Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Best Motivational Speech Compilation EVER | 3 Hours for the NEXT 30 Years...

Episode Date: July 8, 2022

To be in the 1% you have to do what the 99% won't...

Relax, you're here. That's a clever little sign hanging above the sidewalk, right at the border where Pompano Beach turns into Loderdale by the sea. And as it turns out, that spot is almost directly in the middle, one of my favorite running routes. Almost exactly halfway. Which at first I found kind of annoying, being that, no, I was not where I wanted to be or intended to. be and no I certainly could not relax. The heat and the sun and the miles to go always begged to differ, right? False advertising.

It was not in fact here. After all, here in this context suggests one has arrived and how can arrival feel like missing pieces and unknowns? How can it feel like so far to go? In the valley of despair, can one really be here? The more and more I took that route, the more the little sign became a landmark in and of itself. Something that I looked forward to, its own little destination, a point in which I could both look over my shoulder and realize how far I've come, as well as find reassurance for the journey ahead. It was a manufacturer pat on the back, a change in narrative.

Because here's the deal, it's easy to feel lost in the middle. It just is. It's easy to feel empty-handed after days or months or years. It's easy to fall into the trap of never enough. But if you step back and adjust your perspective, you see it for exactly what it is. A beautiful process. Here doesn't have to be the predetermined,

destination. Here can be the culmination of all the steps it took you to arrive at the now. Here can be the lessons learned along the way. It can be the reassurance that while you're not done, you've overcome every obstacle up until this point and there's no reason to think you won't continue that pattern moving forward. So relax. You're here. Perhaps here being a place of trust. The ability to look in the mirror and sure see your opportunity areas, but way more importantly, see your brilliance. Your tenacity, your courage, after all, when armed with those traits, it doesn't matter where you're dropped off at or placed. There's no finish line that's too far away, no mountaintop that's.

beyond you where you end up in the game of life will be directly correlated to the level of trust you have in yourself to play so relax you're here maybe here being that point where you can make the leap you've always wanted to make where you can feel confident that the unknowns don't stop you they inspire you where you see the past as proof that you're limited limitations exist only where you decide they do and here is not a wall or a barrier but a springboard to the next great adventure Where you find that spark of inspiration to push against life and see what comes back To test the waters ride the wave that self-identified beginning

That lights a fire in your soul so relax you're here. Maybe here being the point where you realize you've been selling yourself just a little bit short, where the image of yourself that you've created in your head is lacking. The metaphorical shoes you've been wearing have been outgrown. And here is where you change them for something that better suits you. Where you make a contract with yourself to endure the growing pains and the discomfort where you willingly pick up the pace in exchange for that adrenaline rush

associated with leveling up. The excitement of the wind on your face, the increased speed opening up your mind to the realization that you haven't even scratched the surface with regard to your potential. And that alone is a gift. So relax. You're here.

Maybe here is a reminder to simply enjoy the now. To stop thinking only about what's down the road and look around. To realize that the future is just a fantasy about what might come. In the past is a retelling of stories that have already occurred. Making your experience on this planet only right now. A culmination of right now is stacking up to comprise your entire life. And while the destination is the purpose that pulls you through, the very idea of a destination is essentially trading a current right now for a future one.

So maybe look around and enjoy what you have. Appreciate the moment in all its glory. Relax. You're here. See, whatever here means to you, it's essential that we know even in the heart of the storm, the chaos of battle mid-jurney, that you have everything you need. Not just to survive, but to adjust and re-examine, to identify what means the most to you the most to you and follow that like your life depends on it.

Relax, you are here. Here being the inflection point that separates the past from the future, that cuts your negative self-talk and those self-imposed limitations down to the nothings that they are. For me, that sign and its message have become a reminder of the duality. of life, the tight rope that I have to walk between chasing down the dreams that pull me out of bed every morning and simultaneously cherishing the moments that comprise the journey. Sure, it's the halfway point of my run and sure I have ways to go. Sure, celebrating now would be counterproductive

but breathe in. Look what I get to do. Look where I am, look what I have. They say we live not for the destination, but the journey, and I think that's right. I think in a way the finish line might just be the excuse we give in order to experience the steps that take us there. It's the chase, the pursuit, and so relax, you are here, reminds me that I'm in the thick of the good stuff. Ed Helms, at a commencement speech, Quotes his character from the office, Andy Bernard, as saying, I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you've actually left them. Well, this might just be that reminder.

Grow to something you've yet to become, but with everything you have, appreciate who you are now. Respect that finish line, but cherish the race. When the time comes and we've reached the end of our days reflecting back, I think there are two successes that I'll identify as I'm reminiscing. First, I don't want to look back and feel regret for a lack of courage. I don't want to wish that I'd been bolder in pursuit of my dreams. No, I want to accomplish the unthinkable, capture the unobtainable. But second, I also don't want to when reflecting back to realize that I never looked around and enjoyed the ride, that I didn't know what I had the entire time, that when things felt like a lot, I forgot that a lot was in and of itself a gift.

So when the pressures of life seem to consume us, the expectations overwhelm us, the story disappoints us. Let's find the time to pause. Take a breath and relax because it just might be life's way of telling us. We're here. You're not here just to get by, to check a box. No, you're here for something different. Maybe it's your desire to chase down that sunrise while the rest of the world sleeps, to embrace the difficult, the inconvenient, in exchange for that little bit of glory you'll soon feel

as you pour your morning coffee and start your day. Or maybe it's your fascination with the fact that every time you ask yourself if there's more, if you have anything, left, the answer always seems to be yes. And maybe that's it. That what you're capable of in a world of finitude and constraint and limitation seems to be the only thing with absolutely no bounds. The human soul undergoes a sort of transformation, if you will. Every time we look around at what

currently is and decide it will soon be the gateway to something more. And that's life's best kept secret. The word decide. The idea that we choose whether to accept things as they are or to change them. That we have within us the ability to push further than we've ever pushed. To find what was once only existent in our imaginations. And this will always be true. You get what you seek. What you're willing to endure. And while some see this tradeoff as too much

as a cost far too expensive, others see it as the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to give some of you so that you can grow and improve all of you, see each footstep is far more than a point on the earth. It's a declaration, a commitment to give more than most would give so that you can feel what only a few will feel. So remember that when things seem trivial, when it's easier to call it a day or turn it around, that the simple act of continuing forward puts you in the mind.

minority. It's positioning you to experience life as it should be lived. You're here to both cherish the now and cash it in. Let the value of your courage compound. Let your resilience remind you just how much control you have and how much is waiting for you. If only you say yes when it hurts, move forward when the path is clear, believe when the possibility only exists in your head. You're here because while it may be easier to watch life go by from the cheap seats, the risk, the sacrifice is worth being able to look back someday down the road and know that at least you had the courage to play the game.

Most often, our greatest source of pain comes not from the moment, but what we suspect that moment will mean. It's not the situation, but in how we perceive the situation. This is an idea or a concept that I connect pretty directly with fitness or running, simply because that's where, to me, it's most apparent. It screams at me. So being that I run quite a bit, let's dive into that. Most days, when I'm out for a jog or I'm running it strictly for endurance, you know, cardio base, chance to get out there, breathe or reset thing.

But then there are times when I say to myself, this run's going to be a little different. It's going to be dedicated to seeing what I'm made of. I'm going all out, going to push. And what I find is I gradually increase. my speed over the course of the eight-mile route is that my brain likes to focus on what's ahead. It becomes fixated on how much is to come, consistently warning me about the distance yet to be traveled and asking whether I have enough left in the tank to get there. It's most extreme in the last mile or so when my body is most exhausted, when I'm pushing as hard as I possibly can,

It's a straight shot. I'm looking up at the road ahead. My eyes are constantly reminding my brain that I'm not yet done, that there's more. Creating an association between more road and more hurt. In a way, creating a little cycle of panic that sometimes appears and hangs out as I'm simultaneously talking myself out of slowing down. Now is not the time to pump the brakes have come too far and the finish line is so close. But it eventually dawned on me that while the adversity contained in this last stretch of

the run is difficult, it's the idea that more weights ahead. That's what hurts the most. It's not the body but the internal voice that's creating the discomfort. In fact, I bet I could run for hours and hours and hours at this speed if it were a life or death situation. If I had to, it's not the task laid out before me. It's my perception. And so this little line has helped me rethink and readjust my approach. Not just in situations like this, or when doing interval training or working out, but when trying to do everything else associated with my life.

Grow my business, build a brand, nurture relationships, push boundaries in any other aspect of what I do. Three words. Stay within yourself. It goes to the idea that. Your job is so incredibly simple that it's almost insulted. Put one foot in front of the other. Sure, look up so you know where you're going. But you don't need to analyze or interpret or dissect.

There's no gap between there and here, then and now. There is only this moment. And so step. Again and again and again. When the brain starts thinking about how much is left to go, I've betrayed the mantra. Nothing external is allowed. Stay within yourself.

You have a job to do and you're capable, beyond capable of doing it. But the external must be kept out. The distraction must be. kept at bay and sometimes when you get it right you hit this stride this pace that is equivalent to flying a rhythm that's unparalleled stay within yourself step by step by step the air making its way into your lungs and then exhaled back out into the world when you simplify life down in such a way Extremely large things are exposed for what they really are, a mere commitment to do the little

things consistently. It's funny to look back on all the places I've run over the years and identify or match the geography with the lesson, the routes with the epiphanies, the maps forever entwined in my life, what they gave me and what it meant as I took it all forward into the world. And here we are again, new chapter, new lesson. And after the shoes come off, the rest of the day commences this little stretch, this last mile plays the role of mentor. Eddie's simplification is everything, it says. The hard thing is not that hard because it's not that big, it's not that complex.

Your monsters are self-creative. Your hurt isn't a spotlight on the now. It's pointed at the road ahead. It's asking what if things go wrong? It's asking how long can this be sustained? It's asking whether I have the strength to endure this. Every question breathes life into an adversary that has no business existing in my world.

They're not helping me get to any finish line. In fact, they're that negative self-talk. I try so hard to mitigate. Except here they are very good at disguising themselves as reality, as just facts of the case, but they are not. They don't belong anywhere near me or around me. Breathe and step. In fact, I need to deconstruct the world around me down into one word now.

And what you find when you remove the emotion, the excess, is the simplicity of the task at hand. Maybe not easy, but simple. And complexity is the enemy of progress. Right now may not be comfortable, but at least you're operating with clarity. And that is always enough to simply carry on, to move forward, to stay. within yourself and that's what this is all about asking the question where are you letting what's down the road get in the way of what you're doing now where are you letting the pain of what's not yet here the pain of roads not yet traveled

keep you from doing something that is 1,000% in your wheelhouse that you are capable of see in this example it's to breathe and step. It's to in a sense turn the mind off and go into autopilot, find the pace and hold the pace. But the question is, what is your last mile? What metaphorical race are you running? Have you identified, one, the finish line, and two, what needs to happen right now to get there? Forget about the gap right now. What is the simple solution? What is required of you in this moment?

And perhaps most importantly, what needs to be pushed out and mitigated? It's often true that we stagnate, not because we don't have the tools or ability, but because we're oversaturated with the wrong things, the wrong routines, the wrong thoughts. The best way to break through that self-imposed wall. to actually build walls that will prevent complexity from even attempting to rear its ugly head. What is your run, breathe cycle? So stay within yourself because when you do, you see how strong you are. Stay within yourself because you are the author of your story.

