Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - 60 Minutes To Start Your Day Right | MORNING MOTIVATION | Best Inspirational Speeches

Episode Date: March 3, 2025

Life, like social media, has an algorithm—an invisible force that rewards what's familiar, predictable, and reinforced by the systems around us. It nudges us toward comfort, not necessarily what’s best for us. Just as creators can fall into the trap of chasing views instead of creativity, we too can find ourselves stuck in patterns that feel safe but limit our potential.True growth comes from stepping outside that cycle, from creating, living, and making choices based on passion and purpose rather than what’s simply worked before. This episode is about recognizing life’s algorithm and breaking free from it—so you can stop following the script and start writing your own story.More from Eddie Pinero:Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletterYour World Within Podcast: https://anchor.fm/s/100d997ec/podcast/rssStream these tracks on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - @your_world_within and @IamEddiePineroTikTok - your_world_withinFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/YourworldwithinX - https://www.twitter.com/IamEddiePineroBusiness Inquiries - http://www.yourworldwithin.com/contact

Let's talk about escaping life's algorithm. Because, yeah, YouTube has an algorithm. And Spotify has an algorithm, and Instagram, and TikTok, and all the social platforms we use have algorithms. But guess what? Life has an algorithm as well. And it tends to be a lot more powerful. It's the invisible force that rewards what's safe, predictable, unexpected.

It nudges you towards. the path most traveled, steering you not towards what's best for you, but towards what is most reinforced by this system in place. After all, that's what an algorithm is. And so on social media, we'll start there. You tend to see this clearly. You know, originally content is made, let's say, out of curiosity or genuine interest, or maybe just a, you know, a quick idea, spark of inspiration, whatever it is, right? And so, So the creator makes it, uploads it, brings it into the world. But then that piece of content garners some success.

It gets a lot of views. The algorithm pushes it. The question then becomes, oh, wow, what did I do right? How do I replicate that? How do I do more of that? Which, there's nothing wrong with asking those questions, right? That's the pragmatic thing to ask if you're trying to reach folks. but it also becomes the trap.

I don't know if you guys have seen this, but I always laugh at this story. On TikTok, I saw this video where some dude goes up to a door and hits the door with a hammer. And I don't know what this says about humanity, but the video goes viral, gets millions of views because he hit the door with the hammer.

And so you go back to the account two months later, and it's just hundreds of posts of this. this dude cracking doors with hammers. No substance, right? Does there need to be? That's a different conversation. And I look at that and I laugh and I think, well, you know, not me, right? My stuff is quote unquote more substantive. Well, maybe. But maybe not because you could make the argument that in our own world, we're all hitting metaphorical doors with metaphorical hammers.

We're all playing a game in a system without realizing. We're all succumbing to an algorithm, one way or another. And this is actually something that my team and I are usually trying to balance, right? That tightrope of doing what will reach others, because if you're not playing to win, why are you playing? But simultaneously never failing to do what inspires us. Of course, we want to grow and help as many people as possible. but your soul has to be lit doing it.

Otherwise, why are you here? If I'm not posting what I find meaningful, there's a dissonance in my head that makes it impossible for me to function. I have to feel aligned. I'm stubborn about that. And sometimes I wish less so, but that's just how I'm wired. You know, I talk a lot about inspiration in our lives, not being a luxury. Well, that's because it sparks everything meaningful.

And when there's no inspiration, when you're only playing within that box that a platform set up for you, are you a creator? Or are you just another useful widget on a conveyor belt? Suddenly, you're no longer chasing inspiration. You're chasing an algorithm. It becomes about playing the game, not telling the truth. It's about feeding the machine, not exploring your soul. And so we're almost four minutes in here. You're probably wondering what this or how this connects to the bigger picture.

Well, here's where it gets interesting. It's not just a social media problem. It is the problem. The world's rewards conformity. It praises stability. It collapse when you take the well-lit path, the one that's been walked a thousand times before. Because it craves that predictability.

It wants to have your story, mission, bio down to a T so it knows where it can group you in. I mean, think about it. Your nudge toward a degree that is practical, a job that's a cure, a way of being that minimizes risk. And little by little, you trade your unique vision for the comforting metrics of social validation. You stop asking, is this the game I want to play?

