Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - CHANGE YOUR LIFE IN 2023 | New Year Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

"If you wait too long for the perfect moment, the perfect moment will pass you by" - Unknown

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So you can be sure you're providing your clients with the best. Protect your reputation with exterior products by James Hardy. I saw a quote that read, people wait all week for Friday, all year for summer and all their lives for happiness. In many respects, waiting is what humans do. We wait to start or wait to stop, wait to go, or wait to leave. We wait and we wait and we wait. And in doing so, fool not time but ourselves. That clock is going to tick away. regardless of the IOUs we write to it.

It will take those plans and dreams and ideas, and with its two hands carry them away as part of the perpetual rhythmic march. See, one of the most dangerous words in our vocabulary is tomorrow. A concept, illusion, a hesitance that becomes oxygen to the eventual flame of regret it becomes the stories we tell about what could have been if only tomorrow arrived a little sooner.

But the problem with waiting for tomorrow, as Jim Rohn has famously said, is that when it arrives, it's called today. Tomorrow is the box in which we place the things we've not yet found the courage to start. But I want you to be that courageous. I want you to take the shot, to step out, to create momentum, knowing that your journey will be one of imperfection. But imperfect is how everything valuable begins. Perfect, on the other hand. You know what's perfect?

Tomorrow is perfect. Ideas that never start, that contain. no mistakes are perfect, wishing is perfect, hoping is perfect. But capturing the beauty contained in today, that's not a perfection game. That's a willingness to start and adjust along the way. It's a commitment to begin now. So let's disarm tomorrow by making our magic today. By pointing directly at all those things you've been worried or scared or intimidated by,

and simply taking one step towards them. Rather than waiting for life to push you forward, walk yourself there and let life react. Dear younger me, there's a lot that you don't know. A lot, you're pretty sure you understand. but couldn't possibly wrap your hands around. Because the most important things in life, the things that you'll remember,

they're the very things that seem like footnotes in your story. Background noise, hidden in plain view. So younger me, hear me out because time goes by quickly. And we only get one opportunity to do this dance one chance to do this thing right. Younger me, when you wake up, be thankful for the shoes on your feet, the house you live in, the life you lead, because if all you do is focus on what you don't have or the next milestone, happiness becomes a mirage. Younger me, the world as you know it

isn't something that was destined to be. It's here because people know smarter than you have the courage to build it. Never be scared to challenge what is. This place will be better because of it. And younger me, it will always be easier to play it safe, to stay comfortable. But I want you to understand something. That's not where you'll find the good stuff. If you don't take chances, you'll spend your time wondering what could have been. Younger me, believe in your greatness. This world can be a tough place, and if you don't believe in yourself, no one will do it for you. No one will hand you the sky. Earn excellence every day.

It's there, I promise. Younger me, don't get distracted by the small stuff, the little things that so easily consume our energy and emotions. Don't lose sight of who you are and what means the most to you. Everything else washes away. Younger me, you didn't have all the answers, but somehow you were exactly what I needed you to be. You created a map. You showed that change can't happen until one falls victim to life's imperfections. That risks aren't taken until you've experienced regret, that confidence isn't acquired if you don't learn to play the student.

And most importantly, if you don't allow yourself to get lost. You will never discover who you truly are. 20 years from now, when we meet again, younger me, I know you'll do the same. I know you'll have given me everything I needed, nothing more and nothing less. Because time goes by quickly. And we only get one opportunity to do this dance,

one chance to make this dance, to make this right. And I promise you, younger me, that it won't be wasted. It's a scene from a movie called Dead Poet Society. And this quote just really hit me, hit home. And to kind of explain this scene, basically, Robin Williams is a teacher. He's teaching poetry, and I think it's a boarding school.

And there's a bunch of kids around him, and he's explaining to them. You know, these are kids with ambitions. They want to be lawyers and doctors and businessmen. He's saying, I get that, right? But here's why poetry matters. And so it becomes a metaphor for life, essentially. So what he says is, to quote from Whitman,

O me, oh life, of the questions of these recurring, of the endless trains, of the faithless, of cities filled with the foolish, What good amid these, oh me, oh life? And the answer is that you're here, that life exists and identity. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. In other words, with all the negativity, all the ups and downs, all the quote-unquote, you know, terrible aspects of life, all the challenges

what good why are we here what's the point and it's that it's gone on for millions of years before us gone for millions of years after us like a play

that we can contribute one verse and the power in that right just waking up and understanding that we have the ability to create our own history, our own little universe, to change the way things are, to leave our mark.