Stay within yourself because all you need is now to push forward. Stay within yourself because that is where the power lives. Stay within yourself because the only way to lose is to let the external end. Stay within yourself because at some point that road will have been traveled down. The finish line will have. have been crossed and it will have been precisely your ability to condense it all down into the simple, the ground under your feet that allowed you to get there. Life tried to pull you 1,000 different directions, tell you 1,000 different stories, but

you pushed it all away. that power within the moment and stayed within yourself. It's easy to look back and think about all the things you could have done differently, especially since as we get older, we get wiser. Right? Time provides this beautiful gift of clarity. And ultimately we realized things like maybe a lot of our hesitation was unwise. was unwarranted. Maybe a lot of our decisions or indecision was fear-based.

And knowing that, it's easy to look over your shoulder and feel like you could have lived a different life or taken a different path. At the very least wish you'd done things differently. But the reality is, everything you've done has, in fact, taken you here. To this moment, And when you dwell on the past, the should-haves and the could-haves, you completely diminish

the power of right now, the current moment. You completely underestimate the knowledge and the wisdom you've been collecting for years whose single job is to assist you in your next move. It's a compounding of experience. The good, the bad, and the ugly has landed you right here right now, and how beautiful right here is. The infinite blank page. The forever fresh start. And that's not to say the past doesn't matter.

It's to suggest that your prior discomfort, your mistakes and lessons have equipped you to deviate from the root. teens and the cyclical nature of your past. The past is a gateway to now, not a life sentence. And there's a difference. You say last year or last month or last week is valueless because you did X when you should have done Y. I say to that, doing the wrong thing has positioned you to now do the right thing. Potential energy.

right like a spring being pulled back tighter and tighter and tighter awaiting its opportunity to propel forward you don't get that without those could-haves and should-haves they're integral to the process the reason you'll be different moving forward you can say i wish i'd taken more chances i wish i was bolder I wish I followed my heart. Two pieces of news for you. One, that's fantastic. It seems as though you're now aware of those times you fell short and can therefore mitigate them moving forward.

And two, you're not dead yet. We have to stop looking at yesterday like it's anything but a ladder to greater competence. The gymnasium for your decision making. Anyone can cherry pick the past. But the practical me asks, what does beating yourself up about what's gone do for you? What does it add to your life?

Except for enabling and legitimizing the same identity you're looking to evolve and move on from. See, we don't limit ourselves because of right now. It's always because of yesterday. what happened, look what I lost, look how things turned out. And it's like, take the data and trudge forward. You now have the tools to move right into that darkness of night. And in five years you'll look back and sure, you'll wish you did things differently. And same five years after that. But that's why life is a journey and not a standardized test. We are picking up the

pieces as we go, painting the masterpiece one brushstroke at a time. And even though you might wish yesterday's brushstroke was a different color, a little darker, different shade, it's just as valid as all the others in contributing to the mural in its totality. So sure, be your greatest critic. But be your greatest ally as well. And that calls for being bold enough to let go of what's gone. Extract the value from yesterday and use it to build now. Something, anything, that's up to you, but hear the message.

It's up to you now. Not who you were yesterday or what you did. not how people saw you or how you used to live your life. You have an opportunity now to go wherever your heart desires. Stronger and wiser at this point in time than you've ever been in your life. So rather than dwell on what's gone, how about asking how you can take those pieces of yourself and build it may be

that our greatest gift in life is that we're always one decision away from transformation. We're always one decision away from a new path with new experiences, new beliefs, new identity, one decision away from a totally different life. It's almost incomprehensible. That all the days leading up to now, everything we knew ourselves to be can be discarded and left with one swing of an axe gone. What is more miraculous than that? We live at the intersection of two imaginary worlds, right? The past and the future. Past is gone and essentially meaningless.

Yet as the provider of our identity, it still rules over us. Our sense of who we are comes from our collection of past memories. That imaginary world of yesterday, like the elephant tied to the chair with a rope. It hasn't realized it's strong enough to break free. It doesn't know that what confines him is not the rope, but acceptance of a lie. And that's what the past, that's what identity is, a lie. We are not yesterday, we are right now. And from the trivial things to the significant things we get wrapped up in that lie,

we overlook the gift of control we have over our future. What does it mean to say, I'm not a mourning person? That in your past you hadn't conditioned yourself to wake up early? Okay. What does it mean to say, oh, I let people walk all over me? That in your past you didn't stand up for yourself? What does it mean to say I'm awkward or shy or I struggle with writing or running or public speaking? So maybe you did.

But what does that have to do with right now? What does that have to do with realizing? the control you have over your life. Because simply realizing you can disconnect from these narratives that they are not you is the superpower. Realizing that calling yourself a bad student because you fail the test, it's like never taking off your raincoat because it rained yesterday. It's like, no, the sun is out, adapt. Then once you realize right now is the beginning of the rest of your life,

you can start making little changes. Identify not who you were, but who you'd love to be, and move towards it. Read the power of habit and atomic habit so that you can understand change isn't crazy or big or scary. It's moving little things in your life around so that they work for you, not against you. Start waking up and thinking about not what has happened but what can happen, not what can go wrong, but what can go right. You are always one decision away from a totally different life because you're always one decision away from change. from walking away from the narratives that you have accepted. And so remember that.

But remember it not just when things are fine. Remember it when you're struggling, when you feel restless or uneasy, unsure, uninspired, sad, angry, not content with the reflection in the mirror. When you feel that negativity, you're not looking at what can be, you're looking at what you have been. and there's no room at the table for that distraction. Not when you can reach out and start building something new. Not when you can put on a new pair of shoes and walk down a different path. You are always one decision away from a totally different life. And that decision should be first and foremost to choose future over past.

Your next step over the last one, choose your next step over the last one. ideal world and start building. Goodbyes are tiny beginnings. Sunsets. They grant a very special kind of permission. A green light to take all the value and the beauty all the life lived and carry it into tomorrow. Which sounds easy enough. But then again, on paper, so does running a marathon or climbing Mount Everest. And I'd wonder, how could something be painful and transformative? How could something break me and be good for me? It's not hard to see the dissonance there, right?

But here's the thing. Oddly enough, that seemingly paradoxical experience is consistent. Consistent throughout our lives, appearing every time we grow. Our darkest moments feel like endings, perhaps because we're hanging on to what was, the ideas that felt like home.

But in actuality, those moments, those goodbyes, are already the beginning of something new. The same way midnight's sparks the beginning of a new calendar day right in the heart of darkness, unbeknownst to us while the world is turned off and our minds are asleep. A hello in disguise. When we said goodbye, my heart immediately declared war on my mind. Why? Because her not being there didn't make sense. Because when you care about something, you fight for that thing, because goodbyes, well, they signify change.

And I liked this chapter. But my brain fired right back. Right idea. Just wrong time. What's the reality of this situation? Do you ask yourself that? It said, letting go can be the hardest thing and the right thing simultaneously that I should know the rule. And so goodbyes were said and sons they sat.

And we went to sleep in separate beds, not knowing anything about the future, except that it would be different. Way different than today. And immediately in comes the heart. Picks up the mic, tap, tap, is this thing on, check one, two. Hey, make sure you're aware of what's gone. Make sure you spend your time thinking about what you don't have. See the blank pages they used to have writing. You see the empty space that used to be occupied.

Make sure you shine that spotlight on what was once there. Oh, it's empty? How does that make you feel? Asks the heart. Then the door opens, in comes the brain, the pragmatist, more direct, certainly more matter of fact. Says, hey, time to move. You have things to build and places to go.

You can't let that blood pumping organ get in the way of what really matters here. Place up your shoes. Open the door. Go make a name for yourself, kid. Go be that guy. You get what you focus on. Remember, focus on the reality, the process, the analytics. Data doesn't lie.

Your heart does. though. I let them fight it out for a few. Our desire for faction so deeply ingrained that I feel like I'm looking down at myself while my right half fights my left half. How best do we go forward here? Right, wrong, yes, no, stop, go, before realizing, like so many things the truth hides in the gray space. Maybe in an obtuse way, They both want the same thing. The truth is it hurts because change hurts. But that doesn't mean I've lost more than I've gained.

It doesn't mean that yesterday's memories won't impact the minutes that make up tomorrow. Nothing is disappearing into thin air here. This isn't a magic trick. The time spent doesn't suddenly become meaningless. No, it comes along because I'll continue to move along and those moments are now me. So recalibrate. Acknowledge that.

When I watch a movie, see a concert, go on a breathtaking hike, run up the coast in the morning, they are experiences that take me somewhere beyond the physical. Their peak experiences. But they are not forever. And interestingly enough, upon their completion, they're not quite gone either.

They make a little home for themselves somewhere in the soul, like a candle that as small as it might burn is never truly extinguished, a light to help guide the way forward. And so when we find ourselves in the dark, how powerful that we remember to reach for it.

As the saying goes, you have everything you need. And you do because of everywhere you've been and everyone that's helped keep your soul ablaze. You are the continuation of the best story ever written. And no hero makes it on his own. And so that night I decided to mix things up a bed. Sit under the bright lights of the South Florida sky, glistening pieces of wisdom that share for free.

And the moon, that moon, which I recently learned we can only see because the sun's light reflects off of it. Perhaps they too knew each other in a previous life. But me, I got in my car, drove out to the beach, a nice change of scenery, figured it would be a real treat to hear myself think, to find clarity. climbed up onto a lifeguard stand, let my feet dangle over the edge, and just looked out, watched the waves crash on the sand.

The clock would strike midnight soon, and while the world slept, I would be given a brand new day. And what a relief, because the previous one was painful, the previous one hurt, the previous one broke me. But as I sat there, waves crashing, feet dangling, I was starting to feel like those little pieces just might come together to comprise something meaningful. As Hemingway put it, the world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places. Well, under those stars, I felt like I could be strong. Like once again, I could be anything, and the heart and the head can be. bicker all they want. But they're saying the same things just through each other.

One sees what's no longer there, the other sees what's next, and that's what goodbyes do. Force us to look around and realize what we've become as we start the next journey. Eyes a little wider, soul shining a little brighter, because of her, because of me, because of the blank spaces, because of what will someday occupy them, because of what it all means. And just like that, midnight. Quiet, calm. Those waves, they crashed, and they crashed, and they crashed celebrating the new day. They've certainly been here before, and they'll be here tomorrow long after I come and go.

And in a way, my impermanence is what makes the now so precious, why it all matters, why the sun and moon conspire to shine light on this very lifeguard stand at this very moment in time, reminding me that down is not out, wandering is not lost, that I am stronger than I've ever been. and sometimes it takes a goodbye to remind us. Standing on that ledge, staring out at what we know we need to do, at the moment we least want to do it, well, that's where the future is shaped. When procrastination feels like the answer, or avoidance the optimal choice, where does one draw their strength?

They say routine is a powerful tool in this fight. And I believe that. When something becomes habit or part of the process instilled in the day to day, there's just simply less room for negotiation. We show up with our eyes on the prize. But here's the thing, we are human. There's simply going to be days when the world pushes back. Life is a game of complete.

game of complexity. It's unpredictable. You want to talk about the good days, fine. It's easy to show up when we're feeling good. And thankfully, those days outnumber the others, right? Creating the bulk of our consistency, 10,000 hours. But not all of them. Life is about momentum. myself, after coming off a pretty terrible weekend for a variety of reasons, I found myself on that ledge again. When the alternative route made itself known, where it felt mighty tempting to call it off, take a break where my worldview had come into question, I had to ask myself, who are you? Really? It's easy to rationalize walking. away in these moments.