And you start asking, how do I win the game I'm already in? But winning the wrong game is just a glorified version of losing. A person can go their entire life climbing a corporate ladder, only to realize it's leaning up against the wrong building. They can spend decades chasing approval only to wake up one day and realize they never truly were themselves. And this is not me just sitting back, critiquing the world or virtue signaling.

I mean, I lived this, right? Which is why, one, it's so apparent to me as I'm going through it. And two, why it means so much. It's like, in my mid-20s, I looked around and I'm like, I did everything right. I did everything I was supposed to do. You know, I got good grades to go to a good school, to get a good job, to do all the things. Like, why am I miserable? Why do I feel like I am losing?

And the answer is, because I'm playing the wrong game. I was in the wrong arena, right? Me in an office sorting columns in Microsoft Excel is as backwards as Michael Phelps playing nose tackle. I sucked at it. It's just not where I was supposed to be. And this is the danger of life's algorithm. It rewards you for compliance, not fulfillment.

It encourages repetition, not growth. And if you don't take control, if you don't step back and see it for what it is, you'll mistake the road ahead for the only road. So what's the source? solution. Well, it's the same lesson I had to learn with content. The same lesson every creator learns that they last long enough on that wheel, you have to disconnect from the algorithm and reconnect with you. Small things first, from a content perspective, I started implementing

videos very recently on weekends that I know at least algorithmically are going to lose in the short term. But it feels different. And it's nice to mix things up and not care of about metrics or watch time, it reinforces that without some push into an unknown and challenging of a status quo, I'd stay the same. You know, these features that mean so much to me, clearly they reflect my life outlook.

And if I'm just going through the motions, I'll never be at my best. The snow globe has to consistently be shaken up. And there's some selfishness here, right? Necessarily. It's not how do I get more views, it's what do I want to say? It's not how do I get promoted, it's what type of impact do I want to have.

It's not what will people think of me or how will they view me, but what makes me come alive. These are the questions that we need to be asking ourselves in the digital realm and far beyond it. That is the shift. That's how you escape the algorithm, not by beating it, but by stepping outside of it. I've come to realize that, you know, this above all warrants my attention, and hopefully if you reflect and find yourself in a similar pattern, you'll join me, whether it's work, relationships, routine, art, whatever it may be. You realize that the most meaningful things in life, the creativity and love and joy and purpose, they'll never fit neatly into a formula. It would be great. It'd be a real treat if they did. It would simplify a lot. but that's not how the world works.

And so if you feel trapped, if you feel like you're playing a game that doesn't feed your soul, take a step back, breathe, look at the board in front of you and ask, is this truly mine? Because you don't know the algorithm, anything.

But you do owe yourself everything. Sometimes in order to feel bigger than we've ever felt, to grow into our potential. We have to feel small and insignificant. And what do I mean by this? Because in many ways, it sounds counterintuitive. No one wants to feel less than. No one wants to feel insignificant.

But it's in positioning ourselves to feel that that we understand the walls we place around ourselves. We understand how big life is. and us, while we're here on planet Earth, walking around, navigating our day-to-day lives, we are but raindrops in the thunderstorm. We are a snap. And I think understanding that, understanding that we are a pawn on the chessboard of life, we are a cog in a wheel, it allows us to take some of that pressure off,

and free ourselves up to be our beautiful, authentic, powerful selves. Life is a game. It's an opportunity. It's abundance. Yet we default to, well, I don't want to screw up. I don't want to lose what I have. I don't want to make mistakes. And that's the wrong way to look at life.

The other day I was at the Grand Canyon, and I'm sure most of you are familiar with it, but for those who aren't, it's one of the most beautiful, magnificent, almost hard to comprehend, you know, just incredible landscapes I've ever seen. It goes on forever. It's breathtaking.