And so he's talking about, I mentioned the kids huddled around him. He's like, you want to be businessmen and lawyers and engineers and doctors, and that's incredible. It's a noble pursuit. We need those things to sustain life. But the reason poetry is important. Reason things like love and passion and beauty are important. It's because those are the things that we live life for.

They are the pinnacle of what it is to be human. And every day you can decide what to do with that. You can delve into it to change, to grow yourself, and in essence, improve the world around you. You can play a part in something much bigger than you. And it doesn't have to be this grandiose thing. It's using what you have where you are. And the impact you can make is infinite.

Never forget that enormous things are just the culmination of small things. Little decisions. Because for those of you thinking, well, just one person, you know, what difference does it make? And what, why, why would my verse matter and the, you know, the grand scheme of things, the great play of life? Well, I have a follow-up for you. I thought this was beautiful too. You say you're not special because the world doesn't know about you, but that's an insult to me. I know about you, right? Everyone touches someone. And the ability to impact those in your immediate circle, it just can't be understated.

Right? Sometimes I worry that we don't value ourselves in our ability to be an agent for change the way that we should. You know, every single person watching this can change themselves, can grow. and I'm not talking about who you are, I'm talking about moving towards your greatness. So back to the main theme, right, in this play of life, what is your role, what is your verse going to say? Because it matters.

It matters more than you know. It matters to you because it's an opportunity. And it's a chance to live every day to the fullest, to embark upon, you know, the important things in life, the elements of being human that really matter, passion, purpose, enjoying what's around you, growing, learning, and in essence, helping others do the same. When you delve into your greatness, it changes the world. Sometimes I wonder why.

Why does this season of life feel like it's one undesirable outcome after another? What happened to the law of averages? When is the wind, where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Why would I continue going in this direction when it feels like that spot on the horizon I've been chasing has eluded me? Why? Why are my results not aligning with my output? It's hard to wake up and do this.

It takes all of me to give this much. I wonder where is the delayed gratification everyone speaks of? Where's the fruit of my labor, the arm on my shoulder that says this is why it was all worth it? Why hasn't the payoff shown itself? Why? And why does it seem like every curveball materializes at the worst possible time? Why won't my body cooperate now when I need it most? Why does my mind play with the worst case scenarios? Why does an already challenging path have to be more difficult than it is now? How many ways do I have to feel pain?

Why does discomfort follow me around? Why won't life let me shake this? Why? Just maybe it's to show you how strong you are. what you can endure. Because deep down in your soul, you know you are the 1%. Because if you can push through this, you can push through anything. And I don't know why life gives us its lessons when it does.

Why the world seems to stack it on when we're at our most vulnerable. When the ground beneath us is most unbearable. unstable, but if you can find the courage to step back and see this for what it is, if you can hold on to the idea that this is happening for you, you'll come out of this a different person. You don't need to perform a miracle when you're at your lowest. No, the courage, the power, the strength is in showing up. You need to continue forward. Let go of the week, the month, the year. Sometimes we are tasked with pushing through the moment, the hour, surviving the day. And sometimes there is nothing more courageous than that,

nothing more powerful than seeing what it turns into down the road when we look over our shoulders and are grateful we never stopped. So yes, this season might seem like a non-stop barrage of obstacles and misfortune. Why? Perhaps because it's life allowing you to plant your seed now, so that when spring comes around, you are provided something you've never had before.

You arrive at that spot in the horizon you've been aiming at. And yes, the results might not feel like they're aligning with your output. Why? Perhaps because when the compounding reaches that magical, point, that point of statistical significance. And the desirable things happen then, as quickly as the difficult ones do now, it'll all make sense. You'll appreciate it, value it, and be equipped to handle it.

And yeah, life might seem to be throwing you curveball after curveball. Why? Perhaps because if you can trudge forward now, when your body's tired while navigating the trials and tribulations of life when you can bring greatness into existence under duress just imagine what waits around the corner

imagine how you'll perceive those seemingly impossible obstacles that slow everyone else down there'll be nothing more than a cool breeze and a sunny day as you move towards your best self Look, it's hard to understand when we are in it. It's hard to make sense of the dark and the chaos and the hurt, but find a way to remember. No matter how hard it seems that this life is happening for you and not to you.

