Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - 30 Minutes To Start Your Day Right | MORNING MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES | Listen Every Day!

Episode Date: November 28, 2022

"If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in your darkest moments." - Admiral McRaven

Sometimes it's not about the odds. It's not about things being perfectly aligned for you. Sometimes it's about making something out of nothing. It's about simply finding a way. Or as the saying goes, using what you have where you are. I want to share something with you that I've found pretty valuable. So the World Cup is on, and I really enjoy watching soccer or football, depending on where you're from and what you call it.

And caught a handful of games over the Thanksgiving holiday. One of those games was Argentina against Saudi Arabia. And for those who maybe don't watch or follow international soccer, Argentina is a powerhouse, right? Ranked third in the world coming into the tournament. Their team has some of the best players in the world. They're just incredible to watch. The Saudis, on the other hand, not so much, right?

They're certainly not known for their soccer. So it's kind of a David and Goliath-esque story. So what's the significance here? Well, let me share some stats. Argentina possessed the ball 69% of the time. Saudi Arabia, only 31% as expected. Argentina took 15 shots. Saudi Arabia, only three.

Again, as expected. Argentina dominated with possession and had more attempts. Saudi Arabia, however, won the game two to one. Shocker, right? Outmatched, outclassed, out everything, except outscored. Which happens to be the only thing that matters in a soccer game, obviously. They had far fewer opportunities. but what they did do is capitalize on them, made the most of them.

Now, those two teams that could play 100 times, it wouldn't be outrageous to predict Argentina winning 95 of those matches. But this is my point. That 5% can be carved out, can be willed into existence. What it comes down to is what you do with what you have. what you make of those few and far between opportunities that arise. Because here's the deal, there will be times when we feel simply outmatched by life. As though the universe is out-shooting us, in control, bending and shaping us to its will.

And maybe at that particular point in time, that's exactly what's happening. To use the previous metaphor, maybe at that moment, We are not the Argentina. We are relegated to a lesser equipped adversary. My message to you is that there is enough there to hold off the Goliath, pressing and pushing. My message to you is that there is enough to be outshot but not outscored. That when we must dig deep, we are capable of unearthing a strength, a will, an ability to rise. I'm not talking about making it through unscathed.

No, I'm talking about making it through period when it seems as though we couldn't, when we had to crawl through hell to reinvent ourselves or rewrite the story. There's power in knowing that despite the seeming struggle and despair that a way exists. In fact, a friend of mine often says to me, there is always a way to arrive at your ideal outcome.

You just have to figure out how to connect the dots. In other words, that outcome you're looking for, it already exists. The question is, how do you get from point A to B, to C, to ultimately your destination? It's not a matter of whether it's possible. It's a matter of arranging the pieces at your disposal to create that bridge. And the reason I love this World Cup metaphor is because that all-or-nothing mindset in the past has been an adversary for me.

Those who've been listening to me for a while have heard me talk about it. It's like things aren't perfect, fine, I'll wait until they are. Oh, I'm injured and can't work out. Okay, then who cares what I eat, what I do? I'll wait until things are back till I'm healthy, until they're how I want them to be. But no, to win, sometimes you have to find a way

when the odds are in favor of the resistance. Sometimes you have to step up when life is out shooting you 16 shots to three. Sometimes you have to be better than you thought you could ever be. It's easy to maintain momentum when you're healthy, right? But maintaining momentum when you're not at your best, that's something different altogether. Coming out on top when you're the underdog, digging deep and finding a way to win when the easy thing to do would be to submit to life. That's special.

And guess what? It's always there. It's always available. Admiral McRaven, in one of my favorite speeches ever written, he says, if you want to change the world, you must learn to be your very best in your darkest moments. It's beautifully said. It makes perfect sense it seems reasonable.

until we are knee-deep in those moments. It's easy to forget when we feel intimidated by a task that seems bigger than us. It's easy to forget looking up at an obstacle or situation that seems to be statistically favored by life. It's easy to forget when walking away feels like the more pragmatic option. But that's why, regardless of the way, the hill to climb, you must remember. When you are outmatched or seemingly outclassed amidst the battles of life, there is a way to come out on top, emerge victorious.

