Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - BEST OF 2024 (So Far) | Powerful Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

In this episode, Eddie shares some of his best motivational speeches from 2024 (so far). These speeches are packed with inspiration to help you stay focused, motivated, and ready to tackle whatever comes next. For more on youtube: youtube.com/yourworldiwithin

Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway. February is the month of love, and while you're spending time showing love to your family and friends, make sure you show yourself some love too. Now through February 25th, shop in store and online and save on self-love items from Dove. Like Dove cucumber and green tea body wash. Dove deep moisture nourishing body wash.

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So you can work, create, and boost productivity all on one device. Win the tech search for business PCs at Lenovo.com. The goal is to make your dreams envy your. reality. It's to create a life for yourself that is bold, that is adventurous. See, most leave the best things for their imagination. Their ideal world comes to life when they shut the lights off, put their head on the pillow, and close their eyes. But see, I'm asking something different of you. I'm asking that you have to you have the courage to wake up. And from the second that light moves through your window and

infiltrates your bedroom, understand that the best things of life are on their way in this plane of existence. I'm asking you not to save your dreaming for sleep, not to save your wishing for the imaginary. Well, that's a big ask. Right? Easier said than done, buddy. Oh, I know. I know it's not easy, right? There's an idea that's changed the way I think about life. It's simple. Three words, choose your heart. Because pursuing a meaningful life is hard. Let's be real. It crushes the ego. That's hard. It's humbling. That's hard. It's uncertain and at times uncomfortable. It's confusing. It's certainly frustrating. It's all of those things. Creating a life on your terms is hard. But you know what else is hard? Allowing beauty to be

nocturnal, allowing everything that matters to you, everything that's important, your dreams, your goals, your aspirations, allowing all that to dissipate as the sun comes up. And I've been there. I've played that game. And let me tell you, nothing. is harder. Nothing is harder than knowing you are on a path that's not yours, doing things you don't love, all because why? You're scared. Carrying that around is hard. The end of the day, life is short. It's fleeting. An inconceivable little sliver of time presented to you. Not so you can create a cell and confine yourself to it, but so that you can take those imagined thoughts and dreams and ideas and implement them.

Look in the mirror, but really look. Look into the eyes of that person staring back at you deeply and understand that in there there is a strength that's inconceivable, a strength able to completely reimagine and rearrange reality as you know it. And sure, that's a big statement. But the architect inside of you, waiting to emerge and evolve is bigger.

And yeah, the world around you is great, but your courage is greater. And so while they open their eyes and say goodbye to their dreams, I beg of you. Wake up and say hello to yours. Greet it with an outstretched hand, with conviction, Choose your difficult and forge something beautiful in its flames. Arm yourself with the reassurance that you left life's limitations behind you

and you left no dreaming for sleep. No, you had the courage to change your world while you were. If you leave the door cracked, when things get difficult, you will most definitely kick it open. If you have a plan B, when things get too challenging or complex, you'll most definitely abandon Plan A. To truly succeed is to cut off the lifelines.

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

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

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

What was the titling? What was the branding that you did? But to my surprise, people were far more interested in, Eddie, how the hell did you not quit during? seven years of minimal growth. How'd you do that? Were you tempted to quit? Did it cross your mind? And so I've been thinking more and more about the question. And I think there were a variety of reasons.

Didn't really give an in-depth answer at the mastermind. So I'm going to share now and see if I can unpack this a little bit. First and foremost, I genuinely love what I do. You know, I saw those seven years every day getting up to diet. into this is a chance to do something truly meaningful. I felt in my own personal world like I was doing something that mattered. And to me, that's foundational. My metric wasn't necessarily YouTube numbers. I mean, I was aware, don't get me wrong, but I would just be excited when I finished a speech if I felt it was powerful. You know, my game was trying to move myself to tears playing back something I

created. If it was powerful to me, that would be a W. Maybe it won't get millions of views, but I know this is good, right? It's like the Oprah metaphor I've used before. When Oprah walks into a bakery and declares it amazing, suddenly everyone hears Oprah and wants the cakes and the donuts or whatever's in the bakery, that doesn't mean the bakery suddenly got amazing overnight. It just means it was discovered. The baker knew he or she was making good stuff. They've been following that course all along. And so that same idea pulled me through. Second, as I said in the intro, I didn't leave the door cracked at all. I knew this is what I was going to do. This is the arena. I was going to continuously attempt to improve in. And I was

either going to be poor doing this or successful doing this, but I was going to do it. And so that saved a lot of internal deliberation when something I created, quote unquote, failed. or the result was underwhelming. There's nothing for me to discuss. I'd have bad days, absolutely. There were days where I felt so down on myself that I couldn't get out of bed, right? Few and far between, but it happened.

Felt like I was letting my family down at times. I felt like I was a disappointment. Felt like I was losing some imaginary race. All part of the process. But here's what I always did. I recovered and kept going. I regained perspective. I got on the phone with people that mattered to me.

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

But I learned to suffer. I learned that to win means you have to get your ass kicked. That's just how it goes. And I'm sure that was valuable, you know, when the race course changed from 2,000 meters on the water to the creative

slash entrepreneurial space. Suffering does not mean you win, but a refusal to suffer ensures you will lose. Next, I focused on adding value, right? You can't skip that. there has to be an exchange of value. And I was getting messages from people saying,

Eddie, your work, help me. It wasn't a substantial influx of people reaching out, but there's an idea that if you can help one person, you can help one million people. It's not a can I do it question. It's a logistics question. It's a scaling question. Which means it's just a matter of time.

It was all just tying to the self-belief, understanding that there was a way, way to scale that value. When you approach your mission not with is it possible but how do I make it happen you drastically increase your odds and anything you do. Next I believed and this is perhaps the most important you know that I was always one decision away from a totally different life one creation away from that change that I've been looking for and you know when you believe this and failure occurs the mind simply asks okay What's next?

Almost like, you know, imagine you're shooting three-pointers. There's a rack of basketballs next to you. You miss a shot. Okay, you're probably not gonna break down, right? Start weeping, convince yourself to take up soccer. No, you're gonna reach over, grab the next ball, and shoot again. The possibility of what's next trumps the previously missed shot because of the opportunity, because it's there, because it's tangible,

because you just have to pick it up and fire away again. fire away again. And life provides, using the same metaphor, an endless rack of basketballs. It will allow you to shoot as many shots as you're willing to shoot. The next one could be the one that falls. And every rep increases that likelihood, just like your next creation could be the one that changes everything. Lastly, there was a continued commitment to adjust.

See, if you're not winning, if you're falling short, yet you continue to do the same thing over and over and over again, you're not going to improve, right? It's continuously showing up, its commitment, its consistency, but there has to be a willingness to evolve. There has to be some type of learned advantage. So next time you show up, you're a little bit smarter, a little bit more intelligent. It's that commitment to try adjust, try adjust, try adjust, try adjust that ultimately, you know, over time compounds into something bigger than the sum of its parts. There's just saying you can't stop someone who refuses to quit. I think that's right on the money. But it's important to note, I think implied in that quote, is that the person doesn't just keep trying to, you know, jam that square peg into the round hole.

No, they're asking every day what's one little thing I can do better? When I re-approach it next time, how can I be a little smarter? That's the magic. So yeah, I totally get why, you know, that graph prompted so many questions. When you look back in totality, it looks huge. But really, it was just a dude every day doing what he loved, making little adjustments over time with no plan B. That's all.

taking the setbacks in stride, always thinking about the next creation. And what's even more exciting to me is that this is not some remarkable skill set. It's not some powerhouse ability I was born with. Anyone can commit to a process. And even better news, right? If you utilize your resources, seek help and guidance from those who've been down the same road, Your exponential growth can occur, you know, way faster than seven years. Just don't leave that door cracked.

If I could have and hold on to one thing, it would be the courage to pursue a world that I know could be taken away from me. It would be the strength to fight for a life that I know is not forever. What do I mean? Well, maybe it'd be easier to first start with what the opposite looks like. Because the opposite is refusing to give a piece of your heart away because giving someone else your heart simultaneously gives them the power to destroy it. It's refusing to speak your mind, to take a chance,

to give all of yourself to the world, Because you know the same vulnerability required to build you up could theoretically be used to tear you down. It's not going because you know that should you obtain what you're looking for, you then have to defend it. You have to fight to keep it. And you know that's not always a winning fight. That's why vulnerability is so hard. It's both the solution and the problem. If you refuse to be vulnerable, you stand no chance.