In his book The War of Art, Stephen Presfield says, our job in life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it. Well, who would have known how much goes into that process of becoming? How committed we have to be to the road before us,

and not only when it's sunny, but when the skies are dark and gray. And how if we allow ourselves in those difficult moments to say, sometimes it's okay to wave the white flag, it's okay to walk away, then you leave the door cracked to make that same decision at any other point in time. Quitting, conceding can very easily become a habit

and a habit we want to avoid at all cost. I have this little rule that no matter what, I can never leave dishes in the sink overnight. Never. I treat this arbitrary little promise to myself, like it's life or death, which, again, random, but hear me out. It's half practical, half symbolic.

I know that if I say, okay, just this once, I've effectively removed the barrier separating order from chaos. If it's okay just this once, then it's okay 1,000 times. And a messy sink becomes a messy kitchen, becomes a messy house, becomes a cluttered mind. Extreme, maybe. But critical, right? Here is where the symbolism comes in.

I understand how fragile that divide. how when I'm tired or have a headache or I'm busy, it's still priority. Because I want to hammer my subconscious with the understanding that I show up when it's inconvenient. That very moment when, you know, I could easily trick myself into thinking it's small or dumb or arbitrary. It's a sink, who cares? Right. That's the moment that I need to bleed into the rest of my life. And I think that's exactly it, right?

the floodwaters are always looking to come in and how many cracks until the room gives way. You know, when you've had a few rough days, when you've lost something important to you, when you're sad or disappointed about an outcome, what then? When life calls you to exceed expectations, what then? Because the world around you will always give you evidence to support dialing it back, right? selling yourself short if that's the case you're looking to make. But here's the deal. Should you choose the inverse, you are strong enough to be better than you've ever been in those challenging

moments. You can show up when it hurts. You can reestablish your why and carry forward even after the turbulence of yesterday. Life will never be easy. It will never all make sense. And this understanding has helped me to roll up my sleeves and continue forward. When I'm disappointed with yesterday or overwhelmed by the conditions or landscape of the moment, when I question how much I have left. But I've found that when I look hard enough, there's always something to draw. And that's the message of note. That's what we must show ourselves.

When you're on that ledge, this can be where you're at your best. This is where you get to uncover just how deep rooted your greatness is. This is where you set the standard and the pace for everything to come. There's a saying, don't worry about losing other people. worry about losing yourself while trying to please other people. And see, holding on to our authentic selves not always easy.

In fact, Emerson said to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. And that holds true and especially in our fast-paced world, shiny objects constantly buzzing around us. Sometimes it seems like the only

way to see with clarity is to keep our eyes closed. I was in the car the other day, had Spotify on shuffle, and a Jason Aldeen song came on. It's called Better at Being Who I Am. And it's essentially about a guy who loses himself in a relationship a little bit at a time. And the chorus is basically him sharing his epiphany, looking around and going, whoa, what the hell? happened. And it was laid out in a way that wasn't sort of the obvious, blatant, you know, be yourself. I mean, sure, part of the theme was how important being yourself is, but the emphasis was on how fragile of a thing that can be. He put a spotlight on the idea that he got good at forgetting he was in a place that he knew he didn't belong, how we can become master.

of forgetting that, champions of rationalization. And that was his message, being that he has somehow, somewhere, lost himself along the way. That concession after concession can ultimately put you in a place where you don't know who you are, where you can know something isn't quite right,

and still slowly and subtly, it creeps in. It can consume your, reality, and that's what cut through me. Not simply because it occurred. It wasn't so much the epiphany itself, but more so that he showed how easily the erosion of this self can occur in our lives, how easily we lose ourselves, how sneaky the whole thing can be. And this particular example is pointing to a relationship with his girlfriend,

and it certainly can be this. But it doesn't have to be, and often it's not. It can be a job you don't want to do, but hanging in there just one more day turns into more days than you can count. It can be time with the wrong people, doing the wrong thing, going against your best judgment.

It can be the business decision for a short-term gain that ultimately points you in a direction you don't want to go. right, before giving life to that convenient phrase, well, I've come too far to turn back now. Life is like a small child, always gently tugging on his mom's sleeve

to get her to stop doing what she's doing and go get ice cream, right? It's the temptation to move away from the task at hand to abandon the principles just slightly, the objectives, just enough that they'll be pulled off track, right? That's always there. And to reiterate, because this nuance is why I think the idea is so important.

The message is not simply about being authentic. I think we all understand the value and necessity of authenticity, or at least I hope. Your value is in who you are. The things that make you unique are the gateway to a life of fulfillment. What makes you you, and how can you delve into that? share it with the world. That's the good stuff. Okay, so let's presume we know this. My fascination and goal is to point out the fact that so much around us is looking to take that authenticity and subtly over time transform it, that if we are not aware of what we are, we will lose who we are. And that's

where you end up in those wrong relationships, wrong places, doing the wrong things. A lot of times it wasn't deliberate or conscious. It wasn't one swing of the axe. It was letting yourself slip away one day at a time. It's the pressure of an infinite number of things, right? The billion choices you have pulling you in all different directions. It's the people in your life that may have different incentives than you. It's that deep biological tendency to want to appear like you're winning now.

It's your brain telling you to do what the crowd does because the alternative creates pain. It's not wanting to let others down because you want to be their source of happiness, completely forgetting that an empty cup has nothing to offer. It's the deception online. The highlight reels, filtered pictures, humble brags, and exaggerated success stories, all prompting us to say, well, then I must be able to be. have miscalculated. My path must be the wrong path. And maybe we don't come to this realization and immediately jump ship, but we take in a little water every day. Every time we open the app and feel lesser because of an impossible standard. Every time we put the thing that meant something to us on hold for someone else. Every time we chase that shiny object in exchange for what we expect, we expect, will be short-term validation.

But here's the crazy part. It's like when I shut everything off, when it's just me and my thoughts, no distraction, I have a very good sense of who I am and what I want, just in my gut. I know what feels right to me. And it's only when the chaos comes in that the target can get blurry and the goal seems to live a little further away. And maybe that's why that song had an impact, why the light bulb went off.

The idea that something so obvious, so powerful, so important, can allude us and deceive us. There's something to that. I'm better at being who I am. Of course I am, and so are you. So why don't we? Why isn't there an emphasis there?

Why is that something that doesn't get our thought and attention? We can't afford to forfeit that. instinct. And so this is the part where I remind myself and everyone listening that you get nothing in life without some semblance of self-trust. You have to take the time to understand who you are and trust yourself to build that from the ground up. Without that, you'll get swept up by the currents of everyday life. But to know what matters in your world and to hold onto it with conviction, that's what it's all about. And then, yes, you'll have success letting people into your life.

When they contribute to who you are as a person. When they align with your values, when they feel like wind on your sales. And yeah, of course, take the proven paths and utilize the beneficial tactics, but only when they align with what you are building. If not, walking away is the best option wandering around until you find alignment. Now that brings more value than a toolbox of the wrong tools. And sure, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. I get that. That's called being responsible. But those things, as annoying as they are, should be contributing to something that does matter to you.

The building's foundation is not fun or sexy, but it's necessary. Just make sure you believe in what will ultimately be built on top of it. Otherwise, you are most certainly wasting your time. Your gift is you. You have something to share, something to explore, nurture and grow. Stand in front of that, never hide behind it. Protect it. It's the benchmark against which all other things should be measured.

We're all better at being ourselves than some impersonation of what we think the world wants us to be. I think the question comes down to, will you allow that greatness for yourself? Will you be courageous enough to keep the spotlight on what matters most? Will you maintain the awareness? that when you're walking down a path that doesn't align with who you want to be, you can self-correct. Turn around. Put emphasis on that part of you that lights you up. Because that will not only benefit you, but it will benefit everyone around you and ultimately benefit the world.

Let's talk about a point, a destination. What I believe to be a critical or the critical landing spot as we go about our lives. The intersection of purpose and value. Where our personal loves and passions collide with the gifts that we are capable of giving to the world. Someone once told me that if you're doing something you love, that it's not doing anything for others, It's just for you. It's not monetizable or adding external value.

That's fine, right? It's often incredibly healthy, but it's also a hobby, right? Not a job, business, or career. On the other hand, if you're doing something that does add some external value to others, but inside it feels wrong, you're not at all passionate or excited about it, you're now robbing yourself. one because you're exhausting your limited time on this planet going through the motions and two because if you aren't at all invested in or excited about that thing there's going to be little incentive to innovate to go above and beyond

to find that ever elusive value that hides in the fringes so the answer the goal as far as I'm concerned is searching and exploring until you've found that point, that aforementioned intersection, where you get both, where you wake up excited, thinking about what lies ahead throughout the day and are simultaneously able to add value to the community at large. That feeling of being able to pour your heart and soul into something while also knowing there is much at stake, it's extraordinary. The thing is, though, it's often a challenge to capture. I remember I was invited to do an interview years ago, one of the first I'd ever done.

And I still remember this question, right, to this day. How did you end up a writer and the speaker? Did you plan for it? Was this the goal? And I remember saying, no, it wasn't the goal. And he asked, so you fell into it? And I kind of said, yeah, that's about right. I fell into it. That was essentially that. And as I look back now, that answer, even all of these years later, drives me crazy because it does such a disservice to the truth. That's like saying someone fell into their dream job. How does anyone fall into any role? No, life is about growing, learning, adapting, and repeating the cycle. It took me time and persistence to find that intersection of internal purpose and external value.

And I talk about the journey a lot, so I don't want to go into too much detail, but very briefly, you know, I went from a corporate position where I may have been adding some value but was pretty dead inside. I then moved to, you know, playing acoustic shows and writing music around Boston.

And it was an improvement. I certainly enjoyed that to some extent, but had a ways to go. And also the extra. Internal value wasn't quite there. And then moved to writing speeches, which I discovered writing was what I loved about the music. That was an epiphany. That was a light bulb moment.

So I started writing more and more and more, like a crazy person, and started to finally feel that power of impacting others in a positive way. Okay, noted, right? This is a good thing. Keep moving forward. I started moving on to making videos combined with writing. and oh man, getting warmer, right? And by the way, video is scalable, so I'm helping and adding value to even more people.

They move on to YouTube, keynote speaking, and ultimately the media company I have today. And so I look at all that, right? The whole process, pretty sloppy. Right, a lot of unforeseen changes, a lot of things I didn't expect or anticipate, a lot of poking and prodding. And every move was getting me closer

to what brings me joy in my left hand, well, I held on to what makes society a better place in my right hand, right? What adds value to those around me? I wanted to find that intersection, right? While cutting away things that I wasn't crazy about, right, didn't like, the so-called hobbies that I enjoyed but, you know, weren't going to be the train that I took to impact or prosperity. So, no, this exact career progression was not planned, right, in any way. But this feeling, finding this spot in life, obtaining this sense of purpose was incredibly methodical.

