Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Be Willing To DESTROY ANYTHING In Your Life That Isn't EXCELLENT | Best Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: February 27, 2023

"Be willing to destroy anything that doesn't make your life excellent" - Joe Polish

I was in Arizona last week. Got a chance to interview Joe Polish, bestselling author and founder of the Genius Network. As I was sort of making my way around the Genius Network office with my coffee that morning, I noticed in one of the meeting rooms there were some quotes hanging on the wall. One of them was Joe's that said,

Be willing to destroy anything in your life that isn't excellent. That's certainly a big state. I started thinking about my little corner of the universe, running through all the things that might not meet that standard of excellence in my life. A few certainly came to mind. It was freeing to think about. But could excellence really be a standard for everything? I mean, that's a high bar. And so I wrote it down, a little reminder to bring it up later during the interview.

A few hours go by, mics are rolling, and I asked the question. So, be willing to destroy anything in your life that is an excellent. Beautiful quote. But how? And Joe smiled, kind of paused for a second, says, willing, right? The key word there is willing. And I'm paraphrasing. But his point The point was essentially it's an acceptance of what is and a willingness to be rigorously honest with yourself. Because look, there's not an athlete, entrepreneur, parent, or student who didn't have to at some point play broken. We all do. But to live like that?

That's not a life well lived. That's learned helplessness. And that quote on the wall is about taking a stand. It's the moment you say, I want a new standard for my life. I'm going to be more assert, more caring, more aware. Excellence is not a requirement per se because human beings can't be excellent all the time. We are flawed. We are trying. We are growing.

But what you can do is look around you and start moving towards that version of yourself. Start cutting away. the metaphorical chains around your angles. In his book, What's in It for Them? Joe highlights British Olympic rower Ben Hunt Davis, who had one standard for the men in his boat, one question that would be asked every time they were confronted with the decision. The question was,

will this make the boat go faster? If no, then it's not for them. And this framework guided their journey, this contributed to their success, this clarity, this line of sight. It's an awareness we can all learn from. Understanding that we're not shackled to yesterday, we're not tied to the old stories, the old relationships, the old ways of living. No, our paths are not dictated by what was, but rather our willingness to be aware to ask the questions that position us towards our North Star. And as the conversation was winding down, Joe pointed to a quote from the movie Vanilla Sky.

It states, every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around. Change doesn't happen without the understanding that more is possible. That perhaps you'd been conceding too much while asking too little of yourself. Perhaps you've been surrounding yourself with inadequate resources. Maybe you've been building walls that without your knowing it became self-induced limitation. And yeah, excellence in every single aspect of life is unobtainable. But what a beautiful standard. What a journey to embark upon.

A horizon to chase down. And the point is not to recklessly destroy your current. reality, but to build a bridge connecting what is to what can be. It's loving the reflection in the mirror enough to know you are better. You can be better. You will obtain better. You need not be perfect or flawless, but you must be willing. Willing to destroy anything in your life that is an excellent.

You have to see it before they do. You have to believe it before they will. You have to be the architect of your plans and your goals because no one will build them for you. And that's just it. In a world where victimhood is becoming currency and blame is becoming the norm, we have a choice. create a temporary fleeting escape or create a life that matters.

You know how much easier it is to project out at the world? To never have to look in the mirror and address the things you could be doing better? You know how much easier it is to hate him or her or them over there? to make up stories and scenarios about how much different life would be if it wasn't for A, B, B, and C holding you back.

I mean, short term, it's like winning the lottery, right? You don't have to take any accountability. You don't have to have tough conversations with yourself. You don't have to reflect on the painful memories or decisions. No, you can put your feet up. Sit back. Point at the world. and say, look what they made me do, if only.

But here's what's not being said. Every time you point your finger away from your own chest, every time you project blame, you're letting yourself down. Why? Because we only grow when we take accountability. And yeah, accountability can be painful, uncomfortable. But in that discomfort exists the only bridge to a better tomorrow. That's it.