It's almost like as you're standing on the edge of that cliff looking out at forever, at infinity, you realize how small the corner of life you live in is compared to this. You realize how big and grandiose the world is, and by the way, the Grand Canyon is just a small part of it. Yet, we are often confined to four walls. It just makes you realize how small we tend to think, how we box ourselves in, how we limit our potential,

just by stepping out and looking at the sheer magnitude of this landscape, which, by the way, would swallow you up and continue moving on as if nothing happened. It screams of your insignificance. Now again, you might think, well, that's negative. I don't want to feel insignificant. No, insignificance, in its own unique way, is freedom. It's freedom to make things.

move. It's freedom to try things. It's freedom to take those steps you've always wanted to take because why not? Because at the end of the day, the clock is going to run out. There's no escaping that. The phrase goes, you know, the thing about life is no one makes it out alive. And when you think of yourself as sort of high and mighty or avoiding the wrong, things, trying not to break things, you miss out. The beauty of being a raindrop in a thunderstorm is there's flexibility, there's freedom. No one's looking at you, no one's pointing and waiting for you to mess up. These are things that we create in our own minds about ourselves.

These are stories and narratives we write about why we shouldn't. But when you're on the ledge or the edge of that cliff looking out, you realize maybe things don't matter that much. And maybe that is a beautiful thing. Because maybe that's your reason to try the craft, start the journey, make the call. Maybe that's your rationale for looking around and going, I've been standing here too long. I've built walls around myself. I've confined myself to a world that is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what's out there. We're small. And the only mistake you can make is to not go and not try. You know, that trip was incredible for me.

It was, I want to say it was life-changing because it was a reset in a way. It was you're taking yourself too seriously. You're holding on to what is instead of opening your wings and attacking what can be. Don't ask why. ask why not. The universe is infinite. And we're lucky enough in this moment

to play a very small part. As is said in the dead poet society, you know, we get to write a verse in the great play of life. So stop thinking about ourselves, or we should stop thinking about ourselves, is self-important.

And instead, cherish the freedom and the opportunity. Because we'll be gone in the blink of an eye and that Grand Canyon will still be there. The sun will still rise. The stars will still be out there in the night sky. The question is, will we capture that moment? Will we do something beautiful with it?

You can. You're able to. But will you? That's the question I have for you. today. If you leave the door cracked, when things get difficult, you will most definitely kick it open. If you have a plan B, when things get too challenging or complex, you'll most definitely abandon Plan A. To truly succeed is to cut off the lifelines. It's to commit to the road to the road. filled with adversity and struggle and hardship,

but that leads to that which is meaningful. Over the weekend, I was invited to join my friend, Evan Carmichael, and his mastermind to talk a little bit about YouTube and my experience with it, my progression over the years. And it was a blast, incredible group, some amazing conversation. And I want to share a moment in particular that stuck out to me. I was talking about essentially the journey from zero, subscribers to where I am now, some tips and flexion points along the way. And, you know, I pulled up

behind me this chart that shows basically seven years of minimal growth, right? Starting in 2014, going all the way up to 2021, where suddenly you see that flatline spike, right? The channel sort of leaps to the next stratosphere, 4x, then 5x, then 10x, then 20x. After years of, consistency, you see this sort of exponential curve. And my point is, you know, I didn't change my craft at all. I was speaking and sharing stories the same way that I always had, right? The way that I'd love to do it. What changed was the packaging.

It was the titling and the thumbnail images and the branding, stuff that because I enjoyed and was immersed so deeply in the creative process that I kind of ignored, right? All that stuff was an afterthought. Which is funny when you think about it, right? To work so hard on something and then to sort of mail in or not pay attention to the marketing component that opens the door to what you're offering. So that would flip the switch. And, you know, I was thinking the group would want to dive fully into it. Okay, Eddie, what were those thumbnail adjustments?

What was the titling? What was the branding that you did? But to my surprise, people were far more interested in. Eddie, how the hell did you not quit during seven years of minimal growth? How did you do that? Were you tempted to quit? Did it cross your mind? And so I've been thinking more and more about the question. And I think there were a variety of reasons. Didn't really give an in-depth answer at the mastermind. So I'm going to share now and see if I can unpack this a little bit. First and foremost, I genuinely love what I do. You know, I saw those.

seven years every day getting up to dive into this is a chance to do something truly meaningful. I felt in my own personal world like I was doing something that mattered. And to me, that's foundational. You know, my metric wasn't necessarily YouTube numbers. I mean, I was aware, don't get me wrong, but I would just be excited when I finished a speech if I felt it was powerful. You know, my game was trying to move myself to tears playing back something I created. If it was powerful to me, that would be a W.