And so now when I'm asked that same question, I give a very different answer. And that's critical because it's hard to not know what the future holds. It's uncomfortable. One demographic I get a lot of emails from is college grads, right? The whole world's in front of them and they don't. know what to do. My answer is always the same. You don't have to know what the future holds. You're not supposed to know. The idea is to explore. It's to move closer to the things that make you feel alive little by little. While, by the way, simultaneously cutting away the things that, sure, were worth a shot,

but after some exploration, you kind of feel like, eh, not for me. It's a continual process. It's a continual of honing in. And looking for that spot where it's like this makes me feel good. This is the starting point. So now, how do I position myself so that I can add value to others while doing this? How can I be a light in the world? And I believe wholeheartedly we all have that. We're all capable of that.

It's just different for all of us and requires searching. We have to get over the fact that it's scary stepping off that ledge to navigate the waters of life, knowing that this just might be one of those experiences that goes awry. That, yeah, you put the time in, the energy in. And all you left with was the understanding that, wow, this definitely is not for me. And that's perfectly fine, right? It's like noted, now on to the next. I say all the time life is not a standardized test.

Now, I like that metaphor, because it dispels the notion that there is a simple right or wrong approach. That's not how anyone has ever arrived at excellence. Excellence is an experiment. Excellence is a journey, and journeys take courage. Believe me, it might seem easier not to go. It might seem easier to stay where you are in order to make this or that person happy. To save yourself the short-term angst of not having a plan. But in the long run, if you're not happy and you don't, in some capacity, step into that unknown,

you eventually come face to face with that word we all hear so much about regret. And that is how I see the process. Saying no to what you want so that you can avoid this short-term discomfort is essentially picking up the phone and making an appointment with regret. The only question is whether the reservation is in two months, two years, or two decades.

So why not set out in search of that remarkable place? That intersection of what you love and what lights up the world. What prompts you to jump out of bed in the morning and what just might inspire others to do the same. When you are in doubt, take the question, is it possible and substitute it for, how can I get there?

When overwhelmed, remember that you are not alone in your frustration or your uncertainty, that the world around you was built by people, men and women from all different backgrounds and all different places with all different stories who took that light in themselves and didn't stop fighting, pushing, searching until it became a beacon, not just for them,

but for those around them. I said it before, I'll say it again, we are all capable of that. that version, whatever it is in your specific life. You can have that reality, you can be that person, but you must both believe it's possible and start moving towards that life changing. What's the difference between simple and easy?

Well, simple is straightforward, uncomplicated. Easy, on the other hand, means achieved without great effort. The difference between those two words is subtle, but essential to understand. One deals with the complexity of an outcome. The other, your will and determination to achieve that outcome. Becoming who you most want to be is simple. But becoming who you most want to be is not easy. Just like walking is simple, yet hiking up a mountain is not easy.

The procedure didn't change the context did. So let's talk about context. Let's talk about this cyclical nature of growth because it's not that most people can't. It's that most people won't. It's not that most people don't get how. It's that they don't have a strong enough why. The path is laid out before you, you just have to be willing to walk down it. Will you?

Step one, realize there's more out there. It's not that what you're doing now isn't amazing. It's just that yesterday's act of courage is now today's status quo. What was the spectacular is now the mundane. What was once the ceiling you had to jump to touch is now the floor you walk on. So at the very least, it prompts you to ask, well, what's next? Simple. Not easy.

Step two, the acquisition of courage. Yesterday's courage was a fight. It took a lot out of you, and it's ultimately what got you here. But it dropped you at the curb, it waved goodbye, and went on its merry way, and here you are. You can stay here. A lot of people do. You can reminisce of the glory days, the old path, yesterday's triumphs, or, you can do that perpetually uncomfortable exercise of vulnerability.

Stepping into tomorrow's unknown, reminding yourself that life's greatest rewards have a hefty price tag, and that price is discomfort. But I've already played this game, one might think. No, what you did was learn the rules. Now it's time to apply them to a new setting, and around goes the merry-go-round. It might seem like a replication

from the horizontal, but here's the secret. You can't see the vertical. You have yet to look down and see your ascent, see what you're becoming. Just by staying on, holding tight, just by believing in yourself enough to begin again, you are fanning those tiny flames of courage in your soul that wait to be spread like a wildfire.

Simple, but not easy. Step three, mistakes. Now, of course, it's not the mistakes themselves, you fear. It's what you think those mistakes will mean. Ridicule, embarrassment, lack of direction or identity, losing what you have, but here's the catch. When you realize the upside is greater than the downside, you liberate yourself. When you realize there's more to gain than to lose, Your potential for greatness is born.

How does one act on this? Mistakes. By making mistakes. By injecting yourself into the turbulence of progress. Our biology has not yet learned that the uncomfortable thing is the right thing. And that's why you get resistance. That's why it hurts. And it's why few people will accomplish what you will.

When it comes to your climb, every day is opposite day. When they run out, you're running in. When they play safe, you play for the victory. To become who you might be, you must learn how to get there. Mistakes are your curriculum. Simple, but not easy. Step four, trust yourself. Okay, sure, no problem, easy.

Well, yeah, it's easy when you're getting what you want. But evolution takes time, and there's nothing quite like giving and giving and giving and not getting. There's nothing quite like stepping up to the plate again and again and again and again and bringing no runners home. So how does one find the strength to continue walking up to the batter's box? Well, growth is exponential, and those swings and misses matter. The infield singles matter. Everything matters.

Because it's all chiseling your future self out of stone. Nothing is dependent on the next at bat as much as all at bats in the aggregate. Why success is so often considered to be sheer will, dependent not on the home run, but on the discipline, the self-belief to keep walking up to the plate. Repetition and adjustment. Repetion and adjustment. Repeat and refine, repeat, refine, those are the materials from which all things are made. Simple, but not easy.

And then we have the finale. The ending, step five. And adjust. At some point you'll be able to look over your shoulder and notice something that perhaps you hadn't before. Space. Space between where you are and where you started. It's not sudden, but gradual. And undoubtedly, with enough persistence, it will emerge.

These moments, they are precious. They are times to acknowledge what you've accomplished, the sacrifices you have made. They are life's way of reminding you what you are building and hope. you are building and who you are becoming. It's a time of celebration. Every little win means something, every small victory matters, so relish in it, and then transform it.

Normalize it, recognize that that mountain top is your foundation now. Your starting point has changed and so have you, which means so have your expectations. With an increase in ability comes an upgrade to what's possible, what's expected, and look at that. We have arrived at a new step one, realize there is more. This is the process for capturing that which life has to offer. If you can fall in love with that, appreciate it, respect it, while simultaneously understanding it's not scary,

it's dependent entirely on your ability to push forward. If you can understand, that there is nothing you can't do. Nowhere you can't go. Simple, yes, easy, no. But you're not in this for easy. You're in it for the journey, the growth, the adventure. You're in it because it's not easy. You'll see in time, as will the world,

that this decision to endure was simply the best one you ever made. What if The so-called detours in our lives weren't detours at all. What if they were the way? And all that time spent worrying, analyzing, critiquing, was nothing more than an inability to realize the perfection of the moment. The greatness that completely oblivious to us,

we've stumbled upon. Sometimes we can fall into the trap of looking at life in a way that I believe is too linear. And I certainly think we benefit from simplicity for a variety of reasons, clarity, the ability to make something repeatable, the gift of focus.

But here's the thing, truth is so rarely black and white. And that begs the question, well, what do we make of all that nuance in detail, all that other stuff? The surprises, twists, turns, mistakes, sudden goodbyes, unexpected, hellos, the cutting away and the taking on. Because life is messy, unpredictable. And our greatest lessons seem to come from places we least expect them to. Our most memorable moments are often somehow dropped into our laps. It's the whole John Lennon notion that life is what happens while you're busy making other plans, right?

And it's interesting to me that I've spent a decade pointing at this metaphorical mountaintop, pouring myself into a methodical plan, just to see again and again that the value continuously comes from the places I did didn't anticipate. Where if I kept my eyes closed or even blinked for a second, I might have missed it. Seems like the important things often dress themselves up as mistakes, problems, setbacks, and detour. So why bring all this up?

Well, in case you're like me, and you have that tendency from time to time to beat yourself up for the times you fell short. Let yourself down, the times you swung and missed. For anyone who thinks a deviation from the original path is in some way of failure, you know, my goal is to remind you that these things, every single one of them, they all come together to make you, you. And the more days I collect, the more I realize they are not only part of the child, but integral to the story line.

They're the character development. See, somewhere, at some point along the way, you'll have situations that change, things that come and go, relationships that fall apart, forever things that ended up being rather temporary. And that animal brain will tell you that, you know, this was somehow a total loss, that your days were wasted, your time was stolen,

stolen. It won't highlight for you how much you actually learned or that that point in time gave life to the next thing, which became the next, which opened the door to the next, that it was all part of this critical evolution. The thoughts you think, wisdom you now hold, none of that is ever realized without you having taken the path you took. So I ask, was that a detour? Or was that you being exactly where you needed to be? Then there will be ideas. The ones you thought you had ironed out, nailed, hit out of the park, the plans that would

change the narrative, rewrite the story. But ultimately, time just wouldn't allow them to live up to that potential. They'll fade away and leave you no choice but to pick yourself up and move on. And your pride, your emotions will absorb all that and tell you, hey, it was all for not. Another failure, a giant L. They won't show you how learning to brush yourself off. And start again is a muscle, a skill. And that being, as all people fall, the ones who never love,

learn to get back up are at a tremendous disadvantage in life. They won't explain that you're more courageous now than you've ever been up to this point in time, that depersonalizing our miscalculations and carrying on, well, it won't just help you succeed. It will be the reason you do, the X factor, the wind beneath your outstretched wings. And so I ask, Were those miscalculations detours? Or were they the wisdom that you needed more than anything else? And then of course, there will be the times you just don't know. Perhaps these are the hardest, you know, stuck, unsure.

And it's bad enough that you have no idea. But then you look around and it always seems like everyone else has it all figured out. Everyone else has it down. At least that's the message our brains like to create. You're alone in this. This is all you. It doesn't tell you that in reality, no one knows exactly where they're going or what they're doing.

And the ones who think they do are very often redirected and for good reason, as is the entire point of this message. It doesn't tell you that you don't. don't find yourself until you get lost. That life is not some predetermined checklist or series of qualifications, it's an adventure. Where some corners are turned, only for you to realize that the contents just around the bend aren't what you wanted. And some bridges are crossed only for you to see that maybe you were wrong about what

you thought was important. And that, contrary to how you might originally feel, is a beautiful thing. The times you're unsure remind you to keep your eyes open, to enjoy what's around you, capture the value, explore the vastness of a world that will eventually offer up all the pieces required to build what you need. And so I ask, was being unsure. being unsure, a detour, or the necessary starting point to live a life true to yourself. Perhaps we've been looking at this whole thing the wrong way, a little too black and white. What if what we need to do is, while in pursuit of whatever it is we're pursuing,

give ourselves a little more love, a little more understanding, because one cannot be their own greatest critic. If they forget to also be their own biggest fan, the two are inextricably linked, making it not okay to be so caught up in the former that one forgets the latter. Life is messy. So forgive yourself when your plans, from time to time,

mimic the pulse of the very world we are trying so desperately to now. Be there for yourself. Because every step is important, every moment matters. And again, I ask, what if the so-called detours in our lives weren't detours at all? What if they were the way? And all the time spent worrying, analyzing, critiquing, what if they were nothing more than an inability to realize the perfection of the moment, the greatness that we've

stumbled upon. Why is this battle you versus you? With all the complexity, all the obstacles out there, why are you your greatest opponent? Well, to put it simply, because all those obstacles and all that complexity still can't tell you no. They can't say enough is enough. They can't look back at you and say, let's just settle for what we have now. No, only you can do that.