This is the seed in the palm of your hand that will mean something that matters. So hold on. Hold on to see that seed. begin to rise from the ground. Hold on to feel the warmth of the sun. Hold on through the storms of life, they will be why, when you look back years from now, you'll have gotten from life that which was once merely a dream. Just go.

Sure, things will feel strange at first. Abstract at first, wrong at first. It's incredibly difficult to separate from the past. It's hard to detach from the deeply rooted biological whispering of, hey, at least you knew what to expect back there. But that whispering has preservation in mind, not happiness. And at some point, we need to stop preserving that which is not ideal, so go. The walls that once existed, they'll crumble.

And this will be startling at first, shocking at first, intimidating at first. It's incredibly difficult to watch foundational structures crumble around us, especially when you know you are the one that lit the fuse. It's hard to walk away from the faint murmur stating, hey, this was your home. How dare you leave it? But those words, they have status quo in mind, not growth. And home is an idea you take with you.

It's no set of parameters. Just go. The stories you told yourself, The narratives you thought were forever will prove to be nothing more than the end of an underwhelming chapter. This will feel abrupt at first. Unfair at first will leave you deeply unsatisfied at first. It's incredibly difficult to realize that happily ever afters aren't linear, they're cyclical. It's hard to walk away from the voices pleading with you not to turn the page.

stating that because their realities will remain the same, so must yours. But those aren't the characters with whom you'll emerge victorious. Some movies must be recast. The setting reimagined, the hero reinvented. And so it should be known that your greatest strength is the little steps that you are capable of taking. The little decisions you are capable of making. Remember, safety is not safe when it keeps you from what you need,

and the wrong nows have a tendency to evolve into the wrong forever. The small concessions, well, they become the big. mistakes. So if it's a sign you're hoping for, let this be it. If there's a time you're waiting for, let now be that time. If it's someday you are dependent upon, let today be that day. As doing nothing is in fact a decision, but only one. of many. One path laid out before you one single grain of sand where the edge of today's world touches the shores of tomorrow's. Sometimes it's about the ability to stand up, face the horizon, and just go. Go because it's only upon going that you realize you're capable of

the journey, you finally see in yourself the strength you've longed for. It's in going that you realize yesterday's situation wasn't even really the problem. It was your fear of the unknown, of leaving that situation. It was living with the devil you knew. Instead of potentially having to face the devil you didn't. That's what happened to your ways. They just felt safer tucked away. But it's ingoing that we acquire perspective.

The tragedies, the devastation, the things that kept us awake at night, they really weren't that bad, but how are we to know? When you build walls around yourself, what's within them becomes your entire world. It's ingoing that you create yourself. And while everything you need is already beating, in your chest. The great unknown before you is the water to that seed, the key to that door, what you fear

is exactly what you need. And so the beautiful dance through life goes on. Not beautiful because of its elegance, it's rarely that, but beautiful because of its promise, its malleability. because we get to move without answers in order to find answers. Beautiful because what we become is directly proportional to what we're willing to endure. And that means that the universe doesn't judge. It doesn't know us by our failures or our mistakes,

but by our courage. Our courage to face all of these things and move forward anyway. to relentlessly explore the resilience of the human spirit, an infinite light in an otherwise finite world, a bridge that is built beneath our feet in real time. What a weight off of our shoulders to know this. We don't have to get it right. We just have to step out the door trusting that we will pick up enough pieces

to put together something meaningful. We just have to go. And then the world, it opens up. Just like that. Leave the old, embrace the new, simple you think to yourself. Well, yeah, of course, the best things in life are always simple. Always have been, always will be. We just imagine them to be difficult.

We have a knack for making simple decisions into complex, of cause and effect, pros and cons, wins and losses, we learn to think for years. Until we finally come to the brilliant realization that happiness, that meaning that a life well-lived comes when we think less. Ready, fire, aim, there is no perfect path, just an adjusted course, an endless series of change, of learning that falling is just a road sign

indicating where we need to go next. You can't plan for that. You can't chart a course that doesn't exist. No, you leave who you were yesterday behind and you set sail. They'll ask you,

where do you see yourself in five years and you'll think, who knows? But not here. It couldn't be here. It must be here. be somewhere evolved, where pieces of the world shaped your outlook and became the armor that you now wear. New game, new rules, new expectations, new people, new places.