Maybe it won't get millions of views, but I know this is good, right? It's like the Oprah metaphor I've used before. When Oprah walks into a bakery and declares it amazing, suddenly everyone hears Oprah and wants the cakes and the donuts or whatever's in the bakery, that doesn't mean the bakery suddenly got amazing overnight. It just means it was discovered. The baker knew he or she was making good stuff.

they've been following that course all along. And so that same idea pulled me through. Second, as I said in the intro, I didn't leave the door cracked at all. Right? I knew this is what I was going to do. This is the arena. I was going to continuously attempt to improve in. And I was either going to be poor doing this or successful doing this, but I was going to do it.

And so that saved a lot of internal deliberation when something I created, quote, unquote failed or the result was underwhelming. There's nothing for me to discuss. I'd have bad days, absolutely. There were days where I felt so down on myself that I couldn't get out of bed. Few and far between, but it happened. Felt like I was letting my family down at times.

I felt like I was a disappointment. Felt like I was losing some imaginary race. All part of the process. But here's what I always did. I recovered and kept going. I regained perspective. I got on the phone with people that mattered to me. I recalibrated and I continued on, right?

You take your L's. That's life. You give yourself time to cope when you're down, whatever, right? But you carry on. You give yourself a chance. I think part of this mentality comes from being on the rowing team or crew team in college. I wasn't the greatest by any stretch. But I learned to suffer.

I learned that to win means you have to get your ass kicked. That's just how it goes. And I'm sure that was valuable, you know, when the race course changed from 2,000 meters on the water to the creative slash entrepreneurial space. Suffering does not mean you win, but a refusal to suffer ensures you will lose.

Next, I focused on adding value, right? You can't skip that. there has to be an exchange of value. And I was getting messages from people saying, Eddie, your work, help me. It wasn't a substantial, you know, influx of people reaching out. But there's an idea that if you can help one person, you can help one million people.

It's not a can I do it question. It's a logistics question. It's a scaling question. Which means it's just a matter of time. Right? It was all just tying to the self-belief, understanding that there was a way to scale that value. When you approach your mission not with, is it possible,

but how do I make it happen? Do you drastically increase your odds in anything you do? Next, I believed, and this is perhaps the most important, you know, that I was always one decision away from a totally different life, one creation away from that change that I've been looking for. And, you know, when you believe this and failure occurs, the mind simply asks, okay, what's next? Almost like, you know, imagine you're shooting three-pointers.

There's a rack of basketball's next to you. You miss a shot. Okay, you're probably not going to break down, right? Start weeping, convince yourself to take up soccer. No, you're going to reach over, grab the next ball, and shoot again. The possibility of what's next trumps the previously missed shot because of the opportunity, because it's there, because it's tangible. because you just have to pick it up and fire away again.

And life provides, using the same metaphor, an endless rack of basketballs. It will allow you to shoot as many shots as you're willing to shoot. The next one could be the one that falls. And every rep increases that likelihood. Just like your next creation could be the one that changes everything. Lastly, there was a continued commitment to a... adjust. See, if you're not winning, if you're falling short, yet you continue to do the same thing over and over and over again, you're not going to improve, right? It's continuously showing up,

its commitment, its consistency, but there has to be a willingness to evolve. There has to be some type of learned advantage. So next time you show up, you're a little bit smarter, a little bit more intelligent. It's that commitment to try adjust, try adjust, try adjust, try adjust, that ultimately, you know, over time compounds into something bigger than the sum of its parts. There's just saying you can't stop someone who refuses to quit. I think that's right on the money. But it's important to note, I think implied in that quote, is that the person doesn't just keep trying to, you know, jam that square peg into the round hole. No, they're asking every day, what's one little thing I can do better? When I re-approach it next time, how can I be a little smarter? That's the magic. So yeah,

I totally get why, you know, that graph prompted so many questions. When you look back in totality, it looks huge. But really, it was just a dude every day doing what he loved, making little adjustments over time with no plan B. that's all taking the setbacks in stride always thinking about the next creation and what's even more exciting to me is that this is not some remarkable skill set it's not some you know powerhouse ability i was born with anyone can commit to a process and even better news right if you utilize your resources seek help and guidance from those who have been down the same road Your exponential growth can occur, you know, way faster than seven years.