Your job is to find it. And the opportunities may be few and far between, but what will you do with them when they present themselves? How will you make the most of the resources that? that you do have. Because sure, life is largely determined by the small stuff, the predictable things, what we do day in and day out,

but the pivotal moments, the times that shape our existence, they come down to finding a way when there appears to be nothing to cling to. You are down but never out, lost but never gone, as long as there is a heart beating in your chest. As long as there is blood pumping through your veins, there is a way. I challenge you to find it.

We spend a lot of time asking ourselves, what if things don't work out? What if I fall, fail, or miss the mark? What if I have to head home empty-handed, diminished pride, defeated? But what if we've simply been asking the wrong question? Imagine flipping this script. What if everything worked out better than you could have ever imagined? What if you learn in going that you have barely scratched the surface of your potential? That you've been accepting too little, leaving too much on the table?

What if you learn that you are powerful beyond all recognition? Not because someone told you so. No, but because the very steps being taken prove the point. What if the things that held you down can be dismantled? The thoughts that held you back can be demolished. Why is it? We don't ask more of those questions. Generally, you get what you look for.

What you ask of life is what you shall receive, or so the saying goes. So my thought here is perhaps we need to ask for more. Not of the world but of ourselves. There's an ocean of opportunity before us, enough of this pointing out in wishing for more while we wade in water that is waste deep. First steps will always be believing that more exists. That the world might not be able to see it. It might not exist to your left or right, but it exists in your head.

And that is enough. That is where all great accomplishments start. It's the necessary beginning. And to disregard a perceived outcome, because it's only in your mind, it hasn't materialized yet, is like disregarding a seed because it's not yet a tree. The two are forever intertwined. They need each other.

Simple formula. See greatness and move towards that, greatness. Nothing else is relevant. And sure, you'll have your struggle from time to time, no question. But that's not failure. That's what happens along the path to better things. That adversity is simply the price that must be paid for dreaming, for taking the ideal and bringing it to life. And at the end of the day, that price is a bargain. So ask yourself, what if things do work out? In fact, what if they work out better than I ever imagine?

What if the current norms can be transformed, reality altered? What if this is just the beginning of the best life has to offer? You change the questions, you change the outcome. and today feels like the perfect day for change. The saying goes, sometimes success is simply hanging on when others would be letting go. And that's it, holding on. I've spent a lot of time focusing on what I need to do,

worrying about what must happen in order to bridge the gap. But there comes a point where the difference comes down to what you won't do, what I refuse to do, where the true victory will be not in saying yes but in saying no, simply standing tall when the world demands I bow down. Success will be predicated upon where I build and defend my walls, refusing to be intimidated by the road ahead. I've actually come face to face with this adversary before. In fact I meet him almost every day and not on accident. I hunt him despite his strength. I pursue him even though he has the potential to harm. I do

this again and again. Now certainly sometimes I Amidst the turbulence, I lose myself. Forget. Maybe ask myself why. What a strange dotted line to sign, right? Why volunteer to fight this battle? The questions will bounce around in my head momentarily. But ultimately, I remember why.

I sign up to face this demon because if I can beat him, I can beat anyone. In fact, if I can learn. to consistently show up and prevail here. The rest of the world becomes a lot less intimidating. Little pawns on my chestboard, if I prevail here, I become the type of person who prevails, period. There's power in that.

You seek out the monster to destroy the monster. And in doing so, reminds yourself that destroying monsters is what you do. Life is full of them. In fact, we can't help but come into contact with them as we ascend to greater things. But those moments end up being much bigger than we may have initially expected. It's during these confrontations that we map out our understanding of the world. It's here we decide which rules govern our existence. See, when we seek out confront and defeat our monsters, two things happen. We show ourselves, one, that we can, and two, that it's who we are.

So, you finish the dance with your demons, conquer them, reach your finish line, take off those running shoes decompress, and that's that. So you think. But life says, no, not so fast. It says just because you're not running or in self-initiated combat with the monsters of your choosing doesn't mean they go away. It doesn't mean life is going to be smooth sailing. No, sorry, this world is tough. Its ups and its downs and those who successfully navigate its turbulence must be capable of handling that.