And what really changed? Well, how you view yourself. It's funny how it all works, how things come together when we look over our shoulders like it was meant to be, as if this had to be the way things are. No, you could very easily have stayed dreaming, looking out that window, wishing you could leave, hoping for answers that didn't exist. And so the complex now feels as simple as we meant it to. We move forward, not knowing, but trusting, and we look back with the sense of understanding and a confidence that was built over time. In the game of life, there are people who go and people who stay. People who build and

people who don't. And I'm not saying everything will be perfect or everything will immediately snap into place. How could I? But what I am sad is that in moving forward, we pull back the curtain on the opportunity that is available to us. We move from the physical limitations of the bodies we walk around in and towards the infinite power of the mind, the powers them. We become who we were always meant to be. How do we know what that is? Well, not until we look over our shoulders, of course. So go.

Go make your mistakes. Go learn your lessons. Feel your moments of pain and your moments of bliss. Your times of doubt and your times of certainty. Because in doing so you will have done the very thing so few people get to do with their limited time on this planet. Truly live. So go. Just.

It's easy to look back and think about all the things you could have done differently. Especially since as we get older, we get wiser. Right? Time provides this beautiful gift of clarity. And ultimately we realized things like maybe a lot of our hesitation was unwarranted. Maybe a lot of our decisions or indecision was fear-based. And knowing that, it's easy to look over your shoulder and feel like you could have lived a different life or taken a different path. At the very least wish you'd done things differently.

But the reality is everything you're. done has in fact taken you here to this moment and when you dwell on the past the should-haves and the could-haves you completely diminish the power of right now the current moment you completely underestimate the knowledge and the wisdom you've been collecting for years whose single job is to assist you in your next move It's a compounding of experience. The good, the bad, and the ugly has landed you right here, right now, and how beautiful right here is. The infinite blank page.

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

Potential energy, right? Like a spring being pulled back tighter and tighter and tighter, awaiting its opportunity to propel forward. You don't get that without those could-haves and should-haves. They're integral to the process. The reason you'll be different moving forward. You can say, I wish I'd taken more chance. I wish I was bolder, I wish I followed my heart.

Two pieces of news for you. One that's fantastic. It seems as though you're now aware of those times you fell short and can therefore mitigate them moving forward. And two, you're not dead yet. We have to stop looking at yesterday like it's anything but a ladder to greater competence. The gymnasium,

for your decision-making. Anyone can cherry-pick the past. But the practical me asks, what does beating yourself up about what's gone do for you? What does it add to your life? Except for enabling and legitimizing the same identity you're looking to evolve and move on from. See, we don't limit ourselves because of right now.

It's always because of yesterday. Look what happened. Look what I lost. Look how things turned out. And it's like take the data and trudge forward. You now have the tools to move right into that darkness of night. And in five years you'll look back and sure you'll wish you did things differently. And same five years after that.

But that's why life is a journey and not a stand. test. We are picking up the pieces as we go, painting the masterpiece one brushstroke at a time. And even though you might wish yesterday's brushstroke was a different color, little darker, different shade, it's just as valid as all the others in contributing to the mural in its totality. So sure, be your greatest critic. But be your greatest ally as well. well. And that calls for being bold enough to let go of what's gone. Extract the value from yesterday and use it to build now. Something, anything, that's up to you, but hear the message. It's up to you now.

Not who you were yesterday or what you did, not how people saw you or how you used to live your life. You have an opportunity now to go wherever your heart desires. Stronger and wiser at this point in time than you've ever been in your life. So rather than dwell on what's gone, how about asking how you can take those pieces of yourself? and build. There's a saying, don't worry about losing other people. Worry about losing yourself

while trying to please other people. And see, holding on to our authentic selves not always easy. In fact, Emerson said to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. And that holds true.

And especially in our fast-paced world, shiny objects, constantly buzzing around us. Sometimes it seems like the only way to see with clarity is to keep our eyes closed. I was in the car the other day, had Spotify on Shuffle, and a Jason Aldeen song came on.