You go to the gym, you put your muscles through stress. You break them down so that they can be built back up stronger. Personal responsibility cannot be the muscle we refuse to build. There's too much at stake. It can't be the thing you avoid. Why? Because it's what injects meaning into our lives. I'll never forget in the eighth grade,

and I bet every single person in that class still to this day remembers. My teacher, Mr. Betancourt, walking up to the front of the classroom, he had his hands in a bowl shape and was holding it up to the ceiling, explaining to us that you can't go through life, asking the world to give you its scraps. that if you sit and you wait and you hope and you blame, you will lose. That's the recipe for bitterness and resentment. Think of it like a fork in the road.

Where our two options are vastly different. You go left at the fork and you enter a world of escapism, refusing to confront your problems, finding reasons you can't do that which you know you need. to do. Hating others, those who have built, grown, or created themselves. Or, you go right at the fork. You learn to do the hard thing, to humble yourself, to take control of your life and your world. When things aren't the way you want them to be, you look around and you immediately ask, things outside of my control may have brought me here, but what can I do to fix it?

Those of you have been listening to me for a while, you probably know my favorite articulation of this idea. It was explained by Will Smith. Basically, he said, look, you can't control where you start and how true that is, right? Life's not fair. Some people are born into more resources and opportunity.

Some people find themselves in social situations that aren't ideal, and that list can go on and on and on, right? Human beings are all different. So there will always be discrepancy. But, and this is Will Smith's point, where you go from here will always be your responsibility. What happens next is all you.

You choose whether to complain, shake your fist at the sky, and blame the world around you, or pick the pieces up and move forward. And like I said a minute ago, don't be fooled by the temptation to latch on to that fleeting moment of relief, of running from accountability. The only way to win in the long run is to face your demons. It's that whole saying, when you're riding shotgun,

you can dispute the route all you want, but ultimately it's the driver who's in control. When will you take the wheel in your own life? ensure the stakes become higher, right? Now it's on you. Now you can get lost. Now you're responsible for the maintenance. Now if you don't end up at the right place,

or I don't know, you're late to a destination, it's your fault. But now you can also be the one overseeing the journey. Now it's yours, and that's power. And as our world becomes more and more one of escapism, it's becoming more prevalent, easier to avoid or not fix something but tweet about it. How easy it is to not confront our problems, but rather open Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and mindlessly scroll. How easy it is to leave that message on red and go about our lives because that's easier than saying what needs to be said. Strength is being the one amidst all this escapism and avoidance

to confront what must be confronted. Whether it's an interaction with someone else or that hard conversation with yourself, a personal change that must take place. Life is such a gift, it's such an opportunity. But we have to move through it with our eyes open. We have to see things that matter and gravitate towards

truths that will shape us. Like Mr. B said, over 20 years ago now, we can't ever fall into the mentality of holding our hands up to the sky and asking life to give us anything. We can't only point it ourselves when things go the way we want them to go. No, let's be about accountability, empowerment, understanding that if I don't like what's around me the transformation starts now and it starts with me that wasn't perfect I never will be but I can learn I can evolve and most importantly I have everything I need to make that happen it's all awareness right the the victim

hood idea is a wolf in sheep's clothing and I know that may seem harsh maybe even lacking empathy but dropping that narrative was truly the best thing I've done in my life and I know countless others who would say the same you can't be both a perpetual victim and be in control no life is tough it knocks us down and at times it brings us to our knees but this is a reminder that you cannot stay there it's a reminder that those who contributed to the situation are now minor detail and background noise it's a reminder that the path forward is It's about you.

It's about you pushing all that aside and asking yourself what's required to move in the direction that I most want to go. Because you are that powerful. You are strong enough to make that move. And there will be a point where you look around you and the circumstances of change. The people are different. The environment is different. You're different.

And you'll smile at yourself knowing. It's not because of what the world provided. It's not because of what anyone gave you. It's not because of what people out there did or didn't do. No, it's because when you were at your lowest, when life was presenting curveball after curveball, when you looked around and maybe even thought to yourself, there's no way forward here.