And so the question, inevitably, becomes are you? Are you capable of handling that? And there might be a world where you're unsure, but in this world you've seen too much. You've earned your confidence. There was nothing trivial about all those steps you've taken, all those footprints in the sand footsteps on the pavement You weren't learning to win a race. You were learning to win at life. You were teaching yourself that context aside, things you don't love will from time to time be dropped in front of you.

And when the inclination is to run or retreat, you won't be lured in by fears, false promises. Temporary discomforts, because the world has been dropped in front of you before and you've found your way through it. When life feels like it's collapsing in on you, the walls crumbling down. The instinct is to let all the destruction impact yourself work, to see it as an indictment or referendum on you as a person. But no, you've felt the walls crumbling before. and all you did was run harder. When it hurt, you wrote. When you were tired, you found more.

Your suffering mile after mile was not an indication that you weren't enough. It was merely an invitation to be better. After all, that's how you defeated those monsters time and time again. So here's to all those monsters we will feel. face in life. The ones we seek out and the ones we don't, the ones we plan for and the unexpected, they're all the same. They all have the same vulnerability, same kryptonite, your mind. And your exposure time and time again to the self-induced depths of hell has made you invincible. The world only stops people who know no better, who haven't seen themselves brush up against

the demons who stand guard protecting those coveted finish lines, but you have. And where many bow down and declare their discomfort a catastrophe, you smile to yourself and call it just another Tuesday. It's been said that humans always follow through on who they believe themselves to be. Well, you have made yourself in your mind a slayer of dragons, conqueror of worlds, and that's why those steps matter. That's why all this matters. So next time you go hunting for that overly ambitious adversary of yours, and you find yourself face to face with him, Tired, weak, maybe even temporarily unsure, remind yourself why you're here.

Remind yourself that each step forward is a proclamation to the world, that it's not about the here and now, it's about life. It's about defining who you are and ripping apart the world's limitations one by one. If you move forward here, you move forward. forward anywhere. If you stand tall now, you bow to no one. And when the time comes, life hands you its problems and its obstacles, you'll stack them up and stand upon them. And so it's into the darkness of night. The chaos of battle you go, because that is, was, was, and always will be who you are. George Eliot has said,

it's never too late to be what you might have been. And this is a message that I 100% stand behind. I will always believe that to be true. Why? Because you always have the now to start moving in that direction. And a skeptic or someone playing devil's advocate could say, yeah, well, not me. The timeline for me has expired.

Or I missed the age requirement. Maybe life circumstances have made Plan A impossible. It is quite literally too late. Okay. But here's what I believe we frequently misunderstand in this department. I think we misidentify what it is we really want. And sure, that sounds presumptuous for me to sit here and imply that maybe you miss the mark. How would I ever know what you want?

Well, hear me out. Because I think too often we confuse the vehicle for the destination. That thing we thought we wanted, in actuality, wasn't really what mattered to us. We wanted where it would bring us. We wanted how it would make us feel. We wanted what we'd become when we engaged in that thing. That thing was simply the ride to the destination. not the destination itself.

And that's incredible news. Because vehicles are interchangeable. It's always possible to find a new route or new ride to the show. And this is why self-reflection is so important. Because it's easy to get so caught up in the vehicle that we forget where we're going. For example, I get a ton of inquiries about keynote speaking. And that's fantastic. It's really cool that people want to do that and see me as someone to help guide them.

But when I hear that question, I can't help it. My first thought is always, okay, but why keynote speaking? And it's not personal. Why should always be the first question we ask? Is that truly the destination? Do you feel in your soul you have a story to tell? Do you get a high from the audience interaction? Is it how you feel you can best serve the community?

like, what is it for you? Or maybe it was more of an arbitrary decision, where what you're looking for is, you know, generating impact, adding value to others. Maybe it's some type of financial incentive. All these things are valid, and they could all come from speaking. My point here is not to tell you what you should or shouldn't be pursuing as your goal.