It's called Better at Being Who I Am. And it's essentially about a guy who loses himself in a relationship a little bit at a time. And the chorus is basically him, sharing his epiphany, looking around and going, whoa, what the hell happened? And it was laid out in a way that wasn't sort of the obvious, blatant, you know, be yourself. I mean, sure, part of the theme was how important being yourself is,

but the emphasis was on how fragile of a thing that can be. He put a spotlight on the idea that he got good at forgetting. he was in a place that he knew he didn't belong, how we can become masters of forgetting that, champions of rationalization. And that was his message, being that he has somehow, somewhere, lost himself along the way.

That concession after concession can ultimately put you in a place where you don't know who you are, where you can know something isn't quite right, and still slowly and subtly, it creeps in. It can consume your reality, and that's what cut through me. Not simply because it occurred. It wasn't so much the epiphany itself,

but more so that he showed how easily the erosion of this self can occur in our lives, how easily we lose ourselves. How sneaky the whole thing can. be. And this particular example is pointing to a relationship with his girlfriend, and it certainly can be this. But it doesn't have to be, and often it's not. It can be a job you don't want to do, but hanging in there just one more day turns into more days than you can count. It can be time with the wrong people, doing the wrong thing, going against your best judgment. It can be the business decision for short-term gain that ultimately points you in a direction you don't want to go,

right? Before giving life to that convenient phrase, well, I've come too far to turn back now. Life is like a small child, always gently tugging on his mom's sleeve to get her to stop doing what she's doing and go get ice cream, right? It's the temptation to move away from the task at hand to abandon the principles just slightly, the objectives, just enough, that they'll be pulled off track, right? That's always there. And to reiterate, because this nuance is why I think the idea is so important. The message is not simply about being authentic. I think we all understand the value and necessity of authenticity, or at least I hope.

Your value is in who you are, the things that make you. unique, are the gateway to a life of fulfillment? What makes you you? And how can you delve into that? Share it with the world. That's the good stuff. Okay, so let's presume we know this. My fascination and goal is to point out the fact that so much around us is looking to take that authenticity and subtly, over time, transform it, that if we are not aware of what we are, we will lose who we are. And that's where you end up in those wrong relationships, wrong places, doing the wrong things. A lot of times it wasn't deliberate or conscious. It wasn't one swing of the axe.

It was letting yourself slip away one day at a time. It's the pressure of an infinite number of things, right? The billion choices you have pulling you in all different directions. It's the people in your life that may have different incentives than you. It's that deep biological tendency to want to appear like you're winning now. It's your brain telling you to do what the crowd does because the alternative creates pain. It's not wanting to let others down because you want to be their source of happiness, completely forgetting that an empty cup has nothing to offer.

It's the deception online. The highlight reels, filtered pictures, humble brags and examples. exaggerated success stories, all prompting us to say, well, then I must have miscalculated. My path must be the wrong path. And maybe we don't come to this realization and immediately jump ship, but we take in a little water every day. Every time we open the app and feel lesser because of an impossible standard, every time we put the thing that meant something to us on hold for someone else. Every time we chase that shiny object in exchange for what we expect will be short-term validation.

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

And maybe that's why that song had an impact, why the light bulb went off. The idea that something so obvious, so powerful, so important can allude us and deceive us. There's something to that. I'm better at being who I am. Of course I am and so are you. So why don't we?

Why isn't there an emphasis there? Why is that something that doesn't get our thought and attention? We can't afford to forfeit that instinct. And so this is the part where I remind myself and everyone listening that you get nothing in life without some semblance of self-trust. You have to take the time to understand who you are and trust yourself to build that from the ground up. Without that, you'll get swept up by the curse.

of everyday life. But to know what matters in your world and to hold on to it with conviction, that's what it's all about. And then, yes, you'll have success letting people into your life. When they contribute to who you are as a person. When they align with your values,

when they feel like wind on your sails. And yeah, of course, take the proven paths and utilize the beneficial tactics, but only when they're, align with what you are building. If not, walking away is the best option, wandering around until you find alignment. That brings more value than a toolbox of the wrong tools.