The world may create the landscape. It may construct the terrain and those obstacles. But you are the sole decider on where along the way you stop. You decide how far you want to go and how much you are willing to endure. When it comes to your advancement or limitation, you are in the drivers. I just picked up a copy of Will Smith's recent book. And one of the ideas that stood out to me was resilient.

And this part in the book, it's actually kind of uncomfortable to get through, but incredibly powerful. he's talking about his childhood and the polarity of his father's personality. A man who would do anything to provide for his family, he took pride in that and saw it as his primary responsibility. But simultaneously was their greatest source of pain. And he mentions his father,

hitting his mother from time to time. In one particular example, struck his mother in the face so hard that it knocked her on. on the floor. And as she stood back up, she said something along the lines of, you can hit me, but you can't hurt me. And that was the first time Will understood as a child, the difference between what the outside world inflicts upon us and how we choose to react to that occurrence. That understanding is power. And so why you are the author of your story. In this sense that

every single thing dropped at your feet, every situation, every occurrence, they come with an implicit question attached, a question that you and only you are responsible for answering. The question is, what does this mean? And how you respond to that question determines whether you go left or right at that metaphorical fork in the road. Does the occurrence detract from your ambitions or is it a multiplier? Does it confirm your doubt and insecurities or is it your reason to rise to the occasion? An opportunity to stretch, to evolve. That's a gift. That's an invite. Not some sort of divine punishment. But the challenge is removing the layers until you arrive at the value. And it's hard. But you get there by saying yes. You get there. You

get there by choosing to see the value. And here's a quick example. My favorite thing about athletics, which was for me a ton of running. Now I throw more interval training in there, but the same concepts apply. It's a chance to remind myself that I don't negotiate with my weakness. I don't give myself an opportunity to rationalize with the voice that wants me to quit. that question, that fork in the road, I answered it. I charted its course before the workout started,

knowing this is going to be uncomfortable at times, but it's where I need to go. There will be no more thinking from here on out. And so today's workout, for example, switching, dead lifts, burpees to squats, to core, you don't think. You see the next requirement, the next task and you simply say, yes, you don't need your mind for this.

In fact, you go before your mind even knows where it's going. Because that dotted line has already been signed. And that was the breakthrough for me. When you separate what you have to do with the hurt associated with doing that thing, you free yourself. After all, what's there to hold you back if you can't talk yourself out of doing things. See, we tend to think our greatest adversity is the pain or the confusion or the unknown. But it's like, no, those are the byproducts of doing anything of significance.

The adversary is the voice that begs you to slow down because of those things. And if you can figure out in your own life how to create space between the two, how to separate the task and the discomfort often brought about by the task, there's nothing that will ever be able to slow you down. And look, I'm not saying that you walk around without ever utilizing the power of that brilliant mind you possess. The one's ability to think is everything, but what I am saying is there is a time to shut it off.

There is a time in which to avoid overthinking we simplify, action, reaction, reaction. One more mile, okay, end of story. One minute of jump squats next, Roger that, period. It's taking the emotion out of the process, refusing to leave the door cracked for the inner dialogue that says, hey, maybe you don't do this, maybe you slow down, are you sure you can handle what's next?

No, all of that is tuned out. It's assignment, go, next go, next go, next go. You know this is the right thing. did your thinking before grabbing the sword, shield, and stepping into the arena. Now guess what? It's instinct. It's doing what has to be done. And what has to be done hurts. And look, you didn't have to accept that. You didn't have to step in. You could have stayed home, but somewhere along the way you looked in the mirror and said, the difficult path is the one with the value. And now here you are. Face to face with hungry lions, clashing swords with your adversaries,

there's no turning back now. Now is when you parse out pain from the objective. The pain is now part of the audience. It's not with you or in you, it's watching from above as you do what you came here to do. So yes, those swords clash, but the eyes remain focused on what's ahead. And yes, those lions roar, but that's background noise. When you simplify your world into objective and action, objective action, objective action, objective action, there is time for nothing but forward progress. And sometimes that is all that is required of us. In the face of adversity, in the face of pain, self-doubt, in the face of discomfort,

can you break your world down into nothing but one single step forward? One more set, one more rep, one more session, one more attempt, Just one more. No rocket science, no negotiation. There's nothing to figure out here. It's walking the path before you. It's the discipline to carry on. It's one more swing of the axe.

Audience or no audience. Lions or no lions, you are bound to the universe at your feet. And that simplified concentration is why you will succeed. There are always barbarians at the gate. And I mean this, in the sense that the second we give less than our best, the second we let up. It's not just that we allow the important things to fade. No, we let the outside world infiltrate our existence.

In the history of civilizations by Will Durant, he said, something that I found incredibly interesting. He's talking about the fall of the Assyrian Empire, and he says, barbarism is always around civilization, amid it and beneath it, ready to engulf it by arms or mass migration or unchecked fertility. Barbarism is like the jungle. It never admits its defeat. It waits patiently to recover the territory.

has lost. See, in those civilizations Durant speaks of, they knew they were always living with a threat of an attack by outside forces that oppose it, knowing that calm and quiet wasn't the rule, but the exception to the rule. And in its weakest moments, it crumbles. In fact, Durant says, societies are born stoic and they die a peccurion, right? Created from discipline, but fall apart when people take what they have from. granted when pleasure and leisure become the standard.

It's almost like society is a submarine keeping out the ocean of human nature, constantly putting pressure on it, right? And why does this matter? Well, this is what's interesting. Compare it to this idea that I found in Jim Rohn's collection of lectures, where he's talking about life's concessions. He says even small compromises with regard to your goal matter. Leaving in, even a little bit, can be dangerous.

Saying, oh, it's just one time is a wolf in sheep's clothing. Because it begins the process of the downfall. Plants a seed. It cracks the door for those barbarians waiting patiently outside the gate. The ones who know discipline is not guaranteed. Discipline is built, manufactured, it must be protected. It is the exception to the rule. they are chomping at the bit, given the slightest opportunity, they will bring it to ashes.

And this matters because it's up to you to protect that, which is worth protecting. You ever have one of those days or weeks that are insanely productive or enjoyable, and you just think, this is great, I need to do more of this, I need to sustain this. And then time goes by. The outside world sneaks in and the prospect of continuing that routine. slips away, crashes, because parameters were not created. Because you let it slip once. And once doesn't mean you'll pick up where you left off.

No, once is whispering to your subconscious that it's okay to concede. It says, oh, it's all right, I'll stray from my path just for the important things. I'll only crack the door for the barbarians when I need to. But now you're in an interesting situation. How do you measure when it's important enough to quit or stop or cheat? And trust me, I understand that life is complex. It's not black and white, but the areas we grow the most are the same areas where we leave no room for negotiation.

X, Y, or Z is going to happen because it is who you are. In that door, it stays shut to the outside world of mediocrity telling you your plans don't matter. To the barbarians outside looking for any, excuse to infiltrate or destroy. And see, the point is not to avoid fun or leisure or the enjoyment of life. No, of course not. What I'm advocating is that we highlight the aspects of life that are non-negotiable, the things that mean a lot and are therefore subject to the ever-reaching arm of retreat. You don't have to do this. The barbarians will tell you once isn't the end of the world,

But what life shows us is that greatness isn't one crazy or monumental action. It's keeping the intruders out where they must be restrained, remaining diligent in one's pursuit towards something more. Yes, there are always enemies at the gate, but there is also within you the ability to keep them in check, to tame them, to differentiate between your world and your world. and theirs and in your life your world your empire you are the gatekeeper sometimes the most important things we do in our lives are the product of sheer will of taking little nothings that surround us and making something out of them in other words the greatest opportunities often the ones we need most they simply aren't obvious. They're hidden. Hidden behind what looks like difficulty, what appears to be

hopelessness. The reason I place so much value on a single step forward when we're overwhelmed or at a low point is because a single step means you're in the game. You're giving yourself a chance to find and obtain those little hidden away pieces. It can't be found when we stand still and dwell on a situation. Mobility is empowerment. And when we move forward only with what we have, we're continuously reminded that what we have is enough. We have the tools, the resources, and the ability. We just have to somehow remind ourselves that with those tools we are capable of building,

of creating the incredible. So a quick story about what I believe is the best song ever written, certainly one of them. And it's a little bit older now, but in 1998, a band called The Goo Goo Goo Dolls released a song called Iris. And that song changed my life. It was the first album I bought. It introduced me to music. I listened to it probably thousands of times. And even 24 years later, it gives me chills listening to it.

And so I wanted to find out a little more about the song. And I came across an interview from Johnny Resnick, who is the frontman and songwriter for the band. And in this interview, the interviewer is asking Johnny about the song, basic questions, how it came out, how he wrote it and stuff like that. And there's a few points that I think are amazing. I want to share them with you. First is the state he was in prior to writing the song. He just came out of a divorce, personal life sort of in shambles, coming off of a bad record deal, where the label from his previous album had done what record labels are notorious for,

and ended up keeping the vast majority of the revenue. He had writers block, you know, just felt down, and it left his home to stay at a hotel in Los Angeles. Bottom line is it's not a dream scenario by any stretch of the imagination. And then gets a call from his manager about potentially writing a song for the City of Angels soundtrack. And he says he went and sort of auditioned with what he had, which was two lines of a song and a guitar with two broken strings. It was evidently good enough. He gets a nod from the label and starts writing.

And the verses, according to Johnny in the interview, they align perfectly with the movie, right? It's an angel willing to give up anything, even his immortality to be human so he could be with this girl, right? And it's this deep dive into, you know, what it is to love someone so much to you give up everything for them. And then, and this is the icing on the cake for me, that's when it, like, I realized that. I wanted to write about this. The interviewer says essentially, okay, Johnny, the verses align with the movie, but the chorus, this revolutionary, big, beautiful, powerful chorus,

it seems to take a left turn. Like, can you explain that to us? What were you thinking? And he just kind of pauses blankly for a second. And I'm thinking, no, don't you dare say what I know you're about to say And sure enough, he does. He basically shrugs and goes, I don't know, the words just kind of worked.