My point is that we need to understand why. Because when we get to the core of what we really want, The best path to get there often looks way different than we thought it might. I use this example often, but perfectly relevant. There was a point in time where I used to think songwriting was it for me, right? My heart, my plan. Until I realized pretty quickly that I could live without it, and that surprised me. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but that what really made me sad to let go

was the storytelling piece, the expression, observing and philosophizing about life. And that when I took that emotive storytelling, I could bend it and reshape it a million different ways. That I actually loved the freedom of being able to express myself or make a point without being totally bound by rhyme scheme and rhythms. I found that point where I could help others in their difficult times, maybe see things from a new angle by helping them to be. to look at the world differently, right? The vehicle, in a way, was almost expendable.

And that was a giant epiphany for me. You know, songwriting was not what I wanted. It was bringing me closer to what I truly wanted. That helps me reshape my plans, my approach, my strategy. And, hey, maybe you're different. Maybe you are right on the money. Maybe you've thought this through and things couldn't be clear. But hey, people tend to speak from their experiences, and that awareness to me was no small accomplishment.

Getting there and understanding that, if that 1,000-foot view does anything, it exposes how multidimensional the playing field is. And how our proclivity is always to box ourselves in. Smaller, smaller, smaller, often leading us to walk by and miss quite a bit. It's also true that understanding what the destination is, making a point to really comprehend that, doesn't mean you have to scrap what you're doing. It could simply lead to that light bulb moment. So now you go, oh, there are additional ways I can arrive at that destination. Maybe I've been so focused on a particular element of the journey, so tied to a particular vehicle that I've been limiting myself.

It expands your options. In the book Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath, they talk about how one of the biggest problems we have in decision making is unintentionally narrowing the scope. That we have numerous additional avenues available to us. But we don't see them because we become so fixated on a few choices. I think of that point often, you know, challenging myself as to why I'm doing what I'm doing, especially when activities are time intensive.

You know, there needs to be a happy, medium, obviously. If you challenge every single thing you do, you'll be walking around in circles all day, but the ability, the power to drill down the question, what is it I'm really looking to obtain here, is such a tremendous advantage. If you can get a true handle on that and you're willing to expand your mind, open your eyes, think about the big picture. Reduce the attachment to that dreaded phrase the way I've always done it, you get to live in a world of endless options. You see that your path is simply that, one path of many. In the business world, you hear stories about people all the time that were unable to

separate the goal from the medium. Couldn't look outside the parameters they'd created for themselves, the blockbusters of the world. You know, when it should have been hold the vision but adjust. the process and readjust over and over again. Our tendency is to hold onto that process so tightly that it becomes a weight around our ankles. When it comes to relationships, right? People stay in toxic relationships all the time because that's the person.

This is the group I hang out with. This is my network. Well, what are you looking to get out of a relationship or group or network? Because, no, it certainly shouldn't be betrayal or chronic stress or limiting beliefs being imposed upon you. So if that's the case, detach and find a different way, a different person, or a different group. Again, you're confusing the vehicle with the destination. Another example, college, right, which for some people makes perfect sense for others. It doesn't. I loved in Matthew McConaughey's book, Green Lights, when he realized he wanted to be an actor

and to make his parents proud to do it was traditionally right. he went to acting school. Until he realized his most valuable experience was everything he was doing outside of school. But that the classroom was one vehicle of many to his ultimate destination was ultimately expendable. He had that foresight. Someone once told me when I went to get my first car that the buyer is in control because they have the greatest strength, a superpower, the ability, if it does not serve you, to walk away, to change, way to change course. You can always do that. So when you feel stuck or stagnant, try asking yourself,

is this a vehicle problem or a destination problem? What is it that I want more than anything else? And what is it this journey is bringing me that gets me there, that gets me excited in the morning that inspires me to my core? Because I find that when you can detach the goal from the method, it often exposes some valuable information that helps you reestablish momentum. Maybe it's taking resources from one place and adding it to another. Maybe it's a slightly adjusted approach.

Maybe it's cutting a few small things away. Maybe it's a pivot. Maybe a total revamp. Who knows? But the idea is it's never too late to get where you most want to go. Because when you identify the destination, when you realize what the finish line is,

There are always numerous roads that lead you there. We just have to make sure we don't get so caught up in a particular path. Or exhaust so much energy trying to jam that square peg into the round hole that we miss the infinite number of wide-open doors, waiting for us to notice their existence and walk.