And sure, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. I get that. That's called being responsible, but those things, as annoying as they are, should be contributing to something that does matter to you. The building's foundation is not fun or sexy, but it's necessary. Just make sure you believe in what will ultimately be built on top of it. Otherwise, you are most certainly wasting your time. Your gift is you.

You have something to share, something to explore, nurture and grow. Stand in front of that, never hide behind it. Protect it. It's the benchmark against which all other things should be measured. We're all better at being ourselves than some impersonation of what we think the world wants us to be. I think the question comes down to, will you allow that greatness for yourself? Will you be courageous enough to keep the spotlight on what matters most? will you maintain the awareness

that when you're walking down a path that doesn't align with who you want to be you can self-correct turn around put emphasis on that part of you that lights you up because that will not only benefit you but it will benefit everyone around you and ultimately benefit the world just one more day the power

is in just one more day. Don't need to have the whole book written. Stories told or city built. It's not about one universal solution to all your problems. It's about continuing forward until the breakthrough. It's about knowing that when it feels most hopeless to go on,

that's precisely when it's most important to do so. The world is not asking of you everything, just something. So give it something. Keep yourself in the game. Keep your head up and your eyes open. Keep your feet moving, even if you don't know where they may be,

leading you. You need not a billion answers, but one breakthrough. One breakthrough. See, we all fall. We all lose our footing. Life can be tough. And being that this is par for the course, the contract we signed before we breathe our first breath of air. It's a fool's errand to exhaust energy on the occurrence, to be angry at the situation, to feel bad about yourself for wandering there. No, it's about recognizing where you are and then finding it within yourself to step away. One foot closer to the breakthrough, to recapturing what matters. When things become too big, we simply shut down. Complexity is crippling. But truth be told, the path is not complex.

Our manufactured interpretation is what's complex. So simplified. Step forward one more time, a little bit closer to the breakthrough, a little bit nearer to the light at the end of that tunnel. Remember, there is no all-encompassing formula. What there is is the strength that emerges from one's willingness two-inch forward. When all seems dark, when temporarily you've forgotten what that sense of excitement feels like, when the thrill of progress seems foreign, shut off the mind.

This isn't the time to weigh pros versus cons or this versus that move into the haze, trusting that what you need will reveal itself. Because as long as you don't stop, it most certainly will. You'll find yourself again, your path again, things will make sense again. But that right is earned now. We're tired. worn, in our solitude, beaten down. We might not be able to see it in the moment, but that's when the beautiful things are made.

So trust that you are the designer you've been looking for all along. There's an idea coined by Aristotle that suggests knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. I want to talk a little bit about why I believe that to be true. I went on a trip to the West Coast a few weeks ago, and obviously there's a time difference there. When I came back, it was a little jet lagged, threw me off my routine a little bit, and for the first few days back in Florida, I slept in, which makes perfect sense, right? My body was still on West Coast time. But then three days went by, and four, and five, and then a week. And I kept setting the alarm and I kept sleeping through it.

And this drove me crazy, right? I love my mornings. And, you know, I can go into that some other time. But the bottom line is I kept, even knowing it's in my best interest to get up, I stayed in bed. Okay, so one week went by, going to bed, planning out my perfect day, setting the alarm only to sleep in. And it had evolved from a reasonable transition to a clear display of personal weakness. You know, mapping out what was best and then failing to do it because, you know, I was comfortable under those covers. Q. Einstein's famous definition of insanity, right, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

See, my perfect day on paper continued to be obliterated by the very elementary and foundational challenges of reality. think this is small, I just want to remind you that the little things ultimately become the big things, right? In other words, no one conducts themselves one way for the small and seemingly trivial aspects of life and then, you know, suddenly levels up and becomes highly disciplined, you know, an organized force of nature when it really matters. No, you are who you are. We're defined by our habits and it filters into all aspects of life. That's why Admiral McRaven and talks about making your bed. You don't do the small things right.

You can't do the big things right. And to me, this was a red flag. I wanted to fix this. Perhaps needed to fix this. And I spent some time thinking about it. And as I was running, listening to an audiobook, it hit me. I made what I think is one of the most important connections I've made in a long time. And to explain this idea, I'm going to briefly kind of take us up a level.

and explore one of the greatest checks on human nature in the history of mankind, and then I'll bring us right back down to the practical, the alarm clocks, work out routines, and daily planners. Sometimes the philosophical opens a door for the practical day-to-day problems we have in life, which is why I love connecting those dots. It helped me see things with clarity. And so this began with a quote from James Mason. Madison and Federalist 51. He says if men were angels, there would be no need for government.