You found a way to get up and create something new. When our backs are against the wall, we're forced to become more. When the clock is ticking, we are tasked with finding answers that hide among us. It's in the darkness. We find light, and while lost, we find ourselves. The paradox of life is that from our pain comes our purpose, our evolution, and our greatness. I love thinking back to about 2014,

making my way around Boston, having just quit my job, essentially purposeless, clinging to a YouTube channel and a podcast idea that I would name your world within. And why? Why do I think back? Why does this mean everything to me? Well, because at the time, I knew nothing.

I understood nothing. Nothing about speaking or media, audio, video, nothing about running a business. But more importantly, I knew very little about life and what's truly required to progress in a world with infinite moving parts. I didn't know that my lack of understanding is what made everything feel overwhelming and complex and that it was up to me to simplify. I didn't know the extent to which I'd have to befriend failure. And that was the most eye-opening realization. Because when you gravitate towards a risk-free existence and you box yourself in as I had for so long,

of course you don't get the upside, but you also don't fail as dramatically either. Life was a simple game of cause and effect. Do work, get result, not much room for more than that. And so stepping outside that box in the way that I did, change some rules. I learned some things. First, you can spend time on something. You can exhaust energy on something and get nothing in the short term for your efforts.

And I mean nothing, unless you count getting your pride stomped on. Unless you count your friends disappearing when you need. the most unless you count self-doubt in a constant worry about not amounting to anything. I mean, these are very raw, very real human emotions. They tend to arise when we start something new, but in them is also the power. This is where the light bulb turns on and the path emerges. It's where I learn that we only get what we want when we endure or what we don't. And what a foreign concept when you think about it, right?

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

The pain is an invite. The sheer terror. And let's face it, that's what it feels like sometimes. It's an upgrade. Disguised is the monster that you think you should be running for. from when it is, as I recently mentioned, the adversary you should befriend. We have to change our relationship with discomfort because our initial understanding, the one that comes stock in our minds, is never sufficient to build anything of significance.

Its default setting is to preserve the now, not expanded. And so just like those stock speakers that came in my 1999, Ford F-150 when I was in my early 20s, let's rip it out. Let's customize. Let's upgrade the quality of the sound we hear and the things we say to ourselves. What an advantage it is to know that the hard things are what make us level up. find that awareness. What a blessing that when life's difficulty startles and scatters the masses, you could be the one that remains. Standing tall, seeking out the advantage amidst the commotion,

every little act of courage becomes more and more meaningful, powerful. But we must lose ourselves to find ourselves. We must embrace our fears if we are to become courageous. We must fail in order to succeed. And sure, sometimes the price seems steep. But I promise not going costs more. Wishing costs more. If only's cost more.

So maybe for you it isn't a YouTube channel or a speaking career. Maybe it's something totally different. But it is something. And should you bring yourself to pursue that which your heart pulls you to pursue, you'll have those moments of defeat, where you're mad at yourself for leaving the comfort and safety of your previous world. You'll have times where you have no idea what to do, where you feel alone or stuck or unsure.

The difference will be whether you see this, as the invite you've been waiting for or the reason to turn around and settle for less. That's the question. How do you internalize all that emotion that will feel like it is consuming you? I couldn't believe how strong that temptation was to go back, nagging at me every day.

Just come off the edge. Just be comfortable again. But as my old coach would say in college, when we're doing wall sits or something physically taxing. 15 seconds. You can do anything for 15 seconds. And isn't life just a culmination of 15 second windows? It's compartmentalizing the process.

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

But committing to that vulnerability will reliance. release from within you the power, the strength, the greatness that has been for so long tucked away. By moving into the chaos, you are simultaneously creating the calm you always dreamed of. You're realizing the possibility that just needed the door left ajar to make its way into your world. Naval Ravikon has said inspiration is perishable, so act on it immediately. And what he means is those fleeting moments of excitement, where you have an idea, a concept, those must be cashed in. They must come to life, otherwise they're gone before they had a chance to change anything. See, what we don't really talk about much is that,

Inspiration is only as valuable as one's willingness to act upon it. Just like a seed without the right nutrients can't grow, or a wheel is only useful once it touches the ground. It's the world able to act upon these objects that makes them powerful instruments. And so with that inspiration, that momentary jolt you've captured, The faster you act upon it, the more likely something comes of it. Inspiration transforms into action, which creates momentum and then more inspiration. And so goes the powerful cycle we must seek to create.