Just don't leave that door cracked. She had a picture framed on the table that said, make today amazing. Place there to remind her just how much of life is a choice. How much we get to decide. It symbolizes that on our worst days, life hands us lessons. And on our best days, the highs of existence. During our low points, currency, and during our high points, the chance to cash it all in. Yeah, make today amazing.

Because todays are few and far between. Todays are not an inconvenience nor an obligation. Today's are what it's all about. Today is the big show. The answers we look for. The destinations we long for. Today is a place of dreams. That is, if you choose to leave room in your world for dream.

Today is the beginning of wherever next is for you. chance to see the new and normalize it, to stretch, to reach further out and pull impossible a little closer into your orbit. You can do that. And while one often can't control what they are given, they can control what becomes of what they are given. Like architects and designers, engineering what will be in what the malleable world around them will become, when one raises their standards, life seems to accommodate.

Because believing it means acting the part, means making the changes, means the external world makes room, means your identity is reinforced, and so the cycle goes, by making today amazing, you are making yourself more. Decisions are the beginning of all things. See, very rarely is the tool in and of itself the differentiator. It's the vision that pulls us through. And if you take something arbitrary, say a hammer, there's no way to, based upon its existence,

determine what it will mean or what will become of it. A hammer can be an agent of chaos. that can smash and shatter and destroy. It can be the thing used to tear down. Or it can be what built. It can connect. It can alter and redefine so that something, when all is said and done,

is brought into an existence that never was. It was never the tool. It was how the eyes viewed the tool. It was the vision that designated. the roles that made today amazing. And the reason we all need this reminder, as far as I can tell, is because the difficult things just so happen

to be the meaningful things, because we are fighting, not against some little rule or idea we picked up along the way. We are fighting against our DNA, against thousands and thousands of years, of evolution, because the fear that kept our ancestors alert and alive now in a totally new world keeps us contained and our talents minimized. The approval of others that kept us safe and secure

as we once traveled the landscape in small groups, hunting and gathering, well now it keeps us needlessly looking over our shoulders and craving acceptance. The unknowns that kept out of the dark cave with the predator living in its shadows, now keeps us confined. Looking out at life's potential through self-made windows. We need to be reminded to make today amazing because those things are quite the adversaries. Because our default is to just let the ship sail.

Our default is to simply survive. After all, that is the standard and the rule by which living things abide. Make it another day. But I believe you are more than a living thing. The Godlike ability to not just exist in a world, but create new ones is a miracle. Both a blessing and a responsibility. To drive towards a more fulfilled you, a happier you, a healthier you, a more complete you. But one must first become aware that around them exist the pieces required to build something never before seen.

The vehicle to those far-off places that were once only dreams, thoughts, illusion. I've always believed that if it means something to you, it's not stupid. It warrants exploration. For even if the thought doesn't end up being all it was cracked up to be, even if it's not the destination, but only a stop along the way, it still pushes you to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. It still moves you forward in this beautiful game of life. So decide. Decide to make today amazing.

Choose to make it better. Let the obstacles lift you up and the momentum carry you towards something meaningful. When others stop and find reasons to doubt themselves. How about you find this small wind buried, tucked away underneath it all? The little key that may do nothing more than get you through that next door. After all, sometimes that's what life's about. Picking up your head when it's most difficult and finding the next door to walk through. And the magic is knowing you can always do that.

Because there always exists both the doorway and the key, but we must be willing to find it. That's the obvious thing about those doors. The right ones will open. But they require we find the strength to approach them. They require that we seek out amazing. And so with this in mind, what is the next chapter like for you? Are you currently enduring one of life's winters? Are you navigating those inevitable valleys of despair in which the value is in finding that single

ray of light amidst the storm? Looking within yourself for the courage to take one more step forward and another and another are you seeking out that spark that will reignite the fire in you because it's there. long as you choose to make today amazing. Maybe you've climbed yourself out. Maybe you're looking for whatever is next, the new evolution, seeking to follow your heart and continue the beautiful progression that is like.