Right, because life requires risk, requires skin in the game. But conversely, being vulnerable is also taking off your armor. It's removing the last line of defense against the onslaught of arrows flying through the air. Vulnerability is the cup of water required to live and the vast ocean capable of flooding a coastline. And this is exactly why, going back to my opening line, I ask and I seek the courage to run into vulnerability and never away from it.

I want to be vulnerable enough that my heart can be broken in half because at least then I knew what it was like to love fully. I want to be vulnerable enough to give all of myself to the world to the world because sure some will attempt to tear me down, but I'll have gotten the opportunity to lift others up. I won't have lived a life in the shadows. And I want to be vulnerable enough to chase the tallest mountain tops. Because sure, I may fall, I may fail,

I may find myself at its base looking up again. But at least I'll know I got the view, At least I saw the world from the vantage point of the cloud. And I don't take that lightly. Sometimes we skip the courage part altogether, seeking the ends. I want to find the love of my life. I want to build something meaningful.

I want to reach the mountaintop. Yet we never put ourselves out there. We're not vulnerable enough. to immerse ourselves into the chaos. We don't let our guards down. You don't need the thing. You need the courage to pursue the thing. You need the courage to let yourself

become the kind of person who gets the thing. Then infinity is at your fingertips. I often remind myself that the sand from the hourglass continues to fall. And when it's gone, I won't be thankful for my experience. I won't be thankful for the reasons I didn't go. I'll be thankful that I saw through them and lived a life of courage. I'll be thankful that for every reason to stop I saw three to continue on. If I could have and maintain one thing,

it would be the courage to pursue a world that I know can be taken away from me. It would be the strength to fight for a life that I know that I know. that I know is not forever. Because then I'd be able to say with conviction that I built a world that meant something. And I lived a life I was proud of. It's not the thing that matters. It's the strength to pursue the thing,

build the thing, become the type of person who achieves the thing. It's all the life that we live along. the way. That's the beauty. So give me that, or at least the courage to chase it. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year? Your skin is a great place to start. Dime Beauty, founded by a master aesthetician, is more than just a skincare company. With four skin-conscious categories, skincare, beauty, body care, and fragrance, Dime offers simple, spa-worthy products that will help you enter 2025 with confidence. Whether you're

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spending time showing love to your family and friends, make sure you show yourself some love too. Now through February 25th, shop in store and online and save on self-love items from Dove. Like Dove, cucumber and green tea body wash, dove deep moisture nourishing body wash, dove antiperspirants, dove shampoos, and dove conditioners, offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit safeway.com for more details. Reality is a mirror. Reflecting back at you not the world as it is, but the world as you are. The idea here is that if you don't pause and remind yourself how much control you have over your own reality, over what you're seeing, you start thinking you're at the mercy of someone else's story. A character in a play that is not your own.

You forget that in your own movie, you're the scriptwriter. Or as Marcus Aurelius wrote, you have power over your mind, not out. outside events, realize this and you will find strength. I recently heard this referred to as the mirror principle. But really for obvious reasons, I'm more partial to calling it your world within. An echo of Tolstoy's classic line, everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. And that is where our power lies.

Or using the same example, you can't change the reflection you see by shaking the mirror. You change the reflection by changing your relationship with yourself, by changing how you treat and view yourself, which not only alters your actions, it alters how the world views you. One of the first things we notice about someone is whether they are confident, whether they operate with conviction and self-belief. We notice how they view themselves immediately. The greatest gifts I've been given from, you know, mentors and people I look up to in life, they haven't been material. No, they've always been subtle reminders that I set the guidelines and the world conforms. It's always been, hey, Eddie, if you only

view yourself as someone who charges a little bit of money to clients, that's always, That's how potential clients will view you. Eddie, if you surround yourself with people who think small, that's exactly what you'll become accustomed to doing. Eddie, if you don't believe you can do amazing things, people won't walk up to you and believe it for you. All of these have been reminders that the reflections that I'd created for myself

at those points in time were limiting. The reflection I was allowing was narrow in scope. It was safe. It was small. And if I wanted more, it wasn't up to the world. It certainly wasn't a matter of crossing my fingers and hoping that that mirror would randomly tell a different story. It was seeing myself as someone who creates a new picture altogether. And that can be a difficult thing to grasp, right? Like, you can't change the mirror at all. You can only change what you bring to the mirror. So what are some examples?

What are some pieces in the past that I've worked on? One, first and foremost, imposter syndrome. One of the cool things about having speeches blow up on YouTube before I ever gave a keynote speech on stage is that I started getting invites to speak all over the place. The flip side to that is that I felt like someone who didn't belong there. It happened too quickly. It was outside the comfort of my studio.

It was like, oh no, the world's going to find me out. And that's what I brought to the mirror. And of course, for a while, that's exactly what the mirror showed right back. I had to convince myself that I could speak anywhere through practice, through affirmation, trudging through the mud of doubt and uncertainty and earning a different reflection. I say that, not to pat myself on the back, but to demonstrate a battle fought, mostly in private, where I had to rewire how I saw not the world but myself, how I saw my ability to navigate seemingly insurmountable things. It always amazes me how so much of any battle is merely

confronting it with confidence. It's knowing that, hey, difficult or not, I belong here. here. And I'm going to figure it out. That's what I do. I think we all need to find a way to bring that to our personal mirrors. And again, it'll feel weird. Good. It'll feel inauthentic at first. Perfect. Change requires a breaking down and building up. And breaking down never feels good. I can give you another example, and I think this will certainly be relatable to most of you. Not being able to see the gratitude in my life over the small annoyances, like something stupid or not ideal or disruptive would just prompt this spiral. My Facebook getting hacked is a great example of this. I've talked about this before. My world ended for a few hours. I was so angry until I got it together and composed myself.

It's like, Eddie, you need to be the type of person who observes, who calmly collects the data and then makes a productive decision. Now, clearly, I wasn't that, right? And in many ways, I'm still working towards it. But I know that's part of the reflection I want. That's something I'm working towards every day. And you know what's helped me? gratitude.

Seriously, that's simple. Three things in the morning I feel grateful for. People I have in my life. Things I get to do, the work that I love. Whatever it is that day, I write it down. Because just thinking that way elevates my baseline to not just existing, but realizing how lucky I am.

And I start from a place not of lack of lack of, but of abundance. And that puts things into perspective. So that when, you know, things do go wrong or the wheels do fall off the wagon, it's not the end of the world. It's one little trial or tribulation in the great play of your life, one that you're very happy to be in. And I could go on and on, whether we want to call this the mirror principle or the creating of your world within. or just merely obtaining perspective. The idea is simple.

What the reflection shows you is directly correlated to the things you've accepted or allowed in your life. And if you don't like the view, well then adjust what you're allowing. Give yourself permission to level up, to be more, take more risks, to chase down the upside.

Reality is a mirror And a mirror is an output You are the input You are where it all begins Where everything in your world takes shape So give yourself permission To fight for a reflection That you're proud of

No, I'm not sorry Sure, I was ignorant back then No question but ignorance is not a crime. Ignorance is the foundation that we build upon. You can't be sorry for not knowing. You shouldn't be sorry for not knowing. The only real tragedy is to plant a stake in the ground

and call the ignorance home. Then no, I'm not sorry that I found myself in places I didn't want to be. doing things that weren't me, talking every day with people who didn't fill my cup or push me forward. But it's not the end of the world when we find ourselves walking down the wrong paths with the wrong people. It's just an invitation to step off and find the right one. In fact, the only real wrong path is the one you continue walking down knowing that it's not. for you. And no, I'm not sorry. I was half the person I am now. Half is capable, half as knowledgeable,

half as driven. But it's not a bad thing to look around and realize that you can be more. It's not a problem to see the reality you're living and deem it beneath your ideals. That's a beautiful thing. What would be a shame is to never open your eyes and see the possibility. To see now as a permanent fixture, not something you can control, but something you're confined to. That, well, that would be a shame. Never be sorry for where you came from. Never be sorry for what you went through. never be sorry for the hell you're walking through now. And most importantly, never feel sorry for yourself, right? These so-called inconveniences are the bridge to something better.

