Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - An Ode to Excellence

Episode Date: May 24, 2020

In this episode I talk about a promise I made to myself 6 years ago, with my back against the wall, no money coming in and the future very much uncertain. It was a time that, contrary to what it seemed in the moment, would end up changing the trajectory of my life and the way I looked at the world.  Years later, with all that in the rear view, it seems apparent that both my personal and professional growth were not remarkable or spectacular, but rather, quite ordinary. My reality today is a consequence of one thing: putting all my chips on the table and promising not to stop. When times are most difficult and uncertain, we should remember that simple premise. The world does not require of you to have it all figured out or ask that a masterpiece be created overnight.  Sometimes success is simply hanging on when others would let go.  It's trusting yourself to see a finish line that others cannot.  

Welcome to Your World Within Daily. I'm Eddie Panero. In this episode, we're going to talk about an ode to excellence and how a single decision in one single moment in time can change the entire trajectory of your life. So I hope you guys are having an incredible Sunday morning. It's a little bit rainy out here in southern Florida, but it's a beautiful kind of rain.

It looks like running weather. I'm excited to get out there. and get going. I was thinking this morning, per usual, about what I wanted to talk about, and I got this sort of exciting feeling in my stomach when my mind went to where I'm going to go. So I know it's the right topic. I know it's the right decision, and I hope the point is made and that it makes an impact. But I want to talk about ode to excellence, which, you know, For a lot of people who have seen it, it's one of about 300 videos on my channel, right, that sort of launched your world within and in my consulting career and speaking career and all that stuff.

But for me, the video owed to excellence, the first video I ever put out was a life-changing decision. It was the beginning of a series of steps that would transform who I am and who I thought myself to be. you know um the idea behind your world within so just for some context this is you know after about a year of creating writing um you know making music producing music writing for particular blogs and websites and just getting out there just trying things doing video work as you can imagine you know ultimately that's a lot different than a career in the financial services Right. So the money became a concern for the first time in my life. And so I was in this position where my back was against the wall. And I didn't know what I was going to do. For the first time, things were scary. Right. And, you know, self-preservation is obviously front and center, right? It's the most important thing. If you can't eat, you can't put food on the table. You don't have income for shelter. If those needs aren't met, forget the whole follow your purpose thing. you're trying to stay alive, right? So that was the first time my back was against the wall.

My money was running out, and I started thinking, man, did I do the wrong thing? Should I have stayed where I was? And my point here is not to tell you my life story or that anything I did was particularly extraordinary, but the inverse. It was simply put, unextradinary, simply continuing forward when I wanted to stop. You know, I think about that when I'm doing difficult things, when I'm running long distances, when I'm, you know, in the midst of a big project. Like, all you have to do is not stop. And so the video I'm going to play is called Ode to Excellence. And it was a promise to myself as, as, you know, the money was drying up, as, you know, the people that loved me and cared about me were concerned as, you know, everyone around me, at least the story I

told myself was that they were making, you know, moves in the right direction for their career and their lives. And I'd taken this enormous step back. And I'm looking around thinking, what have I done? What is this going to mean? Is this permanent? And I wanted to go back to, you know, that sort of safe place, you know, get a job. Maybe you hate Monday through Friday, but at least you're comfortable. At least, when you go to bed, you know what's going to be in your bank account. And I wrote this video as a promise to just let myself fail. It was looking myself in the mirror and saying, dude, once, just once, have the courage

to put all your chips on the table. See what happens. See what happens when push comes to shove and there's no lifeline. Will you let yourself fail? Have you ever been brave enough to ask that question of yourself? And so I wrote this and I put it out to the world and it started something that I could never have imagined. But it was the product of so much coming together. It was the product of having the courage to try something new to experiment in a million different areas,

to not lose sight of the business. big picture, to take risks. But most importantly, to promise, and this is what I hope you can gather from this, to just keep going. Remember, anyone can take one step. You know, I said this in my video yesterday, life in color, the world does not require a view that you paint the entire masterpiece at once. And sometimes we think that. Sometimes we feel overwhelmed because here we are with a blank canvas and a paint brush and we feel like life is expecting the Mona Lisa. All you have to do is one brush stroke. All you have to take is one step.

All you have to do is not stop. And anyone can cannot stop. Anyone can continue forward. So, like I always do, I've rambled on longer than I wanted to, but I'm going to play this video for you. It's called Ode to Excellence, and I hope you enjoy it. Talk to you tomorrow. They say that the probability of being born is one in 400 trillion. I'm a living, breathing miracle.

Every second here on earth is a gift, and I'll never let it slip away. Each day I'm alive, I will be better than the day I was before. When life gets hard, I will work harder. I don't make excuses. I face my challenges head on, and I conquer them. I refuse to be average, and though the world may try to keep me down, I will prevail. The faith I have in myself exceeds all else. I will never be outworked, out hustled, or outsmarted.

If you run six miles, I will run seven. If you lift 200 pounds, I will lift 250. I will win or I will die. That is who I am. I have never come across an obstacle that is insurmountable. The world does not provide barriers. It provides unlimited opportunity. If I get knocked down, I will get back up.

And I will be better because of it. When something can't be done only further ignites my desire to succeed. I know that the road less traveled is difficult, but diverting from it was never an option. The only person responsible for me, My success, looking back on my life, I will have no regret. I will have left no stone unturned. Sacrifice is made, the blood, sweat and tears, the countless hours put into my craft, will not have been in vain.

This is what makes it champion. This is who I am.