Let the external world support that vision, choose to see the detail not as trivial but as the answers. The tools that will lift you up and support what you are building, it's there. She had a picture framed on the table that said make today amazing. Place there to remind her how much of life is a choice. Because in a world of option, what a gift to choose the journey of a lifetime. What a ride that awaits so long as you decide to see. step in. There is one person who can save you. And that person exists in the mirror. I was recently

doing an audit of some of the most important conversations I've ever had. Mentors, friends, coaches, people that have changed my life, people that I love and am beyond grateful for. And started kind of going one by one. What did I learn from this person? What was it that I took away from them? And, you know, in one way or another, across the board, the answer was the same. It was some variation of confidence. It was belief that I could step into that next chapter, that I have what it takes,

that the unknown wasn't impenetrable. In fact, you know, the unknown is inviting. And truthfully, I don't know how many people started from the same starting point that I did, where I essentially had to learn every step of the way that I was good enough, had to reteach myself that I belonged where I was, that the room that I was in, there was a reason I was there,

that the circle I was in, that I earned a right to be in that circle. They say confidence is earned, and I had to continuously earn it. And I value that progression, truly, for a few reasons. One, because, you know, I've been on the other side, and when I see other people, you know, making that, assent, I do everything I can to make them feel welcome and comfortable. But the second thing is, I understand at a deep level, how much of success is simply believing you are worthy of it.

You know, I look at the things that I do now, and it's like so much of it's just because I allowed myself to do it. At some point, I looked around and said, you are worthy of this. Believe it. Step into it. There's nothing stopping you, but you. And I've seen the power of As someone near and dear to me once said, walking into a room like God sent you. It's not a fake it till you make it game. It's believing in your heart that you are worthy game. No one who's achieved success on a consistent basis got there accidentally. At some point they looked at that reflection and said, hey, this is me.

At some point they looked around and said there is no difference between, me and the people who have done great things. Those people just gave themselves the green light and chose to stay consistent. I can do that. You can do that. Everybody can do that. Will you?

That's the question. No one can save you because no one can make you believe. No one when your eyes open in the morning can position your mindset to say, today is mine. The world is my opportunity. No one can convince you that you're capable of magic on your short time on this planet.

That's an internal decision. Do you believe you are worthy of it? And if not, let's get you to that point. That's the name of the game. Look hard at that reflection and remind yourself that you have everything you need to begin. Not a few things. or some things, everything you need. You're good enough.

What's required is you giving yourself permission to go on whatever journey you deem important. It's allowing yourself to tap into the strength that's already there. Be resilient. Ship away, little by little, every day. That's it. That's the formula. You approach that lane with tenacity and drive.

And life changes, right? As the saying goes, days turn into months, which turn into years, and you'll look back and you'll see you're not the same person you once were. You'll see that you had this potential all along. You just had to give it life. See, we attribute complexity to things we don't understand. We assume people on mountaintops were placed there,

that they had God-like abilities. And it's like, no, they just believed they were worthy and stepped forward into the night. Just like a seed must be planted, you too must give your potential the opportunity to be nourished by what's around you. When the alarm clock goes off, your eyes open and your feet touch the ground in the morning, remember that getting what you want is far less complex than you think. It's simple. Not easy, but it's simple.

You say yes to more and start walking down the road. And you'll change, you'll adjust, you'll evolve. There will be times when you backtrack, course correct, and perhaps even switch lanes altogether. But the gift of going is the best gift you'll have ever presented to yourself. No one is coming to save you. And when you realize how powerful you are, you will have not wanted it any other way. The most important promises are the ones you make to yourself. Of all the people on planet Earth, it's most critical that you believe you.

That when you commit, you show up, when you make plans you follow through. When you tell yourself you'll do something, you actually do it. Here's what's interesting. Being that this is, I believe the North Star, I'm consistently chasing down. this standard, trying to be better and better and better at following through. I clearly think we all should, but keeping promises to yourself is different than keeping promises to others. When you let other people down, especially those close to you, you feel the social repercussions. And for human beings, negative social repercussions are painful.

We care greatly about our reputation. Don't want to let others down. Don't want to be known as the person who doesn't show up. And that's incentive enough to push us towards following through with others. But with yourself, where do the repercussions go? What are the consequences? You tell yourself, today is the day. I'm starting, beginning, trying something new, and then you don't.

There's no phone call with someone on the other end saying, hey, where were you? Hey, you promised. Hey, you owed me this. No, when we break promises to ourselves, it seems like the situation, after maybe a second or two of disappointment, just floats away into the ether. It feels as though there is no substantial.

substantial cost. But I actually think those broken promises stick around. I think we wear them. We feel them. We see them when we look in the mirror.