They are the reason you will evolve and grow and expand. Don't be sorry. Be grateful. Be ready for the second act. excited about what will become of you. See, often we have to find ourselves in the lowest of low places before we learn to ask if there's a better view out there for us. That's just the reality.

Sometimes life is about touching the hot stove before learning to avoid it. You're never dumb or less than for finding yourself looking up at an ideal for saying, hey, there's a delta between where I am and where I want to be. and I can obtain that. You know what one of my greatest strengths has become? It's not earlier mornings or quadruple deficiency, not a biohack or a evolved daily routine. It's learning to be kind to myself.

And if that seems fluffy or unimportant, I want you to picture someone never running to, but always running from. Always motivated by fear. Endless examples, a mere jog on a summer after. was never fast enough. Other content creators, authors, writers,

speakers were always better, always further along. Imaginary competition always seemed to move faster, where they were always doing more. I used to call this perpetual state of lack a chip on my shoulder. This is what kept me going, the giant shadow of failure. I can't fail, I can't fail, I can't fail, I can't fail, fail, I won't fail, not me.

So I'll do more and I'll push harder. And I'm not sorry about that. In fact, it was probably what I needed for that season of my life. It hardened me up, made me tougher. I think most importantly brought me to where I am today. Sort of inverse position,

learning to be just as motivated from a place of abundance. You can run just as ferociously towards something as you can from something. And guess what? When you reach the finish lines, you actually appreciate them. Running not away from what I'm fearful of, but towards what lights me up. True story, every time my YouTube channel hits some sort of subscriber milestone for years, I'd get a note from a good friend of mine, Dave, who'd say,

hey, congrats, don't forget to celebrate the economy. every time. And I'd be grateful for the message. But celebrate? That part I'd kind of overlook. That's nice, I'd think. But when I started to really understand the importance of that message, I started to see things differently.

You have to celebrate. You celebrate because now is the magic. If you can't appreciate now, you will appreciate nothing. Doesn't mean stop. doesn't mean go easier or minimize the destination. It means remember to love the ride because you are, as the saying goes, in the midst of the good old days.

Don't wait to be 90 years old to appreciate them. And I'm not, again, sorry that it took me so long to get there. You know, perhaps that's why I've learned to appreciate this point of view so much. I've seen the inverse. You know, I'm not sorry I spent so much time running away from what I fear and don't want. I'm grateful that now I've learned to live in abundance,

to run towards what lights me up. Really focusing on each step, finding gratitude in all of it. And of course it's not always easy, right? There are days where I have to really work to see the value, but when I try, which is the point, I eventually find it. I learned this by stumbling into it.

And so in your world, I have a request. Maybe you can frame it as an experiment. What if you completely cut all the sorry stuff? Stopped being sorry for your mistakes. Stop being sorry for the things you aren't happy about or the cosmic injustices you feel have occurred. And what if you started being grateful for the realization that you can change them? You started being appreciative of the fact that you're on your way to something better. Maybe in your context running from and running to are different.

But I'd be willing to bet there's a rearranging that can transform life, as you currently know. And who would have thought, you know, that rearranging is what we come to value. So don't be sorry about what's occurred or where you are. Be excited. Be grateful. because life is about. How much did you care? What do you mean? I didn't understand the question at first.

In that room, how much did you care what they thought of you? Like if zero is not at all and ten is you cared a lot, how much did you care? Hmm. Eight, I said, probably around an eight out of ten. And that is the problem. Because if you care, you are not free. I've been working my whole life to obtain that word in its truest sense. Freedom.

And I made progress. The world around us is tough to change. But most things worth changing are tough. I've uprooted and walked away from people that brought me down. Plenty of times. I've walked away from places that just weren't me. I've committed to carving out a path that I deem meaningful in my life. See, but you can always turn your back and walk away from people, from places, from situations.

Here's a little caveat no one seems to tell you about, though. You have to take yourself with you. There's no destination to which you can arrive without your thoughts. There's no place you can show up without your narratives or your view of the world. And the more I navigate this floating rock we're on, the more I'm convinced that weather is determined by the onlooker, not the atmosphere. Some people simply choose to see sun. Some people choose rain. Our forecasts are internal.

I've referenced this book often Because it's one of the few cheat codes Not to any subset of reality But to life in general That allows us to reverse engineer true contentment It's called the top five regrets of the dying By Brony Ware Where she speaks with mostly older people

During their final days Asks them what they would do differently If they could do it all over again Regret number one And we can actually stop right there is I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the one others expected of me. Meaning, the number one thing people wish they did differently

was careless. They wished they'd lived in their authenticity, put more weight on their goals and their dreams than those of strangers that pass like ships in the night. every time we repress who we are, our future selves shed a tear. And I know that's not pretty or uplifting to think about, right? A future you looking down and wishing you'd sought out that freedom in its truest form, the freedom to live fully.

But look, sometimes carving meaning out of life just isn't pretty. Sometimes what's necessary is not pretty. See, everything's relative. And perhaps understanding that it's not others who are the judge. But it's instead that older version of you sitting on the bedside, reflecting back on this one roller coaster ride. Maybe that's who we're living for. That's the well from which our courage should be drawn.

We are guests passing through a miracle with minds that falsely and iraqi responsibly whisper, we have all the time in the world, trying to convince us that the trip lasts forever. But it doesn't. Your life is a raindrop in the thunderstorm. It will be over as fast as it arrived, and how you choose to live it will be everything. See, there will always, in some capacity, exist that voice asking you to dial it down. There will, from time to time, be sweaty palms and shaking knees. You know, those human things.

But when you find yourself standing on the edge of that door, looking out at a world that you know calls your name, let your voice be louder than all of it. Let the beating of your heart be stronger than your fear. And if you can't do it for you, then please do it for that version of you years from now, looking out the window, smiling about how you are. almost said no.

You almost boxed yourself in, you almost let what matters pass you by, but instead you captured life like a child chasing down a firefly that in a world of constraint, you allowed yourself to be free. I'm going to share one of the most important lessons I've ever learned, along with the different sort of unconventional way that I've learned it. So bear with me for a second while I set the scene. Last week I did for the second time, what I refer to as a broken marathon.

Let me explain what that is. It takes exactly 24 hours to complete. And what it is is at the top of every hour, for 24 straight hours, you run exactly 1.1 miles, which in totality adds up to a little bit more than the 26.2 miles standard for a marathon. Here's why it's tricky though. An actual marathon, like in the traditional sense, is challenging for obvious reasons. It's nonstop. It's incredibly tough on the body, the physical exertion, right? This, on the other hand, or what I'm

referring to as the broken marathon, is difficult for an entirely different reason. Sure, it's difficult on the body, but it's the mental discomfort one endures trying to completed, that is truly the obstacle. Because for someone in relatively good shape, to, you know, at noon, run 1.1 miles, come back, rest until 1 p.m. At 1 p.m., run 1.1 miles, come back in a few minutes, rest until 2 p.m. At 2 p.m., run 1.1 miles, come back, rest until 3 p.m. You get the idea. Basically, that's not that bad, at the beginning, right? But here's what's tough. It's the little aches and pains you start having to navigate around as your body gets tired.

It's the darkness and cold from midnight until 5 a.m. It's the sleep deprivation. At times moments of boredom and loneliness. I think most significantly, in my mind, it's that feeling that you don't even need to be out there doing it. It's all self-inflicted, which I'll get to in a little bit here. So we started at noon on a Thursday with the intent to going to, you know, roughly noon on Friday the next day, straight through. But we did a few things a little differently. One, instead of going around the neighborhood, you know, I got some very close friends and we went

into the middle of the desert, decided to do it under the stars. Second is instead of running the 1.1 miles, we all put on rucking backpacks with 30 pounds in them and decided to rock or walk with those 30 pound backpacks for the 1.1 mile stretches. So a little different. Mixed it up. And what I'm going to do now is break the 24 hours down into three chapters, which should immediately show you the parallels to life, right? It's surprisingly apparent. Chapter 1. Arriving. So we find a spot, we parked the cars, set up a canopy to create some shade, we grab our 30-pound backpacks, and we go. The first 1.1 mile lap or trip. It's easy, fun even, exciting. You know, we use the GPS on our watches

to find the best 1.1 mile loop through the desert. Life was good. And I would say the first 10 laps are so fit that description. It's like the brain can't even comprehend how something like this can be difficult. It's a walk in the park. We're getting back, putting our feet up between laps, snacking on some sunflower seeds, just smooth sailing. Then comes chapter two. Darkness. And they say life can change quickly. I think few things epitomize that more blatantly than the few things. In the feeling of that beautiful sunset turning into complete darkness. It was us and the moon. Like midnight rolls around.