And, you know, I'm paraphrasing, that's not a direct quote, but that's the idea. You know, one of the deepest, most powerful, beautiful songs I've ever heard is patchwork. Right? Even the song title, he says, was named after a country singer on the cover of a magazine laying next to him, Iris. That's patchwork. It's pieces put together. And then, as I thought about it for a minute, it's like, of course it is. How perfect, how absolutely perfect the whole thing is an assembly and construction,

a metaphor for the human spirit. Conceived when its author was down and out, right, taking L after L, called to present an idea, didn't have some crazy budget or equipment to pitch this song, nope, move forward only with what he had in the moment. And that was enough. Then this song, a beautiful depiction of, you know, the movie's theme combined with elements of real life, his personal situation, what he goes through, maybe even components that mean nothing other than an ability to encapsulate a feeling or an

emotion, words that allowed him to put a bow on all these little pieces himself and get it out the door. And millions and millions of people listened to that song and were changed by it. Not because of what it meant to Johnny, but because it gave them a chance to take it and fit their own worlds and struggles into those same lines. It became a vehicle to inspire others to push forward, to find things in themselves they didn't know were there. This has become one of my favorite metaphors for finding the hero buried deep within yourself changing your life changing your world changing the world around you the lives of others can truly be and in fact often is the result of just moving forward with what you have right realizing that even when the mountain seems too tall

to climb there is a way we just require that mental shift Listen to this question, right? Because I used to ask myself all the time, is this possible? Can this be done? Well, then that becomes the question that I focused on. And everything that occurred around me became evidence that would either support or invalidate that possibility. The second I came up against an inevitable barrier, I'd think, ah, maybe this is telling me the answer is no. Right?

life will always be evidence for or against the questions that you choose to ask, which is why it's so important that you're asking the right questions. Because the second you change that question to, look, I know this can be done, but how will I do it? You start looking at life as a puzzle that must be solved. That same obstacle that was once interpreted as a stop sign is now merely an indicator that the path exists just perhaps somewhere else. You've extended the pursuit, you've given yourself permission to keep looking, and it's because of these self-created expeditions that we find more in ourselves. You know, things won't always go perfectly, but when you look at those imperfections through the right lens, you see that this isn't about you. It's about that particular

door being locked. All you have to do is believe in yourself enough to move to the next one, to continue knocking until you find a door that opens, until you find that bridge to whatever comes next. And that's why I love that story about Iris. Why I wanted to share it today is crafted during times far from ideal, with resources far from abundant, with words, far from perfect or related or self-explanatory. But you end up on the other side with this masterpiece. This song that certainly changed my life indefinitely impacted many others. And it's like we have to realize when we're sitting on the edge of the bed.

You know, maybe it's not divorce or writer's block. But whatever it is, holding you back, that's not the end. It's your reason to keep going, to begin again. You don't have to know how things will be, but you do have to know how they won't be. They won't be like this, because you won't let them stay this way. And maybe it's not two written lines in a broken guitar. Maybe it's moving forward when your strength is not at a 10 out of 10. When you don't really have that spark, or you're longing for some resources, some finances,

wondering where they'll come from. But pushing forward one little step at a time until things start making sense. And maybe it's not a combining and restructuring of song lyrics, using your personal experiences to fill the gaps on the paper before you. But it's trusting that your own story will ultimately tell itself if you don't put the pen down. That the heroes will rise, the villains will fall, and the adventure will continue on. After all, that's what life is. One giant adventure testing us, pushing us and transforming us when we're at our lows,

while reminding us during the good times, why we're lucky to have been gifted that same adversity we once looked at with contempt. Why we're lucky that when everything's made to be broken, as the lyrics suggest, we get to make something imperfectly beautiful with the pieces. If it means something to you, it's not wrong. I'm talking about different roads, going to different places, different ways at different times, none more or less important than any of the others.

It's an amazing thing that a perfect life can mean something so different to each and every one of us. I get asked quite a bit about my decision to do what I do as far as what prompted the journey, process of turning a page beginning a new chapter and in essence leaving what didn't serve me to pursue what does. And what I realize is that a lot of these conversations are with people that have an outlook very similar to mine, right? We value a lot of the same things. But there's distinction between what you see every day and what truly reflects reality. Is what's around you the only option? Is it the real deal? Or is it a problem? Is it a problem?

part of the puzzle, right? Like, if you look at Twitter, for example, you have 20% of Americans supposedly use Twitter. And of the conversation on Twitter, 80% of it comes from 10% of the users, right? So it's a subset of a subset, but how easy is it to open the app and think that's a reflection of the world and how people think and what's going on? It's not. It's a very small fragment. And the reason I bring it up, the reason it's important is because we tend to look at what we see around us as the right way or the instruction manual. You know, I've talked a lot about the corporate world, like it was essentially a prison for me, right?

And in many ways, it was because of the way I think, how I get fulfillment, right? There was a predictability and a straightforwardness that just doesn't mesh with my personality, but that's me, right? And I had the realization the other day when I was on someone's podcast, and they asked me, well, how come some people don't get it? How come some people don't understand the entrepreneurial spirit or that sort of adrenaline that comes with the high highs and the low lows? And I spent some time thinking about the answer,

and I think it boils down to something simple. It either pulls you that way or it doesn't, right? The thought process isn't the right way to live or the wrong way to live. It's one of many ways to live. It depends on what you gravitate towards. You know, I like to reference one of my best friends, Chris, because we couldn't be more different, right? He has a nine to five.

He loves the structure. He's immersed in it. And because of that, he's moved up the organization very quickly. Comes home, spends time watching TV with his beautiful kids, cooks with his wife, sends the group shots of the smoked pork or whatever the hell he makes. He's in heaven. He loves his world.

You know, but then he looks at my world. He sees the unpredictability of my life. My choice is travel. moving around all the time, the financial oscillation, where it's like one month is great financially, the next, it's underwhelming, it's up and it's down, and he goes, how do you live like that? You know, and I could ask the same of him, where's the rush, where's the uncertainty? You know, it's two very distinct ways of looking at the world, and I think that's incredible. But I also think it's easy to miss.

You know, like Twitter, you sort of think what's around you, what you see is the real deal, is the path is where you should be. And it's why a lot of people are concerned or question themselves. It's like there's this invisible metric, whatever side you fall on, there's a right way or a wrong way, and that's not true.

There's your way. If it means something to you, it's right. And that's the standard, period. It's where you need to be, right? Who is anyone else to set those standards? No one knows you. And I think the question

is twofold. One, have you taken the time in your busy life to identify what that is? Whatever it may be, have you thought about it? I'll never forget a friend asked me once, you know, what my perfect day looked like. He asked me to describe it in detail. And I looked at him like a deer in headlights. I'm like, I don't know. I've never thought about that, right? He could tell me when he got up from when he went to bed what his perfect day was. He goes, well, how could you ever have one? By accident? Right? So do we take time to think about what matters. And number two, are you willing to drive towards whatever that is? Whether it's entrepreneurship or athletics,

being a rock star in the corporate world, being a world-class painter, an amazing dad, some combination of some or none or all of these things. Like, what are you aiming for? But it's nice sometimes to get that reassurance that your path, regardless of how different or, quote-unquote, normal it is. If it's right for you, it's right.

And that's something that no one can tell you. You know, so much of life is a conversation with yourself. It really is. You have to give yourself permission to live. And I've spoken about it. You know, I've spent a lot of years at that intersection of what I thought was right because others were doing it and what truly made me happy, waiting for the light to turn green before realizing that that moment doesn't come.

You need to be the one to change it. Life is a beautiful experiment. But it is an experiment, which means you need to get to work. It's testing what you love, what you don't, where you want to be, where you have no interest in being, and embracing that, right? Discovering what you love, what's meaningful, and then trusting yourself to get there.

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 today's are few and far between. Today's 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 dreaming. Today is the beginning of wherever next is for you. A 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. It can smash and shatter and destroy. It can be the thing used to tear down. Or it can be what built. They 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. 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 needs to need. looking over our shoulders and craving acceptance. The unknowns that kept us 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 God-like 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, thought, illusions. 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 so long as you choose to make today

amazing maybe you've climbed yourself out maybe you're looking for whatever's next the new evolution seeking to follow your heart and continue the beautiful progression that is light 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 step in. How can I be happy all the time? It's a question I get probably more than any other. And every time I read that question, I pause for a second and can't help but think. that it's somewhat misguided, happy all the time. How can I eliminate everything? And I guess the thinking is, you know, it's folks that know the channel and watch my videos, right?

So they hear the perspective and the positivity and the messages, and, you know, they want that to be a constant reality. And I get that. But the part that I think is overlooked is that those breakthroughs, right, those lessons learned, they come from stories that were carved out from hardship, right, from some of my most difficult times. It's not that happy isn't the goal, it is, but at the macro level. It requires micro adjustments, periods of difficulty.

You know, we're human. We have emotions. We have highs, but you bet we have lows and there's good, but there's all so bad. And I don't believe that happy all the time. is the target. The target's everything that comes your way, the good and the bad, making something out of it, a net positive, finding happiness in places where perhaps we didn't see it the first time. Thinking big picture, thinking macro, our overall contentment with life. See, that's the beautiful component that we're prone to overlook. And so I thought for some clarity, what I do

is start from, you know, day one when I started this journey, this entrepreneurial, you know, process. And I'd go through some of my messaging, some of the videos that I've released along the way and talk about why, how I got to that point, how I got to that lesson learned, and why maybe happy all the time is misleading. The first video I ever released, it's called Ode to Excellence. And essentially, it's about, it's a promise to myself to never quit. never give up, to never back down, no matter how difficult things get. And I wrote that after my first true entrepreneurial project. I was on my own for the first time and loved music, right?

Music's always been sort of the backbone of my creativity. And I thought, you know what, I'm going to do? I'm going to put everything aside. I'd saved up some money. I'm like, I'm going to record an album, an acoustic album. And that's what I did. And I blocked off the world, and for three months, I wrote songs and recorded them and edited them and mixed them and mastered them. Put them all on CDs.

I sent the CDs to radio stations, clubs, bars all around Boston. I thought it was going to be this life-changing thing. And it was, but not in the way that I thought. The CD got no traction, right? Family, friends bought it were very supportive, but, you know, that's really where it ends. And it was the first time in my life, truly, I'd given everything for something and gotten no response. It was the first time I realized that effort does not always equal a result. But here's why it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

One, I realized that maybe it's not that good, which, looking back now, is what you'd expect doing something for the first time. It's like, dude, you have to hone your craft. You have to write 2,000 songs. You have to put in so much more time to be at a level where you want to be at a level where you want. you can't just think that it happens overnight and that was a very important thing for me to understand the second is I realized that I was at the bottom of a very big mountain looking up you know this is a process and it's gonna take persistence it's gonna take patience and it was stressful right it particularly because I didn't

have that that safety net that I once had I wanted to retreat back to the simplicity of what I had the sort of the the reassurance of a job you know I wasn't sure that the cost, the uncertainty of the moment was worth it. It was stressful. But that situation helped define me, right? It wasn't perpetual happiness that taught me this lesson. No, it was one of my toughest times. From that failure came my resilience, came my owed to excellence. I wrote a speech called Perspective. And this is, you know, months down the road. I saw my first kind of glimmer of light. I've been, you know, doing the music thing and also creating a brand on YouTube and sharing my thoughts, telling stories. And I finally saw a little bit of success. I wrote a speech called Running in the Rain.

And it was getting traction. It was doing well. It was being shared, creating buzz. I was getting speaking inquiries, all these things. And I'm like, all right, well, here we go. Right? Let's go. A little bit of momentum. And I woke up one morning and I got this email from YouTube and it was like, we had to remove the video from your channel because you broke community guidelines. And apparently I put some keywords on the bottom of the description to help it get traffic running, inspiration, things that would help it sort of move to the top of the pile when someone searched for it. And I remember being so angry about the situation. I felt so sorry for myself. It was like momentum. A time. I they're so hard to capture. I'm finally getting it. And now this, right? And my views are declining

and everything's going backwards. And you just feel like I was delusional. I felt like the world was ending. But that prompted me to look at the big picture, right? To realize that, look, there's nothing you can do except re-upload the video, start over and keep my head up. Think about it. Life is going to throw things at me that are much more difficult than this. Right? There's going to be difficulty and loss and problem, even tragedy. And if I fold over a video being taken down, I don't really have a shot, right? So from that tough time, I gain perspective.

