workout. I'm not quite there physically yet. I'll get there, you know, in a month, I'll be ready. think about how counterproductive that would be. It's like, no, you throw yourself into the stream, man. Go and suck and embarrass yourself and realize, you know what,

this is for me and my goals. Nothing else matters. Nothing else matters. If we had that attitude as we went about our day-to-day lives, the courage we would summons in ourselves, would be completely transformative. You know, you want to start that company, you want to start that YouTube channel,

you want to ask the girl out, you want to put on 10 pounds of muscle, you're never going to feel comfortable, ever. It's not going to happen, it's not a thing. Go. Confidence is earned in repetition. You know, when, this is kind of a funny throwback, but when I was in my early 20s straight out of college,

I was in Boston with some of my friends and we would play this game where like, you know, we're all single and we wanted to meet some ladies and talk and just get to know people. But it's intimidating, right? It's intimidating walking up to a stranger and saying, hey, I'm Eddie. How are you? Especially when, you know, those Bostonians, they can be cold, right? They can tell you, get out of here, buddy. And so like, it was a lot. And so one of the things that we do is like, The game doesn't start until we each get five rejections. And so what does that do? Well, it totally flips the game on its face. You're not scared of rejections.

You're like, this is part of the process. And by the time you get those, you realize like, oh, it doesn't, nothing happens. It doesn't matter. You go, hey, I'm Eddie. How are you? And they go, hi, and, you know, give you the cold shoulder, whatever it is. Okay. You know, on to the next.

And that was a thing we did. And it was like, it was. freeing because the thing you fear is the thing you need, right? And that's a silly little anecdote or example, but literally you can take that and you can put it into everything you do in your life. You know, your business will not take off until every day you get rejected on five sales calls. You missed five, you know, you don't close five calls or you go door to door and you get 10 doors shut in your face. I remember reading that in, uh, um, I think it's the, compound effect, Darren Hardy.

Like he used that same philosophy. What we fear is what we need, but you have to go. So I'm going to sum all this up because I don't know you, but you know you. And you know there are things in life that if you had a little more courage, you'd be doing right now. And you're painting this picture about how next Wednesday is going to be amazing and you'll start then. The pieces are going to align.

and all I want to do is remind you that will never happen. Some people win and some people don't because some people go before they're ready and some people sit in wait. Live inspired. I was at my lowest running through the desert when my friend and trainer noticed the look on my face. My pace slowed a little bit.

And he said, Eddie, you said you want to change. Well, this is where change happens, rise to the occasion. And that may not seem like much. But that moment embedded something very important into my brain. It connected those moments of suffering to the outcome I so desperately want. Because as we all know, when you're in it, it's easy to see the occurrence in a vacuum. To disassociate the pain with the result, right? sometimes you even forget why you're doing it.

Why put yourself through something when, I don't know, the rest of the world is at home watching the game or having a beer? And what he did, making that statement, was put what's important front and center. It's like, oh, Eddie, you can have all those things. All of them. But this is the cost, your call. Now that suffering takes on somewhat of a different shape. But it hurts.

Well, of course, it's. It does. That's why very few people have the thing you want. That's why it's rare. It's why it means something. Some things are so simple that we have to step up a level beyond the excuses and the minutia and the detail to understand. Desired result, price tag for that result. Simple. This came to mind as I was thinking about this. Have you ever tried to open a beer bottle or a glass? glass bottle of coke and, you know, you use anything using a bottle opener, right? And you're like, man, this is putting up a fight. And someone laughs and tells you it's a twist off. That's what rationalizing discomfort is. It's like, well, I don't really have to. Or maybe, you know, if I stop for a few

minutes or I don't even know if this is the right decision and, you know, all the stories and nonsense you tell yourself when in reality it's like if you want the thing this is what it costs if you want what's inside the bottle stop creating all these unnecessary mechanisms to open it and twist the damn thing off he said the same thing a few days later during a legs workout doing some squats and lunges and uh again right behind me eddie you said you wanted change here is the change let's go let's say you i think that's you there's beautiful simplicity there. Because if you don't want the change or the results,

no problem. Leave. Go upstairs. Put your feet up. Have a coffee. Enjoy. But if you do, again, here is the price. Just like you're walking down the aisle at a grocery store. Numbers on a can. This is what it costs. Now, I think it's a beautiful reminder to take outside of fitness as well. Perhaps it's even why fitness is so important.

Because when you're physically tapped out but continuing on, you're doing it for a future return. You can see the unseeable. You are betting on the unknown. Same thing with a business that's taking forever, or giving you issues or presenting obstacles. The brain goes, ah, maybe this isn't for me. I'm not good.

I'll do something else. But wait. No. That hell you're going through is the cost of building a successful business. It doesn't mean you're in the wrong arena. It means you are closer than you think. As Eric said to me, this is where change happens. Do you want it or not?

Do you want the business or not? Because this uncomfortable feeling, this unknown, this waking up with stress and tension, it's a lot for some people. That's why so many walk away. What are you going to do? Maybe you're fighting a different battle altogether, health, diet, substance abuse. And you fell back on your old ways, you're looking in the mirror, disappointed. How? How? Again, how did I do this?

But in reality, we're not perfect beings. You took a micro loss. You're not proud of it. Perfect. Now what? This is where the change happens. What are you going to turn that pain into? Why not let it be the start of the best chapter of your life because it can be? The reality is, and this is no secret or surprise, everyone falls. Everyone. But what I've learned is how you see the fall is everything.

What you turn the fall into is defining. See, every outcome is a fork in the road. It can be a reason to crumble or a reason to evolve. evolve. The world doesn't care. The world just gives you the pieces and invites you to make of them what you will. As was said while I was hiking up a mountain the other day, the mountain is indifferent. Doesn't care, has no agenda, it just exists. It merely is. It's up to you to navigate. It's up to you to change, to become the type of person who can make the ascent. So next time you find yourself in one of those spots, you know what I mean, the world pressing down on your shoulders, life feeling dark and heavy, maybe impossible.

I want you to ask if you want what's on the other side. Because if you do, that discomfort does not mean you're further from glory. It means you are knocking on glory's door. You're paying the premium. you're putting yourself through a battle that most do not and will not fight so you want change perfect this is where change happens take the second and decide whether you're willing to rise up and seize it