1 a.m. We have lawn chairs around the fire, people trying to get comfortable in their chairs, taking power naps. Some folks are taping blisters on their feet, stretching, trying to loosen up. It's incredible to me how quickly the fun can leave the equation

and unveil this sense of seriousness, right? It's like, oh, this is a thing now, you know? And I learned from the last time I did one of these that the hardest part was waking up five minutes before, you know, you have to do the next lap when your body wants to sleep. So I decided this time to take a different approach. No sleeping at all, just cold brew, coffee drinks.

You know, this is only 24 hours, tough it out. Into the darkness, headlamps illuminating the five feet in front of us as we navigated the emptiness of the desert. Could hear both the beautiful and eerie howling of the coyotes in the distance. A foot injury ended up taking out one of our buddies. Another one had his knees start acting up and threw on a few compression sleeves. You know, it would certainly be dramatic to call it hell, right? But it became very clear that this wasn't the cakewalk,

that the newbies thought it might be. It's very much a game of enduring, of turning the brain off and like a robot programmed to do one thing, standing up when the alarm at the top of the hour sounded and moving one step at a time. See, in these moments, I can tell you exactly why it's so hard to continue moving forward. Because it's not that you can't, right?

It's not that the 30-pound rucksacks are the adversary, or even the darkness, the sleep deprivation. It's all those things combining, creating a little voice that whispers, you don't need to be here. This is silly. You're a 36-year-old dude walking through the desert for no reason.

You have things to do tomorrow and the next day. You're putting the important things in jeopardy. Stop. Go sit by the fire. Go relax. You don't need this nonsense. And that's why the dark is so dangerous. It tells you everything that is not conducive to your success.

Darkness is a lobbyist. for mediocrity. It's amazing to me. It's just how rarely it is that we can't do things. It's that we talk ourselves out of it. We rationalize. It's easier not to. Chapter 3, hope.

Laps 19 to 24. The sun coming up, it's amazing how meaningful that is, in and of itself, the excitement, right? You made it through the hardest part. dark hours. Haven't slept in a full day, but somehow that light helps you find within yourself another burst of life. You feel like if you can walk out of the other side of that, then the remainder's easy, nothing. Everyone's feet hurt a little more, right? Hamstrings were stiff. People aren't walking so much as they're limping around, right? Just the wear and tear.

But your brain looks back and essentially knows you can navigate what remains. Plus, you've come this far. Who waits until the sun comes up and, you know, quits then? That doesn't make sense. That's not a thing. And so you waltz on through Chapter 3. Maybe on one leg, but you do. And then you're done.

Just like that, right? This chaos you manufacture, this seemingly trivial, unnecessary trip with the guys, suddenly makes sense because you feel in your soul like you just did something most people would not do. That ever elusive warmth that lights you up when you know you just personally evolved in the face of adversity. And so, you know, two days out looking back, what am I left with? Well, two things, two very important things. The first is that in our darkest moments, there will, period, always, there will be a voice whispering that you don't need to be doing what you're doing. It will be highlighting off-ramps, alternative plans, it will be making excuses for you telling you that it doesn't matter.

There are other ways, options, avenues to explore. It will light that metaphorical fire and say, hey, it's warm over there. So just sit there. After all, this isn't a requirement. This isn't defining. But if you can find the strength to march straight through that moment, to carry yourself right into the heart of the night, you'll see that it mattered more than you could have ever believed,

because knowing you're the type of person who endures, who doesn't stop when you take. the ruck off and leave the desert, it becomes who you are. Starting a business is a ruck through the desert. That first month where it's hard to make ends meet, where the customers aren't what they, you thought they'd be or hoped they would. Very easy to say, oh, maybe this isn't that important. Maybe I'll just take the backpack off and sit by the fire, right? What do you do? Maintaining a healthy relationship is a ruck through the desert. Passing the class in school is a ruck through the desert.

That's the gift that 24-hour stretch presented to me. Eddie, when it's darkest, what will you do? And second, having done two of these now, I can attest to how incredible it is to be around people on the same mission, to push and inspire one another, to help keep the fire lit, share supplies, laugh from time to time about how random the whole thing is. But to keep that flame burning. When people around you grit their teeth

and step into the darkness, makes it a hell of a lot easier for you to do the same. So surround yourself with people who, when that alarm clock goes off at the top of the hour, suit up and start walking the path. Hemingway once wrote, The world breaks everyone down and afterward many are strong at the broken places.

Well, I would encourage you to push beyond normalcy. Just far enough to crack. Far enough to let the light shine through. We endure broken marathons because when we put ourselves back together, the reflection in the mirror towers over what once was. We let life break us down in order to construct what we otherwise could never have had.

And so let this be your sign, your reminder, whatever you want to call it. When the voice whispers in your ear that it doesn't matter, let this be a promise that it does. Let this remind you that you are strong enough to crack and let that light shine through. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year? your skin is a great place to start. Dime Beauty, founded by a master aesthetician, is more than just a skincare company.

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Hey there, it's Ryan Seycrest for Safeway. February is the month of love. And while you're spending time showing love to your family and friends, make sure you show yourself some love too. Now through February 25th, shop in store and online and save on self-love items from Dove. Like Dove cucumber and green tea body wash. Dove deep moisture nourishing body wash. Dove antiperspirants, dove shampoos, and dove conditioners,

offends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit Safeway.com for more detail. It always gets worse first. I was recently at a mastermind where someone made this point, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't really poke holes in it. For the simple fact that everything new requires some vulnerability,

some discomfort that was previously non-existent. Or in other words, you have to endure turbulence prior to calm. So imagine a wavy, line on a piece of paper or whiteboard where the top of each wave is slightly bigger than the one before it right so right before that new wave occurs there is necessarily a low point or a trough a point that's absolutely without a doubt lower than the top of the previous wave and this to me summarizes the battle we fight right when you're comfortable when you're comfortable when you're at the top of the little wave you're currently riding, it almost feels self-defeating

to willingly jump off and land yourself at the bottom of some new, soon-to-be future wave. Every new mountain means starting at the bottom, a new base. Every acquisition means letting go of something we once knew and understood. The question is, are you, you? you're willing to fight through? Are you willing to hang out in the trough at the bottom, right, wander that valley of despair? And that's, by the way, what we're talking about when we talk about, for example, Walt Disney being fired, being called unimaginative, and struggling to get the world to understand his

Mickey Mouse cartoon. That's what we're talking about with Steve and Waz, with Apple. That's what we're talking about with Lincoln and the constant political rejection before finding stability and success. These stories have become almost folklore. And all of them share the same characteristic, that the main players willingly accepted the fact that it would get worse before it got better. All of them were willing to make a trade. the bottom now for a chance at the top later. Not only is this pragmatic,

but it also aids the mind throughout the process. It helps us understand and internalize what we're going through. You know, that initial instinct to think, why me, to shake our fists at the world and fall into the role of victim. That goes away when we know that, you know, we're enduring turbulence now for something better. When we know that this is merely the cost of admission. You're not at the bottom of the wave because you have to be,

or even because it's fun to hang out there. You're there because something greater is coming. And a human's desire to delay gratification is a superpower. We all know that. Things get worse before they get worse. better. So remember next time you're out in the world, right, dealing with adversity. Technically, you don't have to be there. You could be hiding away, letting life slip by. But instead, you've made the decision, the courageous decision to better yourself.

What you're enduring will ultimately become your strong point. And so don't villainize or demonize that. Cherish it, hold on to that. Because we need to get beyond the notion that discomfort is weakness. Discomfort is a decision. A bold decision that you should be proud of. Again, you could live your entire life running from the painful things, hiding from the discomfort of growth. But then you'd also be forfeiting that next wave.

You'd be so hellbent on escaping the notion that it always gets worse first, that instead never let your life get better to begin with. There is no bottom or trough on earth more detrimental to the human soul than stagnation. We need to be moving, marching forward, even when we don't know, right, into the unknown, into the night, fighting to get to the ceiling, then gladly allowing that ceiling to become our next floor. It always gets worse and thank God. That's where we are made. Condition.