And sure, maybe there isn't that friend or family member staring us down with disappointment in their eyes. But how we see ourselves changes. Every broken promise to yourself

reinforces the idea that not having high standards is okay. Every time we let ourselves down, it supports a narrative that being let down is normal, par for the course. If you don't show up for you, it begs the question, why should others show up for you? Why should others follow through when you wouldn't even do it for yourself? I've always believed that so many facets of life start internally. and are projected out. How you see yourself, treat yourself,

is the sun around which all that other stuff revolves, right? Like, the world will notice and act accordingly. It will conform to the standards you create for you. So let's work on those standards. Let's make it so there's skin in the game. So that when we break promises to ourselves, say, ah, not today, or, this is good enough for now.

That we understand the magnitude of those decisions because they're not insignificant. They're crucial. And sometimes we have to highlight the consequences of what we don't do. Sometimes we have to make ourselves truly feel the opportunities we let slip away. As though we did actually hold them

in the palms of our hands. There is a price to letting yourself down, and perhaps there's power in quantifying it. There's an idea that, you know, life isn't really you versus anyone or anything else. It's you versus you. And just like you would never let a stranger talk down to you or tear you apart,

why would it be okay for you to talk that way to yourself? Right? Like if a friend says he's going to meet you for constantly, at 7 a.m. every morning and never shows up. In what world would you keep driving there, sitting down, waiting, brushing it off, and, you know, rinse, repeat? Of course not. You'd look around and go, this is crazy, I don't deserve this, I'm better than this. Your defenses would kick in.

You'd make adjustments. And just as you shouldn't tolerate it from someone else, you shouldn't tolerate it from yourself. because you're better than that. Growth is a game of, one, identifying what's important. Two, creating small steps that move you in that direction. And three, following through on those steps. Right, that's the formula. Being there for yourself when you fall.

Hey, get back up, right? Falling is an indicator of progress, courage, and strength. Being there for yourself when you don't want to. Hey, I know you're tired. I know this doesn't seem fun right now, but you committed and

think about how good it's going to feel when you're done. Being there for yourself when you know there's more in you, but that voice in your head is tempting you to pack it all in or call it a day. Hey, it doesn't matter

what that voice in your head says. There is no negotiating, you already made up your mind. See, there's power and simplicity. Find a target, aim, shoot. And although life is turbulent, there are certainly highs and lows. We are at our best when we decide what's important, initiate the journey, and show up. When I set the alarm clock, it can't be about rationalizing sleep. That beeping, It can't be about X many hours. No, it merely signifies a promise.

It cries out, hey, remember what you said right before you closed your eyes last night? Well, time to bring that to life. So sure, that means be careful of the promises you make to yourself. Don't take them lightly. But once they are etched into the universe, they must be law. And I'm not talking about failure to adapt or try things. I'm not talking about being stubborn. I'm talking about the initial follow-through that precedes all that.

Will we do what we said we would do? And I'm not emphasizing, you know, making this the standard because life should be some perpetual boot camp, but rather because discipline is freedom. Because when we go to bed at night knowing we set goals and meet them, we see ourselves as winners. People follow through on who they believe themselves to be. It's an endless feedback loop. You see yourself as a winner.

You carry yourself as a winner. You carry yourself as a winner and other people see it. They treat you as such and around and around it goes. So when you feel like skipping or procrastinating or quitting on yourself, remember that it's not just that immediate moment. It's not a little thing. It's one brushstroke on the mural that is your current reality. It becomes you.

And again, you wouldn't let other people talk down to you. So stop doing it to yourself. You wouldn't allow being stood up by others. So stop doing that to yourself. Become the king or queen of your own empire. Rule over yourself like it all matters because it's not. because it does. To keep the promises you make to yourself is playing office.

It's essentially building a bridge to the outside world so that you may go shape it, as opposed to merely putting up your hands and living at life's mercy. Never forget how much control you have, how powerful you are, and that you don't need to convince others, you need to convince yourself. During the highs, the lows, the ups and the downs, the sun and the rain, you need to be there for you. No, I'm not sorry.