Inspiration to action, to inspiration to action. I talk all the time about the myth of perfection. The idea that the perfect moment is out there, that someone or something will give you permission. But no, that green light is self-created. And when it arrives, don't waste it. It's not about reaching a mountain top right away. You don't need to create the perfect solution right now. But give yourself a chance to see those wheels hit the road.

Allow that cycle of inspiration and action to propel you forward. Because so much of life comes down to what you did when that fleeting moment arrived, what you turned it into if you gave it life. A lot of people out there think that the secret to life is having the right answers. But I'm here to tell you it's the courage, the willingness, the strength, to move forward before you have them. To take that little bit of inspiration into this sunset. Let it mean something. Let it be a beginning. So when you look back years from now,

you'll see that single decision to act meant so much more than what it felt in the moment. That single step you courageously took was everything. You can be your greatest fan and also your biggest critic. In fact, not only is it healthy, it's necessary. To be there for yourself, celebrate that commitment to show up, but also to hold yourself accountable for growth.

Because to be great is to know there's more in you, to understand that there's greatness waiting to be extracted from the miracle that is you. You. Here are two words. I want to take a look at both of them. Consistency and adaptation. Consistency first. Why? Because consistency gets you in the door. It's the cost of admission. Consistency is you showing up for yourself. Day in and day out. Creating master and competence through repetition, manufacturing a data set

that will be used to guide your journey, taking a once stagnant idea, and putting it into motion. Consistency is doing what you promised yourself you'd do when you said you'd do it. Why? Because that's who you are. You create goals,

and then conquer you. those goals. When your head hits the pillow at night, you may be tired, you may have struggled, you may have swung and missed, you may be wondering how things unfolded the way they did, but you showed up. So celebrate that, celebrate yourself, be your biggest fan. Because the world can't take your will to step forward and cannot seize your consistency, not without your permission. So other than part one, let's call consistency the commitment to show up for you.

Now the second piece. Consistency's older brother, adaptation. See, that consistency, like we just talked about it, will get you in the door. It signs you up for the game, but it guarantees nothing. See where consistency puts that pen in your hand, paper in front of you, patch you on the back where consistency gives you a chance to write your story. One's level of success or achievement relies on their ability to adapt. To do the thing that's so hard for people to do,

look in the mirror and ask, how can I be better? I've been consistent for 30 days, sure. Here's what's right, here's what's wrong. Now it's time to adjust, to be critical, to understand that expecting more of the self does not in any way diminish the task at hand. It gives you room to expand into that next version of yourself. in a way that simply showing up doesn't.

Without a willingness to adapt, you get Einstein's definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. You get day after day of wondering why this square peg won't just save us all the trouble and go into the round hole. Without a willingness to adapt, we move for the sake of moving and we work for the sake of working. But if we could find it within ourselves to look at the data that's been acquired day after day and use it to help guide ourselves to that North Star, we'll find strength.

To seek out the delta between where we are and where we want to be, that is power. But it calls for more than just showing up. It calls for looking around. It calls for observing. and then adapting. So yeah, your greatest fan and your greatest critic. Be there for you, but don't let yourself get away with good enough. Showing up is critical, it's powerful, but it's just the beginning. If your eyes stay open, if you're willing to both love yourself

and improve yourself simultaneously, all the world becomes available to you. There are no mountains you can't climb or oceans you can't cross. And sure, the world will do what the world does. It will place challenges before you. But rather than those challenges being the reason you can't, rather than accepting those challenges as a permanent reality, they become nothing more than the next puzzle to be solved.

the next little adaptation that's required of you. You show up, you self-assess, you adjust, and carry right on towards that horizon again and again. So when you find yourself frustrated or up against that wall, remember you are building your ideal reality. Proud of yourself for showing up, for being consistent. Because as dire as it might seem, you overcame a lot to get here, but also know that the challenged hand is not an indictment of you or your goals.

It's your chance to review the game plan and adjust. Your opportunity to do what so many fail to do, not shrink from the world, but adapt yourself to it. Grow because of it. Today is your opportunity to take what the world gives you and build something new.