That's the buffer that separates mediocrity from greatness. That forces us to ask the important questions. Do I really want this? And if the answer is yes, let it get worse first. Let it be tough out of the game. grant yourself that gift of vulnerability because a few waves from now you'll be on a different level

physically, spiritual, personally a few waves from now the quote unquote worst parts will be what stand between who you are and who you were and that decision the decision to step out and face them will have been perhaps the best decision you've ever made.

So I want to revisit one of my favorite quotes. Mark Twain, if you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect. This idea resurfaced in my mind last Saturday night. Just because of what was going on during the day, I didn't really have a ton of time to get to the gym, so I ended up going pretty late. And there was not a source of the day,

There was not a soul around in the gym, completely empty, completely quiet, going from machine to machine without any people or having to wait or anything like that. And I just got this moment of clarity, this sort of ever-relevant reminder, that there is a ton of value to be extracted from the abnormal decisions that we make. Now, I'm not saying there's anything horrific. about going to the gym on a Saturday night. Working out is working out. You get it in, that's wonderful.

I'm not even saying there's anything wrong with working out on, quote unquote, normal hours or during normal hours. What I'm saying is being exceptional necessarily means you are doing that which is not ordinary. In that situation highlighted, you know, or I will say reminded me,

that there's an entire world slightly beyond the scope of normality and that world accumulates to provide treasures beyond comprehension. I love that message. It's changed my life over the years and every time I come face to face with it, I feel reinvigorated.

It's like an opportunity to re-audit where I'm focused and how I'm spending my time. I'll never forget that interview with Kobe Bryant where he's talking about his morning routine, right? And he says, you know, he practices no matter what, two hours every morning he's there before everybody else. Whether that's shooting or drills or working out, I'm not sure exactly what he does. But he's there and no one else is. And he says, you know, a week, that's not much.

A month, that's not much. But months turn into a year, which turns into multiple years, which turns into a decade. And that much time, that much extra effort. compounds into an advantage that just no one else can reach. At some point, Kobe is too far along because of his additional concentrated effort. He can't be touched. And in my life, I've found my greatest return on investment by highlighting the things that matter most and consistently delving into them in a way that most wouldn't.

No miracles. Just an acknowledgement that right beyond where most people stop, there's value. Not even far beyond, just right there. You know, in my world, it was showing up every week to create a YouTube video, even when the response for years had been underwhelming. Would most people do that? I don't know. I was practicing writing speeches and speaking them out loud in my studio to an audience of zero.

Would most people do that? It was acclimating myself to risk, and my ego to bruises along the way. Would most people do that? And see, the great news is there's nothing special about any of that. Those are simply the metaphorical gyms I chose to walk into. The daily shootarounds that ended up ultimately changing my life. And so now, because you know I have to ask, what are yours? What can become your empty gym?

What can be the thing that's a little out there, a little different? The opportunity left on the table waiting for you to reach out and take it, control it, make it your own. Remember, just because the crowd goes one way doesn't make that particular decision wrong, but it does make that particular decision ordinary. In ordinary, my friend, is not why you're here. There is one person who can save you. And that person exists.

in the mirror. I was recently doing an audit of some of the most important conversations I've ever had. Mentors, friends, coaches, people that have changed my life, people that I love and am beyond grateful for. And started kind of going one by one. What did I learn from this person? What was it that I took away from them? And, you know, in one way or another, across the board, the answer was the same. It was some variation of confidence. It was belief that I could step into that next chapter, that I have what it takes, that the unknown wasn't impenetrable. In fact, you know, the unknown is inviting. And truthfully, I don't know how many people started from the same starting point that I did, where I essentially had to learn every step of the way that I was good enough. had to reteach myself that I belonged where I was,

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

how much of success is simply believing you are worthy of it. You know, I look at the things that I do now, and it's like so much of it's just because I allowed myself to do it. At some point, I looked around and said, you are worthy of this. Believe it. Step into it. There's nothing stopping you.

but you, and I've seen the power of, as someone near and dear to me once said, walking into a room like God sent you. It's not a fake it till you make it game. It's believing in your heart that you are worthy game. No one who's achieved success on a consistent basis got there accidentally. At some point they looked at that reflection and said, hey, this is me. At some point they looked around and said,

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

That's the question. No one can save you because no one can make you believe. No one when your eyes open in the moment, morning can position your mindset to say, today is mine. The world is my opportunity. No one can convince you that you're capable of magic on your short time on this planet. That's an internal decision. Do you believe you are worthy of it? And if not, let's get you to that point. That's the name of the game. Look hard at that reflection and remind yourself

that you have everything you need to begin. Not a few things or some things, everything you need. You're good enough. What's required is you giving yourself permission to go on whatever journey you deem important. It's allowing yourself to tap into the strength that's already there. Be resilient.

Ship away, little by little, every day. That's it. That's the formula. You approach that lane with tenacity and drive. And life changes, right? As the saying goes, days turn into months, which turn into years, and you'll look back and, you know, you'll see you're not the same person you once were. You'll see that you had this potential all along. You just had to give it life. See, we attribute complexity to things we don't understand.

We assume people on mountaintops were placed there, that they had God-like abilities. And it's like, no, they just believed they were worthy and stepped forward. forward into the night. Just like a seed must be planted, you too must give your potential the opportunity to be nourished by what's around you. When the alarm clock goes off, your eyes open and your feet touch the ground in the morning,

remember that getting what you want is far less complex than you think. It's simple. Not easy, but it's simple. You say yes to more and start walking down the road. And you'll change, you'll adjust, you'll evolve. There will be times when you backtrack, course correct, and perhaps even switch lanes altogether.

But the gift of going is the best gift you'll have ever presented to yourself. No one is coming to save you. And when you realize how powerful you are, you will have not wanted it any other way. I've been listening to Charlie Munger quite a bit recently. Kind of, you know, going back down memory lane, listening to small lectures, small videos. The guy was brilliant, had a ton of quotes. And one of my favorite, I'm paraphrasing here, but the idea is that we shouldn't dwell so much on our, we'll call them, faults or weaknesses, but rather we should be diving fully into our strengths.

and this is one of those things that on the surface probably makes sense right away but the reality is we don't always do it we spend so much time stuck on the things we aren't good at or that we're not drawn to that we forget to nurture the things that separate us and make us unique. I like to joke around about Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel used to haunt me. I hated it. I hated opening it, hated the formulas. Like, to me, the seventh letter of hell is someone with a sweater vest on asking me to find trends in an Excel spreadsheet. And so going from school to a job as an analyst, obviously, you know, the circumstances didn't care whether I liked it or not. That was the vehicle through which we had to arrive at a lot of important outcomes.

So the deal was figured out, you know, and I did. And I got better. but like the same way a blind person on a park bench would get better at identifying people walking by. They're just operating with less than ideal tools. Right, and that was one of many indicators. It was like, bro, you are in the wrong spot. Not spot in the building, but spot in life. And as I continued the process of navigating towards my strengths,

I saw more and more the value of exactly what Charlie Munger was referring. to. The further I stepped outside my zone of genius, the less likely I was to have a positive impact in my own life and the lives of those around me. And again, when you think about this, or even talk through it, like you're explaining it to a fifth grader, it makes perfect sense. So an example, you're an athlete, it's your gift, you love it, you thrive on it. In this example, would you rather spend 90% of your time focusing on the athletics you love and becoming the 1% of the 1% uncommon amongst uncommon men or women, as Goggins would say? Or would you rather be that incredible athlete who instead of spending 90% of his time nurturing the gift

felt bad about being terrible at chess? And so practice chess every day in an effort to go from terrible to mediocre. It's like, who cares? You suck at chess. You don't need it. Let chess go. Unless you're getting personal enjoyment out of it, which is a different story altogether, but let it go. Focus on where your happiness and strengths intersect.

That's where you'll get the most joy. That's where when the sun comes up in the morning, you jump out of bed, feeling invigorated, ready to take on the day. Too many of us using the same example are athletes trying to become mediocre at chess. For what reason? I personally am a creator, a writer, a speaker. It's what I love and it's what I'm good at. So I should be doing creator, writer, speaker things. And so the question I'm going to pose to you is what is that for you?