I learned to toughen up. I started to understand that it's not what happens to you because everyone has difficulty in their life, but it's how you deal with it. That's what brings happiness at a macro level. wrote a speech called Dancing with No Music. You know, I remember the situation, exactly. I was sitting at my desk, kind of brainstorming a new project I was going to work on,

and my phone buzzed. I picked it up, and I had a text message from, you know, a friend at the time. And he accidentally sent a text message to me, kind of poking fun at me and my work and what I was doing. It was meant to be about me to someone else, and he accidentally sent it to me directly. And I remember sitting there thinking like, dude, are you kidding me? These are the people that are supposed to have your back.

They're supposed to be, you know, picking you up, encouraging you when you're, you know, going through these difficult times. And so in that moment, you know, I felt more alone than I had in a while. It wasn't a great feeling. But it prompted thought. Thought prompts perspective. And I began to realize. you know look it's not his fault right people don't see you know the world as it can be right

they don't understand your vision they see now not your idea not your potential they see now and if you want to bring that to fruition you have to separate the negativity separate the people that that do that and think like that and say those things and live like that like it's already there, like it's guaranteed. And so from that difficult moment, I learned that I need to dance with no music, believe in myself, see it before it's there. Act like I already hear the melody and I'm moving towards it.

That's the only way to push through that cloud of chaos into the result that you want, that you so desperately want. I wrote a speech called The Last. train home. At this point, I've been working hard to build your world within for, I don't know, maybe a year at this point. One of my greatest struggles was that I continued to feel the pressure to adhere to standards that I didn't personally believe in. Right? I was restricted by benchmarks that they weren't integral to my journey. And so, before working for myself, it was trying to impress my boss and, you know, the idea of promotions and goal sheets. Then it became, you know, comparing my style to those around me, to people that have found success in some capacity.

And I even remember, you know, running at 2 p.m. and feeling guilty because all those people doing quote unquote the right thing, they're working in an office. Like, they don't have the luxury of running downtown. And like, that was my mindset. And so I fell into the temptation of viewing precedent or like previous success stories as not just a tool. but as the singular way to reach the summit. And so I was continually zinging and zagging, you know, here's the shortcut, or here's the method, here's the strategy,

I need to incorporate this and this and this. And every time I diverted from what felt true to me, I stumbled. Every time I left my path for someone else's, I became lost in this cloud of confusion. And it took, you know, that reoccurring experience for me to finally understand You know, it was from those times of disarray that I began to see the significance of patience. That it's okay. It's okay to take my own train.

Even if it's the last one to leave the station, don't panic, don't do something you don't feel is true or right. Believe that your train is there. It's waiting and you will catch it. That's a very difficult thing to do. It's not a happy, experience, but it evolves into this freedom, right? This flexibility and ultimately this satisfaction with life that wouldn't be there if you didn't seek it out, if you weren't patient enough to find it. I wrote a speech called Remember Why You Started. Hands down, one of the toughest transitions of my life. I was in a situation that on the surface wasn't bad. In fact, you could say it's good. I was surrounded by beautiful people, beautiful relationships, in a good place that I liked.

But I was coming to the realization more and more that the situation wasn't conducive to me creating what I felt like I wanted to create. I'd sort of lost track, I'd lost that fire, that energy that I had when I first began. And that's due to concessions, to small compromises that I was making along the way that add up. And you sort of slowly lose yourself a little bit at a time. And when you make that realization, it's like, well, you have a decision to make. You know, are you okay 30, 40 years from now with sacrificing the thing you wanted to build because something else was more important or other things? you know, took priority. And I don't think either one is right or wrong. It's the question that you

have to answer. And I made that decision. And I packed up, put my stuff in a trailer, and I left. And I remember as, you know, my world faded away in my rear view thinking, like, this is the hardest thing I've ever done. I didn't believe for the first 200 miles I was actually going to go through with it. I really didn't. And eventually, you know, I arrived at a new place and I made it my home, and dedicated myself fully again to what I believed and to what I felt right, truly in my heart in doing. And I felt that energy, that fire sort of reemerge. And you know, right?

You know, you wake up and it just feels good. You have this passion that's there that you want every day, that you want to maintain, that you want to drive you. And I knew, I knew it was the, right decision but that wasn't born out of happiness that wasn't born out of the easy thing it was very very difficult to get there it was almost a battle right you have to fight to reprioritize and so this comes up a lot when I hear that

question how can I be happy all the time and it's like well you know you can do the easy thing that's easier in the short term but then will you be happy in the long term you know it's sort of a catch-22 it's a it's a prioritization it's understanding what makes you feel alive what makes you feel truly good, authentic. And that's not a question of short-term, consistent, non-stop happiness. It's a question of long-term fulfillment. Sometimes we have to do the difficult things to create what we want long-term, big picture. And lastly, I'll talk about Ode to Excellence Part 3, which obviously it's been years since part 1. And a lot's changed. The goalposts have shifted.

The context is new, but the idea is pretty similar. It's a promise to myself to move into uncharted water, whether that's because it feels right, I'm called to do it, or sometimes just for the sake of sheer curiosity, it's that idea that sometimes what awaits around the corner can change your life. That unknown can be exactly what you need and you don't know unless you move there. And the difference in context is that now I'm settled. Right now I'm substantially more comfortable than I was when this whole thing began for me. And the danger in that is nothing's screaming at you constantly to continue to grow and evolve and develop.

It's real easy to fall into routine and just kind of keep going the way you've always gone. And I remember sitting right outside talking to a good friend of mine on the phone. And we were talking, you know, strategy, talking about growing our brands and just kind of the different worlds that we're involved in. And he asked, you know, Eddie, why, you know, have you stopped doing the music thing? I think there's something there. And, you know, music's obviously been a big part of what I do. It kicked off my creative journey, as I mentioned earlier with that album. It's been sort of, you know, intertwined into this process.

You know, I write a lot of background tunes. I wrote the background music you're listening to right now. I haven't completely left it, but I've pivoted. And when he asked why it's been sort of in the background, I couldn't give a complete answer. I didn't really know. But as I began to think about it, the answer really rose to the surface. It became so fixated on one dimension of what I was doing that I started to look at it through a lens of scarcity

and ignoring the infinite possibility out there. I mean, really, in relation to what's possible, my accomplishments are a grain of sand on the beach. It's very minimal. But that's not how you look at things when you really, really get lost in the weeds. I didn't want to hurt my credibility. I didn't want to lose what I've built. I didn't want to sabotage a quote unquote winning formula.

But guess what? That's not what life's about. That's not what my brand or message is about. That's not what got me here, right? Exploring creativity is what got me here. It means everything. And that was such an eye-opening thing. It was such a beautiful reminder that,

head, you're limiting yourself. You're not evolving fully. There's a treasure chest around the corner and you're too worried about losing your shiny penny. It was from this predicament, right, being honest with myself, that that courage and that determination grew. In fact, the struggle ended up exponentially increasing my overall happiness

because it reemphasized the creative flexibility necessary to do what I think's right. The third Ode to Excellence is a promise to keep that flame lit. And see, these things, These are just a handful of little stories. They're little epiphanies. But I can say wholeheartedly that they shaped me.

Not because every day of the journey I was constantly smiling. But it was the specific times that I wasn't that made me stronger. I'm happier now. My life is better now because of these situations. And that's what I want to emphasize, right? Happy all the time isn't the goal. It can't be the goal. a life you're proud of and turning the bumps along the way, the inevitable roadblocks along

the way into momentum, that's going to give you long-term happiness. That's going to make you feel better about every moment. It's such a gift to be here. We're so lucky. Let's move away from the idea that there are people out there that never have a bad day. Nothing's ever wrong in their life, because that's not only untrue, but it dilutes the opportunity in front of you. It makes you feel like you're losing when bad things happen, when in fact those are the tools to win, to live every day to the fullest. Right? The reality is sometimes it is the Hallmark card thing, right? Hands out, sun on your face, smiling, humming your favorite song, life is good.

Sometimes it's picking up those little pieces when things feel like they're falling apart around you. But know that regardless, right, either one or one. anywhere in between, there is positive there. There is power at your feet. Just find it, hold it, and by all means keep moving full. In a way, our eyes are liars. Not in what they portray, but in the implication of their portrayals. Our eyes highlight to us one thing.

what surrounds us now. We receive a snapshot of the current moment. And what took me years to understand is that possibility and hope live far beyond what surrounds us right now. And it's that pursuit of possibility that saved my life, immersing myself in the unseen. Perhaps we were given the now, not to subserviently accept it, but to transform it. I believe in our own way, we're all architects. Here's what I've found to be tricky, though, as I've spent time thinking about this.

What I believe and I've come to recognize is that two things can be true at once. First, all we'll technically ever have is the present. As Eckhart Tolly explains, depression is essentially being lost in the past. Anxiety is being fixated on the future, and that a healthy life is learning to cherish the now. But second is the power and control of being able to point the now at something far beyond what our eyes convey. It's the magic of knowing that we spend our days navigating a world of limited, and restraint. And it's not that we wake up and think,

you know, I'm going to restrict myself today. I'm going to not live up to my full potential. No, it's that we go on autopilot. We observe this slideshow, our eyes play for us day in and day out, and exist within those parameters. That seems perfectly reasonable. Our eyes show us a wall,

and our brain says, okay, this is where we stop. The end. And what I want to highlight is that world just beyond what our eyes show. A world that pushes things a little bit. A world in which we ask, okay, but what if I gave a little more? Or why can't I be like those people in my life I look up to? Why shouldn't I change the circumstances that weigh on my mind? Why have I accepted these things that make me unhappy day in and day out?

Just because it's the image your eyes show you right now doesn't mean it's where you stop. But we have to learn to look for more. When I was pretty young, like right about the time home PCs were gaining prominence, my parents got this gateway computer that came with a Star Wars game demo. and you kind of you have this character you wander around the spaceship and you know I played it and I played it and I played it and after a while explored all there was to explore right or so I thought I assumed that maxed the thing out because it was a demo it wasn't the full game so my assumption was that it wouldn't let me do too much until I went out and bought the real version then one day

my friend from up the street came over and I'm showing him the game and somewhere he notices a little button that opens up this door and come to find out there was actually a lot of real estate left to explore a lot of game available that led to a tunnel that led somewhere else that led somewhere else and sure I felt like a clown for not realizing that I was needlessly wandering in circles but at the same time was excited about this new world there's something about that concept the secret door the bookcase that can be moved to unveil a passageway to something greater, to the value locked away and invisible to the untrained eye.

One of the most important things for us to understand is how many of these doors exist in our lives, that if we choose to recognize and identify something more, something that excites us and invigorates us, we can usually draw a line to it. We can start little by little heading that way. because within the current moment slideshow we see all around us exist the little passageways, the side streets, the tunnels connecting to something more that of course those gates won't open up

if you've not constructed a destination in your mind worth traveling to again not because you're insufficient or inadequate or wrong but because our default is to live life on demo mode we have to manufacture more, build a higher platform, and then climb up to it using ropes and ladders that we already walk by every day without thinking twice. Our world, our right now is a toolbox waiting for us to construct a more meaningful, peaceful, happy tomorrow. And so again, I present the question, where are these hidden opportunities or gateways in your life? Where can you find the advantages dressed up as the mundane? Is it in a book?