Sure, I was ignorant back then. No question, but ignorance is not a crime. Ignorance is the foundation that we build upon. You can't be sorry for not knowing. You shouldn't be sorry for not knowing. The only real tragedy is to plant a stake in the ground and call the ignorance home. Then no, I'm not sorry that I found myself in places I didn't want to be, doing things that weren't me, talking every day with people who didn't film,

my cup or push me forward. But it's not the end of the world when we find ourselves walking down the wrong paths with the wrong people. It's just an invitation to step off and find the right one. In fact, the only real wrong path is the one you continue walking down knowing that it's not for you. And no, I'm not sorry. I was half the person I am now.

Half is capable, half as knowledgeable, half as driven. But it's not a bad thing to look around and realize that you can be more. It's not a problem to see the reality you're living and deem it beneath your ideals. That's a beautiful thing. What would be is shame. is to never open your eyes and see the possibility. To see now as a permanent fixture. Not something you can control, but something you're confined to.

That, well, that would be a shame. Never be sorry for where you came from. Never be sorry for what you went through. Never be sorry for the hell you're walking through now. And most importantly, never feel sorry for your sense. These so-called inconveniences are the bridge to something better. They are the reason you will evolve and grow and expand. Don't be sardy.

Be grateful. Be ready for the second act. Excited about what will become of you. See, often we have to find ourselves in the lowest of low places before we learn to ask if there's a better view out there for us. That's just the reality. Sometimes life is about touching the hot stove before learning to avoid it. You're never dumb or less than for finding yourself looking up at an ideal, for saying, hey, there's a delta between where I am and where I want to be, and I can obtain that.

You know what one of my greatest strengths has become? It's not earlier mornings or quadruple deficiency, not a biohack, or a evolved daily routine. daily routine. It's learning to be kind to myself. And if that seems fluffy or unimportant, I want you to picture someone never running to, but always running from, always motivated by fear. Endless examples. A mere jog on a summer afternoon was never fast enough. Other content creators, authors, writers, speakers were always better, always further along. Imaginary competition always seemed to move faster, where they were always doing more. I used to call this perpetual state of lack a chip on my shoulder.

This is what kept me going, the giant shadow of failure, I can't fail, I can't fail, I can't fail, I can't fail, I won't fail, not me. So I'll do more and I'll push harder. And I'm not sorry about that. In fact, it was probably what I needed for that season of my life. It hardened me up, made me tougher. I think most importantly brought me to where I am today, a sort of inverse position, learning to be just as motivated from a place of abundance.

You can run just as ferociously towards something as you can from something. And guess what? But when you reach the finish lines, you actually appreciate them. Running not away from what I'm fearful of, but towards what lights me up. True story, every time my YouTube channel hits some sort of subscriber milestone for years, I'd get a note from a good friend of mine, Dave, who'd say, hey, congrats, don't forget to celebrate the accomplishment. Every time. And I'd be, you know, grateful for the message.

Celebrate? That part I'd kind of overlook. That's nice, I'd think. But when I started to really understand the importance of that message, I started to see things differently. You have to celebrate. You celebrate because now is the magic. If you can't appreciate now, you will appreciate nothing. Doesn't mean stop. Does it mean go easier or minimize the destination? It means remember to love the ride because you are, as the saying goes, in the midst of, of the good old days. Don't wait to be 90 years old to appreciate them. And I'm not, again, sorry that it took me so long to get there.

You know, perhaps that's why I've learned to appreciate this point of view so much. I've seen the inverse. You know, I'm not sorry I spent so much time running away from what I fear and don't want. I'm grateful that now I've learned to live in abundance, to run towards. what lights me up. Really focusing on each step, finding gratitude in all of it. And of course, it's not always easy, right?

There are days where I have to really work to see the value, but when I try, which is the point, I eventually find it. I learned this by stumbling into it. And so in your world, I have a request. Maybe you can frame it as an experiment. What if you completely cut all the sorry stuff.

Stopped being sorry for your mistakes. Stop being sorry for the things you aren't happy about or the cosmic injustices you feel have occurred. And what if you started being grateful for the realization that you can change them? You started being appreciative of the fact that you're on your way to something better. Maybe in your context, running from and running to or different.

But I'd be willing to bet there's a rearranging that can transform life, as you currently know. And who would have thought, you know, that rearranging is what we come to value. So don't be sorry about what's occurred or where you are. Be excited. Be grateful because life is about to begin.