What are those things in your world? And lastly, you know, because life is not always black and white, There's one more caveat that I think needs to be addressed. There's something you don't love doing, but it's required to help you do more of the thing that you do love doing, then at least for a period of time, you have to suck it up and find balance. So a few examples, easy one for me. My company was a one-man show for a long time.

A lot of you know that. I've talked about it. It wasn't just creating, writing, and speaking. It was learning how to use a camera. It was learning how to edit audio, learning how to edit video. It was strategy. It was understanding social media platforms. It was, believe it or not, going through YouTube's data, some of which exports to Excel.

But I survived. And I still do. And here's what I've learned and where the spirit of Charlie Munger's message has been critical. I surround myself now with people who not only do things I don't. like or, you know, take care of my weaknesses, but they're amazing at it. You know, our zones of genius are different. My weaknesses are their strengths. That's team 101. And that understanding, it frees us all up to do what we're great at as much as possible. Ideally, 100% of the time. In fact, one of my biggest breakthroughs was talking to,

you know, my now business manager about value ad. He's sort of analyzing, the situation over here and he goes, hey, the thing that you can do that no one else can is be sharing your story in front of the camera. We can get an awesome group of people around you to analyze trends on YouTube, to create thumbnails, to answer email, to edit audio and video, to schedule things. In a perfect world, you're doing zero of that. Why? Because your zone of genius.

is speaking and storytelling. And I got excited thinking about how far that concept could go. It's like, imagine. Imagine a world where I wake up and only do the things I love doing that fall within my zone of genius. That to me was groundbreaking. It's like Charlie's comment isn't just about going

from the minefield of Excel to creating my own business. No, it takes it further. It's shedding things until all that's left is the stuff that makes a difference. That's how you create greatness. And I'd advocate, you know, that's the mental shift we should all be making. Stop feeling like, you know, we owe it to someone or something to go from a zero to a two in a certain category when we can change our lives in the world by going from an eight to ten in the things that mean the most to us.

You have that ability, right? It's a cutting away process, understanding what moves the needle and going all in there. So if you're looking around and realizing, you know, hey, I'm fighting every day to go from bad to proficient, particularly in an area I don't care about, then odds are you're in the wrong arena. And I think the best advice is to seek out the right one. to find a place where that exhausted energy lights you up. It'll be life-changing, experiencing the power that a move in that direction.

The most important promises are the ones you make to yourself. Of all the people on planet Earth, it's most critical that you believe you. That when you commit, you show up, when you make plans you follow through. When you tell yourself you'll do something, you actually do it. Here's what's interesting. Being that this is, I believe, the North Star, I'm consistently chasing down this standard, right? Trying to be better and better and better at following through.

Because I clearly think we all should, but keeping promises to yourself is different than keeping promises to others. When you let other people down, especially those close to you, you feel the social repercussions. And for human beings, negative social repercussions are painful. We care greatly about our reputation. Don't want to let others down. Don't want to be known as the person who doesn't show up.

And that's incentive enough to push us towards following through with others. But with yourself, where do the repercussions go? What are the consequences? You tell yourself, today is the day. I'm starting, beginning, trying something new.

And then you don't. There's no phone call with someone on the other end saying, hey, where were you? Hey, you promised. Hey, you owed me this. No, when you're not, When we break promises to ourselves, it seems like the situation, after maybe a second or two

of disappointment, just floats away into the ether. It feels as though there is no substantial cost. But I actually think those broken promises stick around. I think we wear them. We feel them. We see them when we look in the mirror. And sure, maybe there isn't that friend or family member staring us down with disappointment in their eyes.

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

Like the world will notice and act accordingly. It will conform to the standards you create for you. So let's work on those standards. Let's make it so there's skin in the game. So that when we break promises to ourselves, say, ah, not today, or, this is good enough for now, that we understand the magnitude of those decisions. Because they're not insignificant.

They're crucial. And sometimes we have to highlight the consequences of what we don't do. Sometimes we have to make ourselves truly feel the opportunities we let slip away. As though we did actually hold them in the palms of our hands. There is a price to letting yourself down, and perhaps there's power in quantifying it. There's an idea that life isn't really you versus anyone or anything. else. It's you versus you. And just like you would never let a stranger talk down to you or tear you apart, why would it be okay for you to talk that way to yourself? Right? Like if a friend says

he's going to meet you for coffee at 7 a.m. every morning and never shows up. In what world would you keep driving there, sitting down, waiting, brushing it off and, you know, rinse repeat? Of course, not you look around and go this is crazy I don't deserve this I'm better than this your defenses would kick in you'd make adjustments and just as you shouldn't tolerate it from someone else shouldn't tolerate it from yourself because you're better than that growth is a game of one identifying what's important to creating small steps that move you in that direction and three four following through on those steps.

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

it's going to feel when you're done. being there for yourself when you know there's more in you, but that voice in your head is tempting you to pack it all in or call it a day. Hey, it doesn't matter what that voice in your head says. There is no negotiating. You already made up your mind. See, there's power and simplicity. Find a target, aim, shoot.

And although life is turbulent, There are certainly highs and lows. We are at our best when we decide what's important, initiate the journey, and show up. When I set the alarm clock, it can't be about rationalizing sleep. That beeping can't be about X many hours. No, it merely signifies a promise. It cries out, hey, remember what you said right before you closed your eyes last night? Well, time to bring that to life.

So sure, that means be careful of the promises you make to yourself. Don't take them lightly. But once they are etched into the universe, they must be law. And I'm not talking about failure to adapt or try things. I'm not talking about being stubborn. I'm talking about the initial follow-through that precedes all that. Will we do what we said we would do? And I'm not emphasizing, you know, making this the standard because life should be some perpetual boot camp,

but rather because discipline is freedom. Because when we go to bed at night knowing we set goals and meet them, we see ourselves as winners. People follow through on who they believe themselves to be. It's an endless feedback loop. You see yourself as a winner. You carry yourself as a winner. You carry yourself as a winner, and other people see it. They treat you as such, and around and around it goes.

So when you feel like skipping or procrastinating or quitting on yourself, remember that it's not just that immediate moment at stake. It's not a little thing. It's one brushstroke on the mural that is your current reality. It becomes you. And again, you wouldn't let other people talk down to you. So stop doing it to yourself. You wouldn't allow being stood up by others.

So stop doing that to yourself. Become the king or queen of your own empire. Rule over yourself like it all matters because it does. To keep the promises you make to yourself is playing office. It's essentially building a bridge to the outside world so that you may go shape it. as opposed to merely putting up your hands and living at life's mercy. Never forget how much control you have, how powerful you are, and that you don't need to convince others.

You need to convince yourself during the highs, the lows, the ups and the downs, the sun and the rain. You need to be there for, you. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year? Your skin is a great place to start. Dime Beauty, founded by a master esthetician, is more than just a skincare company.

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Dove shampoos and Dove Conditioners. Offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Safeway.com for more details. You can become so fixated on winning or losing the game that you forget to ask yourself, am I playing the right one? Is this my game?

Am I setting myself up to win in an arena of significance to me? Because look, there are infinite games out there. And sometimes we find ourselves caught up in a race. We have no business running. meaning it doesn't really do anything for us. It's not where we want to be or should be. There's a saying by someone, and a few social media outlets actually restricted my post for suggesting it was Einstein.

So it might not be Mr. Einstein. But whoever said it, thank you, you're awesome. The saying goes, everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it's stupid. Now, there are a lot of us fish out there, attempting to climb trees as we speak, wondering why we're not where we want to be,

perhaps seeing the results or lack thereof as an indication that we're insufficient, inadequate in some way, when, hey, that's not the case at all. It's that we haven't taken the time to identify our own personal intersection, of what we love and what adds value to the world. We haven't manufactured those fireworks. That's something that has to be explored, found.

J.R.R. Tolkien, not all who wander are lost, right? And I think we innately fear this process of searching because it's unsettling to not know how things are going to play out. Trust me, I've been there, right? It's taxing to not have your packaged little elevator speech and a five-year vision when it seems like the whole world does. But to deprive yourself of this exploration

is to potentially forfeit the very thing that you come to live for. Most of the time, purpose doesn't fall into one's lap. You have to have your eyes open. What's meaningful must be sought out. Now, I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here because our world is not black and white. It sort of lives in this

gray space, right? Can you win at someone else's game? Sure. There are a lot of people, quote, unquote, succeeding in areas that are not ideal, that they don't love, that they're not their best in, but how is success being defined? I've talked extensively about my journey and all those games I used to play, the targets I used to aim for. And I know a lot of people who've come to similar epiphanies, But when you don't realize, you can exit stage left and begin again, start something new, you simply continue this same song and dance. It's not life that keeps us confined, it's ignorance that keeps us confined. We simply have to be taught that there's more.