Is it a conversation? Is it applying to that thing you've been hesitant to pursue because you're scared of what might await? Is it understanding the power of 10 minutes a day? And how starting small opens doors that we can't even comprehend? Is it a little boldness? Is it looking in the mirror and realizing you're still shackling yourself to who you were yesterday.

Is it understanding that someone or something in your life isn't conducive to your well-being? Is it an hour in the morning to think, an hour at night to breathe? Is it changing a self-limiting relationship with time or money or resources? What walls can you knock down so that you might open up a world that's meant for you? a world that's malleable and without limitation. Your eyes, they don't tell the story of how things can be or what they mean.

They show you the infinite tools at your disposal to build, to create, to design, to never accept a now that wasn't chosen with intentionality. That where there exists pain, there also exists a door to lessen, and transform that pain. Your journey, it never ends where you are, it ends where you choose to stop. It ends where you plan a stake in the ground and accept the world around you.

So if no one has told you recently, let me remind you how powerful you are. Let me reiterate what you are capable of. And that perhaps your reality requires of you some customization. Perhaps the courage to step outside the routine and the obligation. And as the architect you are, build something beautiful, meaningful, something incredible to stand on. To recognize the distinction between what is and what can be,

the second one understands that they are walking by the very solutions they need, that to remain in a state of discontent is simply an indifference to the resources around them. Remember this. What you see, your eyes don't provide an end state, but a path to the next chapter. A chisel to little by little evolve. As someone recently reminded me, Mark Twain's quote, Logic will get you from point A to point B, but imagination will take you everywhere.

Why? Because so much exists beyond the parameters of everyday life. It's about mapping new paths with new points and new rules. Because some exist and some live. Some comply and some create. Some see what is around them. And some ask, what can I build? with what is around me. So built.

Towers that touch the sky, bridges that connect the earth, build like this is a game, and the only way to lose is to stop yourself from experiencing all it has to offer. Build like there's a world far beyond your front door.

Because if you do, that's exactly where you'll find yourself. The little E, on the car dashboard reminds me that I'm pointed east. As I sit at the red light, perpendicular to ocean abs, staring out at the water, this is it. This is as far as I can go. There are no more streets or towns or cities.

There can't be any more stops along the way, just miles and miles of ocean. It's interesting for me to think about all the changes I've made up to now, growing up outside of Los Angeles on the opposite coast, relocating again and again, sometimes very targeted methodical moves, sometimes just for the sake of change, but always moving, always going. There's a saying that wherever you go, you take yourself with you. You can change this scenario, the circumstances, the surroundings, but ultimately you can never outrun yourself. You are accompanying you on whatever journey awaits. And it's often not until you run out of real estate, until there's no more road or options that you're forced to look in the mirror and acknowledge that it is you who must change.

It's you who must evolve and become that person that you need you to become. And that can be a scary thing. After all, anyone can get in a car and head east. Anyone can point the compass away from the chaos of now. Move away from their demons. But how many of us can find this strength to look those demons into it? demons in the eye. How many of us can make ourselves bigger than what attempts to weigh us down? All of us can, but how many of us do? Are we running to something or from something?

Because there is a difference, and that difference is not small. One of my favorite speakers, Jim Rohn, when referencing our journeys through life, our push to make more of our ourselves, he essentially said, it's not what you get at the other end. It's who you become along the way. I think like everyone, I've forgotten that from time to time over the years. Forgotten that value is not simply in going, but in becoming, in the courageous little steps that accumulate over time. Forgotten that the external world might inspire or excite, that change might invigorate

the soul that the road untravelled might remind me of life's beauty, but these externalities are only as valuable as you allow them to be. There are only opportunities if you decide them to be so. Change inspires, but will you let it inspire you to do that thing you know you need to do but are terrified of doing. In that road, it might remind you of life's beauty. But will you let that reminder be your invitation to share your own beauty with the world? Whatever that means for you.

Can you be that vulnerable? Can you take that leap in the story of your becoming? See, it is incredibly easy to look out at the world, and pinpoint it's flawed. All those little problems and imperfections, they tend to jump out at us. But can you identify what you, yourself, need?

Can you be courageous enough to ask those questions of yourself? What matters to me? What does a meaningful life look like to me? Where am I falling short? That is a conversation that needs to be had. And it needs to be had often. Otherwise, we will drive and drive and drive until we hit water in are forced to ask that question. Because it's interesting that when we don't pause and make the changes that need to be made,

life has a way of ensuring that we do. But when it's mandated by life, it tends to be a lot messier, a lot more chaotic. At least them when we make the decision ourselves, but either way, we cannot run forever. Either way, we must step into a new pair of shoes and learn to walk confidently with them into the night. There are plenty of little mantras floating around out there, little pieces of advice, and perhaps it's best for us to weigh them each individually. See what meets our needs and fits our criteria. after all life is not one size fits all.

But one of my favorite among these is to do one single thing that scares you every day, and I'll tell you why. Because when we become conditioned to turning our backs on all the uncomfortable things in life, we cripple our prospects of a better tomorrow. It's synonymous with a seed refusing water, saying no to the very thing it needs most.

And what should be noted here, one of the reasons it's so dangerous is that saying no is incredibly subtle. It's not some big event or explosion. There's no fireworks show that occurs every time you walk away from what you need. No, it goes unnoticed. And again, one of the greatest challenges is quantifying that which we don't do. How do you measure that thing you walked away from? unfortunately you can't. You can't at least until you're staring out at the Atlantic with

nowhere to run, no more escaping on the agenda. You don't know until you're forced to pick the pieces up and make something of them. And I say this so that hopefully it can ignite that spark in your soul that you need most. Whether you previously recognized it or not, I say to remind you how much bigger you are than your problems, how you have the ability to transform all that exists around you when you transform yourself. There's a certain inevitability associated with how we see ourselves. And I believe this to be true at both the personal and the societal levels. Anyone can look in the mirror and see the past,

where they've gone wrong, how inadequate and ill-prepared they are. But the courage to look in the mirror and see strength. To both identify and understand one's shortcomings, but know that you have the power to do something about it. To know that the times you fell or didn't make the cut, they don't indicate that the endeavor was all for not or unequivocally wrong. No, there is so much good tied into your pursuit. pursuit. So much beauty and courage ingrained in your soul. But imagine. Imagine a life where you no

longer run from the gaps, but close them. Imagine finding it in yourself to begin that hero's journey. And where you used to run to protect yourself, now you take the offensive to grow yourself. Where you used to avoid the possibility of failure now you chase the possibility of victory you can have that if you want to you can be that if you choose to ensure you may never be able to outrun yourself but you can always adapt yourself to be that person you always needed you to be sometimes we just need the reminder that we are strong enough we do have what it takes. And that the thing that hurts us most in the short term

not only saves us pain in the long term, but it becomes what we live for. It is where we find our meaning. And so perhaps this ocean before me is not there to remind me of my constraints that I have no road left, but a reminder of just how often we measure using the wrong metrics.

Perhaps I needed to see again that it's not where I end up, but who I become along the way. That when the internal self steps into the shoes it's been too intimidated to wear, that when the world within becomes the beacon you need it to be, the roads and the stops along the way, they matter a little bit less than the you. eyes that process it all that decide what it means how it will be utilized in the game of life and so yes the little e on the car dashboard it says that I'm pointed east but as I sit at this red light perpendicular to ocean abs staring out at the water I know this is only the beginning let's right

Get out of the gate, draw a line. The most important line one can draw a line of demarcation separating who you were and who you are. A line between the past and the present and this line marks your return. No, not to the days of old, but to step one. Your chance to begin again, to rise above, to transcend. transcend yesterday's character and transform today's potential. See, what we often fail to realize is that there are ideas deeply ingrained in our minds

that rule over us, a sort of subconscious authority. It says yesterday you fell short, so today you are someone who falls short. It says your objective was not reached in the past, so how about a new, maybe easier one? It draws a nice little box, packs you on the head, and says, how about we make a nice, cozy home for ourselves in here? And what this subconscious authority fears most is that you wake up, that you become aware, that you return. Not to the past, but to the power tucked away under all the stories. you somewhere along the way decided were real. The second you accept that yesterday is only as relevant as you decided to be,

you unchained yourself. You become unshackled. So return to that place of curiosity, where you're not obligated to perform but gifted with the journey before you. And that could certainly be hard. It was hard for me to look back at my life and distinguish, between what I've simply accepted and life's objective truth. I'd taken orders and been obedient for so long.

I'd been listening to that subconscious authority for so many years that I had to, in a way, relearn what creativity meant for me. I had to learn not to feel guilty, going on a jog in the middle of the day when the rest of the world was working. I had to learn that my instinct wasn't to explore, but to stop short. I wasn't pushing limits or peering around corners. I wasn't testing the waters or seeking out the hidden opportunities.

Life hides away. No, I was on autopilot. And life, it had called for my return. It's funny how when you reject your potential long enough, the universe seems to tap you on the shoulder. It makes it more and more apparent every day that something greater is within an hour. arms reach, backs you into a corner until you have to address the dissonance between who you are

and who you've allowed yourself to be. Those orders you've been taking don't align with your best self. And so one must not only create, but in a sense return to their greatness. To accept what they've been running from, you are what you choose to be. And let's face it, it's very easy to choose to be less than we can be. There's a saying that your reality is not destined to be, it is rather what you've chosen to accept. You only get in your life what you allow. And the entirety of this message is about one thing.

That light bulb moment, the epiphany, the instant of empowerment, that this world can only give you what you ask for. And to not ask, to sit back observe makes you a spectator sitting up in the nosebleeds watching the activity evolve on the court below it relinquishes control to powers beyond you and that's existing it's not living so ask ask life for the things that lift you up and elevate your existence the reason a book metaphor works so perfectly in my mind is because when one opens to a

blank sheet, they can write about anything. There's no limitation to what can be placed on that paper. And sure, our proclivity may be to continue on the legacy of last novels, cast and characters, but it's by no means required. In fact, with that pen in your hand, you can craft a new world entirely, new places, new things, new relationships, and ideas, new obstacles to face and defeat. A blank page can be and mean anything, and so every sunrise, every door you walk through, presents in the same sense a blank page. Realize that there's no obligation to perpetuate the past or continue on in the same way you arrived. No, this day is yours.

Take hold of that self you've hit away. Find the courage to unshackle yourself from how you were once seen. by your friends or your teammates or your coworkers, level up and understand that you don't owe the world any type of explanation. Remember, you're not here to conform, to obey, to live a life of obedience. No, you're here to poke, to prod, to explore,

to follow the nagging curiosity to embark upon the adventure that is life. When you understand that you are not your path, When you see that the person you were has no control over the person you are in this moment, you are free. So with eyes wide, a beating heart, a head held high, step into that world. Because if you live with conviction with absolute certainty that life may not always be easy or intuitive, but it's there for you. When you see not yesterday's constraints but tomorrow's hope, all roads lead to an evolved

existence. It's not about perfect and it never was. It's about understanding that the past has given you everything you need to break away from its grasp. It has provided the lessons it has knocked you back, pushed you down and tested your resolve, for this moment, this second, the chance to return to the greatness that has been tucked away for too long. Again, no miracles, no rabbits out of hats, just you allowing your greatness to emerge

from this step forward because you can, because you have that ability, because it's who you are. So go show the world, but most importantly, show yourself. You will be amazed at what's possible for you. If you simply allow it to materialize. If you amidst the darkness of days past, let yourself light up the night.