And what he's doing there is he's making a case for a constitutional system or technology that attempts to stop the greatest threat to government ever to exist, which is human nature. He's advocating for a framework that will save us from. from ourselves. See, it's not that human beings aren't capable of incredible things, beautiful things, magnificent things because they are. But it's because they are also prone to do terrible things. We're prone to act irrationally.

To seek and hold on to power, to break off into factions and groups and success of the whole over a long period of time required. more than anything else that we're able to, and this is the point, recognize and repress those inevitable negatives. It's not be delusional and aim for the perfection of men because humans aren't perfect. Humans will never be perfect.

And so to wrap this metaphor up, that's why the US governmental system today is modeled all over the world in places like Canada and India and Brazil. It's because it is brilliant brilliantly one of gridlock and conflicting interests. That's why the legislature is cut in two. It's why there's three branches of government all checking each other, a system of federalism,

all because of the nature of man. See, sometimes what you prevent is just as or more important than what you create. Again, perfect? No. But the expectation of perfection, it destroyed. more than it builds. This idea of utopia or the perfection of human beings doesn't have a great track record throughout history. It dismisses human nature. So Eddie, what does this have to do with sleeping in in the morning? What does this have to do with making tomorrow's perfect plan before you go to bed every night and then seeing it fall to pieces when the pillow feels, you know, amazing at 6 a.m.?

Well, I'm going to hijack Madison's idea here. It's similar in the sense that you haven't allowed the best of you to take hold and flourish because you haven't addressed the worst of you that keeps trying to make its way into the picture. If you're aware enough to understand yourself and the things you do that get in the way of your happiness, you are on your way. Because you stop trying to jam a square peg of perfection into the round hole of reality. and you start operating practically, looking to mitigate the things that you're doing

that are constantly holding you down, build checks and balances into your own life. I am no angel, and neither are you. So let's put ourselves in the best position we can to succeed and overcome the realities of life. Right, I mean, this very idea is why books like atomic habits and the power of habit have sold millions of copies because they help us navigate around the mental trap,

constantly seeking to pull us into old routines. The best way to not eat junk food, according to Charles Duhigg, don't have any in your cabinet. The best way to watch less TV, according to James Clear, hide the remote in a different room when you're working. Best way to stick to that workout routine, put your running shoes by the door, right? Make it easier on yourself to say yes

to defeat the demons that hold us back. Again, if we were angels and our friends own lives, we'd see that remote, we'd smile, we'd ignore it. We'd look at the Instagram app and we'd say, nope, not now, Instagram, I have a business to build, but we are not. Angels. And winning requires building systems into our own lives that allow us to win. So how did I defeat that monster that kept me in bed in the morning by making it so hard to

say no that it was comical? By checking my temptation so that failing was actually more difficult. difficult than succeeding. I made my bedroom immaculate, went to bed early, laid out my clothes, put my alarm clock on the other side of the room with a glass of water next to it, an old album I made in 2014 to remind me how far I've come and in the purpose of the journey I'm on. If I was going to fail the next day,

it would be because I said no over and over again to everything that's important to everything that's important to me. If I failed that morning, it would mean my priorities need adjusting, not my sleep schedule. And so the next day, I did get up. And as W. Clementstone said, it was a little hinge that swung a big door. So I believe life is about momentum.

Feeling good about yourself, giving yourself the best shot possible to evolve. To grow, to chase down the meaning in life, And absolutely, we want to be better. We want our eyes fixated on the stars and our compass pointing towards the horizon. But we have to first unshackle ourselves from the delusion that we play by a different set of rules than the ones that govern the universe. Winning means understanding yourself and life so that you can be someone who rigs the game in your favor. That's why I love Aristotle's quote. understanding yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

Until you've truly captured what you want and how you're preventing yourself from getting it, you simply can't operate at a high level. And so I'll end with the reiteration that you are no angel. And no, you never will be perfect. But recognizing and forging your trail around that fact, positioning the best of you to out duel the worst of you will take you a lot further than staying where you are and waiting for wings.