And I understand to find an arena where you can thrive in a purely historical context, is a luxury. And you are programmed to survive. You're not programmed to build an art studio because it's your passion, right? But there lies the battle. We are at a place in time where we have collectively cultivated abundance.

The phone you're using to consume this content, that little thing can be a portal that transports your thoughts, your creation, your business to the masses. You have at your fingertips access to billions of people. You have reach that humans only 30 years ago, all the way back to the beginning of mankind, could only dream of.

The means are there. In so many ways, it's about freeing yourself to pursue the opportunity that exists all around you, because we self-limit. Alan Watts asked the ever-important question, what would you do if money were no option? Now, in a practical world, why ask such a question? Simple, because removing those monetary constraints as you contemplate your answer,

allows you to truly analyze what endeavors are meaningful to you. When something is meaningful, you want to do it. When you want to do it, you immerse yourself in those little intricacies and those details that the average person simply doesn't pay attention to. making you so good at whatever that thing is that eventually, not only can you be the best at it, but you can monetize it and probably at a very high rate. It's not money holding you back.

It's not time holding you back. It's not the external world holding you back. It's what you have been conditioned to believe that's holding you back. You are a genius at something. You are king or queen of your age. empire, victor within your arena. But to realize these things, you have to, one, understand it's a possibility, and two, refuse to stay stagnant.

We have to stop conceding so much while simultaneously accepting so little. Life will never provide what you do not ask for. So why? Why be scared to ask? Life won't tell you you're a fish climbing a tree, you must tell you that. Life won't expand your horizons and adjust your trajectory. You must initiate that change.

To find your genius, you must be willing to leave what's insufficient. To capture what's meaningful, you must be willing to leave what is meaning Lest, let's agree to alter the question, do I have genius level talent? Because you do. And you live in a society that also rewards those who realize it. The question we need to be willing to ask is, are you willing to walk on shaky ground?

to abandon, at least for a period of time, safety, and the comfort of predictability in order to find that genius. Are you willing to nurture the greatness that already lives within you? Because it was never a matter of ability. It's a matter of what you're willing to discover. So you've made a decision. Congrats, you're 3% done. Now I'm paraphrasing, but that's an idea from author and entrepreneur Lee Benson. Belief and execution.

The duo that will change your life. First, believe. Why? Because nothing happens without belief. Nothing begins without an understanding and a trust that the future contains something of value. that the seeds of discomfort being planted will bear fruit. We simply don't walk through doors if we don't believe something of value exists on the other side. And then there's execution, the doing.

Congrats, you gave yourself permission to begin. That was a big step, right? But now you have to deal with life, and life, my friends, is no picnic. It's in the doing that success is either obtained or not, that a new reality is birthed or not. In the book, your most important number, Lee Benson has said, so you've made a decision, congrats, your 3% done. Why? Because, well, now comes the implementation, the execution.

Now the feet are on the ground and the wheels, the road. and we must transform the thoughts into things. Thinking can be so much more convenient than doing. Execution is trying things. It's recognizing the attempts that didn't work. It's moving forward only to realize wrong path or wrong approach. Or maybe what's required of you is not yet something you're capable of producing, and so you must evolve.

It's seeing setbacks as data point. It's understanding that to not know is okay because we collect our answers as we go. It's seeing the journey is an experiment, one in which we seek to understand ourselves and the world, there is so much contained in that 97%. It's a write your own ending storybook. An infinite number of paths and outcomes.

but ultimately only discoverable by you. And I think that's one of the most beautiful things about life. And once you give yourself permission to walk a certain path, once you believe in something greater than the world as it currently exists, you become an artist, painting something that was not there before. Using the highs as little benchmarks to remind you why you started

to begin with when your landscape becomes gray. It's using the lows as fuel that turns the ordinary into extraordinary that slingshots the old you to the new you, adding brightness and vibrance to the overall scene. You're encapsulating all of it as you move through that great unknown, as you push further and further into the abyss. You're playing the role of Maker. not because you knew how it would all turn out,

but because you didn't, and still, you executed. Recently in an interview, I heard Alex Hermose, and now accomplished entrepreneur in his own right, talking about some of his failings, consulting gyms in the fitness industry, the moment when things went south, and he lost it all. Now, for a moment, he thought he had.

money, assets, and perhaps even the pride, gone. But came to learn that money and those assets, they are lagging indicators. They aren't the value that's obtained. The value is who you become. The value is learning how to be someone who can obtain those things in the first place. It's emerging from the old restriction and limitation, the old narratives, because that cannot be taken away. When we execute, we're making ourselves something

we otherwise could never have become. And so Alex learned that what he lost was insignificant compared to what he gained, and why is this such a common theme? With industry leaders, folks speaking on their accomplishments, I think the answer is simple, because you don't get there without the doing and the execution,

and if to execute means to step forward without having all the answers, after all, we are only human, life will humble us. Excellence must be a game of trial and error. We can't escape those lost-everything stories, because choosing the right path every time, well, that only happens when you choose no path at all.

We have to act, and be okay understanding that, action brings with it mistakes and lessons and setbacks. You know, all those little annoying things that become greatness. 97% is left because the path before you is unwalked. But know that it contains everything. Everything you need. So believe it.

Decide because nothing starts without that initial 3%. But nothing changes without. the subsequent 97. That's where we are shaped. And when you come face to face with the inevitable adversity, know that life might take the material gains. It might demand a price you deem to be steep. It might collect as a toll assets you've been accumulating along the way, but it can't

take what you know or who you've become. And that is why you execute to build the world. around you, yes, but most importantly, to build yourself into someone who can thrive in such an environment. It's in doing that the man is built. And as was said in Gary Keller's book, The One Thing, Build the Man and the World falls into place. I recently heard someone say, it's not about doing your best.

It's about doing what's required. Are they different? Very. Here's my take. Doing your best has an emotional component attached to it. It's subjective. What exactly is your best? Well, it's a story that you tell yourself.

A narrative, opening the door to limitation. I've always found that when we put our backs against the wall, and venture into scenarios where it's essential that we get something done, we somehow always find a way. When we leave no plan B for ourselves, we are required to make Plan A work. And so we do. It's a testament to both the resilience and power contained in the human spirit,

as well as the reality that we can astound ourselves when we're unwilling to take no for an answer. That it's not the resources that are the problem. It's usually our unwillingness to move forward into the dark, our hesitance to try, explore, test, build, and rebuild. Actions that are surprisingly unrelated to one's best and have everything to do with accepting nothing less than an identified outcome. One of the reasons I fell in love with the sport of running,

because it reinforced this notion in my life. It became the template with which I could repeatedly amaze myself. I talk a lot about earning confidence, and oh, how I earned it. Step by step, mile by mile, day by day, in the sun, in the rain, in the desert, in the woods, through city streets, all over the country and the world, I came to understand the relationship between the turbulence of now and the satisfaction of later. It was on those days I'd push beyond my usual level of comfort

when that cloud of pain and agony would hover over me. I couldn't even really point to where my body hurt. It just all seemed to come together into this one giant hell and to learn that I could not only endure that, but grow in those moments. To see myself rise above any preconceived notion or understanding of best in order to defeat my demons, conquer the day's objective, it changes the way you see yourself in the world. Now, could onlookers be tempted to call these self-created goals arbitrary, even unnecessary?

Sure. then I get why they would, but I'd also completely disagree. Those days were a masterclass in doing what is necessary, realizing that when you shut your rational brain off and don't give your mind a chance to talk your body out of it, you can see just how powerful you are. You realize that story of your best is nothing more than a house built on.

on sand, life is not about that story you've told yourself. It's not about your personal records and peak performances, what you think you can do or how far you think you might be able to go. It's about not stopping in the moments when it hurts. Doing what is required, a decision that compounds over time to create what was once impossible. One of my favorite quotes is by Admiral William McRaven. An absolute hero of mine. Funny enough, he says, if you want to change the world,

you must be your very best in your darkest moments. And what a beautiful idea to rise when life presents its periods of turbulence. And sure, it may be a matter of semantics. But in those moments of darkness, I think of your best, not in the traditional sense. Not as a personal metric, but as a willingness to do what must be done a removal of the spotlight from you altogether and instead pointed directly at the road ahead,

at the task at hand. When you choose to make the journey, not about what you can and cannot do, but instead make it about what must be done, the universe, as Paulo Coelho has so elegantly stated, conspires to make it happen. I think back to my journey, and at so many periods my best,

wasn't good enough. I was so lost and so overwhelmed that the only thing I could do was not stop moving. That was my superpower, simply trudged through the fear of things falling apart, the nagging pride and hurting ego. And what I learned was that life is no different than all those miles I'd put in running.

How I felt what my previous capabilities were, what I deemed my best, best to be. It was all noise. It was all irrelevant. What was required was that I move forward through the chaos and to something better. And so I did. And in your world, so can you. The stories we tell ourselves are so powerful and in many ways valuable in our journey through life. But there's one narrative that eliminates the necessity of so many others. You can get to the top, at whatever mountain you are seeking to climb so long as you do not stop, so long as you let go of the limitations tied to your quote-unquote best, and instead do what is required to get

there. You'll see how adaptable and transformative that best really is, how it's a lagging indicator. It will take time, but you're capable of being patient. and it will have its moments of chaos, but you are capable of weathering those storms. It will present obstacles that leave you unclear, uncertain, sometimes unprepared, but you're capable of picking your head up

and moving through that hate. What you know of yourself now is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what you're capable of doing. And how far that goes will be determined not by putting a stake in the ground and calling it your personal best. But as Emerson has said, by hitching your wagon to a star and pulling yourself towards its light. A little bit. As many of you know, the great Charlie Munger recently passed away. And a friend of mine sent me a video of his most powerful quotes, Soundbytes.

And as I was listening, one stood out to me that I really wanted to share. Charlie Munger said that the acquisition of knowledge is a moral duty. Basically, it's our responsibility to capitalize on the opportunity presented to each and every one of us. We owe that to ourselves, and we owe that to the world. And it just so happened that this particular message was said during a commencement address, talking to an audience of students who weren't ending, but rather were beginning the greatest undertaking of their lives. They'd be released beyond the confines of the campus to go navigate the world.

I remember being in that position, right, asking myself the question, well, what do I do now? It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders, and actually, beyond that point, I've found myself at that crossroads many a times. But being that there are really no right answers in life, I find Charlie Munger's advice here even more meaningful. Because it's not about what you're supposed to do, at least not when we zoom out. It's about a willingness to step forward

and continuously pursue knowledge. Your personal evolution. It's to try things you've never tried. so that you can learn from them. It's going where you've never gone so that you can stretch beyond the boundaries you previously existed in. You owe it to yourself and the world

to find what you love and shake that tree until all its fruit is gone. And that's an adventure. Not a right or wrong question. Life is not a checklist. It is one great journey. journey, a journey in which we acquire knowledge we never had and become the people we knew we could be. It's a moral duty not to get it right, because again there is no right. It's a moral

duty because you have it within you to change things, to make an impact, to better the people around you. It's a moral duty because you will be a difference maker in whatever arena you choose to step into. And just imagine forfeiting that. Imagine the greatness that would be wasted. If you looked in the mirror and thought to yourself, yeah, I don't know what that future looks like, so I'll stay here. I don't understand, so I won't go. I'm not where I want to be right now. So hey, this is where we'll close the book. See, endings are just beginnings in disguise. Because they set you free to start writing a new chapter.

To adjust and reimagine the impact that you can have on the world. Those students, the ones that Charlie Munger was talking to, they aren't done learning. They're merely at an inflection point. And by the way, I think that's why it's so painful to feel stuck, to feel lost. Because our souls want growth, but don't know where to go. We feel confined because the target is uncertain, but I can tell you this. Sometimes knowing that the current chapter is over is enough, is all you need.

sometimes knowing that you no longer need to be where you are is plenty because it prompts movement one who is willing to keep their feet going who's willing to try make educated guesses and adapt that is someone who is constantly learning someone who's realized that

the only way to assure success is not achieved is by standing still. Worrying so much about losing what you currently have that you disregard the infinite upside. It is a moral duty to grow because you are a game changer. You have perspectives and ideas and abilities that will make this place better.

And when you look around and think, me? No, you've got the wrong. guy or gal here. That just means it's time for you to walk, to move, to create momentum, to stumble into life until you find a little portion of it you want to put a stake in and call your own. And please, this isn't a life is rainbows, butterflies and everything's magic message. This is a find your thing and give it to the world message. This is a you can always be evolving message.

And most importantly, this is a progress is happiness message. Because the life lived to the fullest is one where we are stretching and exploring. We're stepping out into the vast unknown and mapping it for ourselves and others. It's your duty to acquire knowledge and allow that acquisition to propel you into the ether. It's your responsibility to not sit on your gifts, but bring them to life and create that ripple effect that will change the world. The answer you're looking for is right there in the room always.

Now that's certainly a bold statement. And as I've gotten older, I've kind of learned to avoid speaking in. absolutes. Nothing in life was 100% guaranteed. So why am I so confident about that message? Everything you need is right there in the room always. Well, because I believe in the premise, you're always one decision away from a totally different life. And when we're stuck or lost or looking for change, we need not some crazy, grandiose, and to be delivered from the heavens.

We need to find the little action, the tiny movement that's going to set us forth on the journey. We need this snowflake that will become this snowball that will become the avalanche. It seems like so much of life comes down to simply outsmarting our biology. It's like the panic or the emotive defense mechanisms that come into play when we're sad or lost or feeling unsure or down. And it's an absolute,

superpower to know that when we're in those moments, what we need is an arm's length away. It's a perspective shift away. And I look over my shoulder and I see tons of examples here, right? With my keynote speaking, there was a period where it just wasn't quite clicking, where I knew I wasn't performing the way I could. And I was going back and forth on solutions, trying different things, experimenting, not quite getting there, feeling overwhelmed. It's like, why can't I recreate there what I'm doing here? And then one email to the person who's now my speaking coach, and I had my light bulb moments. Like everything started to transform.

Or my YouTube channel, right? It's up, down, up, down, everything in between. And like I've said before, there are times where a simple thumbnail change. and that video explodes, causing the channel to explode. That's not a big grandiose thing. I can always change a thumbnail. That answer is sitting in the palm of my hand with my phone. Or an example that falls on the more human side of things.

There are times where, you know, I felt like I've neglected the relationships in my life in order to really focus on my creativity and my businesses. Sometimes that, you know, mentally doesn't feel good. And I can pick up the phone, start a group chat, plan a dinner with some friends, and feel like my cup has been refilled. But it's like you don't have to have it all figured out. Which is great news because you never will. You just need to start creating momentum. There's nothing more powerful than going to bed at night feeling like you are moving towards something meaningful.

Again, doesn't mean you need to have it all figured out, but in a world where progress, Progress largely equates to happiness. It means you are actively manufacturing momentum. That's everything. You know, I often think of my friend's son, Wyatt. He's become sort of a metaphor for that childlike instinct that seems to be the answer for so much. Right?

He's wandering around the living room, just reusing everything as it suits him. The world is not as it quote unquote is, quote unquote is, it's as he sees it. Picks up a TV remote, becomes a microphone, finds a blanket, becomes the roof for the fort he's building in the living room. Everything is a solution to what he needs. Everything is a color that can go on his canvas. I think that's the place we need to be. That's the idea. The next brushstroke is in the room. Maybe it's a phone call, an email, maybe it's a walk outside, a stroll to the gym. Maybe it's literally cleaning

your room, your apartment, or a house. Maybe it's one social media post. Maybe it's a DM. Maybe it's 10 pages of a book. Maybe it's watching a how-to YouTube video. Maybe it's signing up for a class, meeting up with someone to talk business, life, or anything in between. See, we spend so much time trying to get to the moon that we overlook the staircase it'll take to get there. Oh, and surprise, step one is at your feet. Don't think miracle. Think momentum. It's very hard to slow down an object in motion.

So stop beating yourself up for not having all the answers and simply keep moving. Don't feel down for not having all the solutions and be proud you're walking towards them. Remember, everything you need is in the room, always.