Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Change Your Life This Year | Powerful Motivation for Greatness

Episode Date: January 10, 2025

You’ve felt it, haven’t you? That tug to go deeper, to focus on what truly matters, to stop scattering your energy chasing things that aren’t yours. Depth isn’t given; it’s earned when you stop orbiting others' galaxies and start building your own kingdom. The crown has been at your feet all along. It’s time to let go of "more" and embrace what’s meaningful. To stop playing by someone else’s rules and recognize you’re already home, already enough. You know what’s required of you—now’s your moment to go all in and let your universe expand. Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube 

We were sitting outside on the patio when a friend of mine said to me, people think they need to go wide. They're wrong. It's going deep that matters. We celebrate depth. We want to be around deep people. They're the ones who change things. And so-called deep people are not deep because they're born that way.

Deep people are deep because they find a world to call their own and lose themselves in it. Depth is creating your own kingdom and picking up the crown at your feet. In hearing that, sitting with that idea, it hurt. It hurt because I knew that I'd sacrificed depth in order to chase more. More of what doesn't matter. More of what isn't me. More of what might make other people happy. What does that create?

Well, surprise, you now get to be mediocre and a ton of things you don't care about. Forget all that. Leave it. Leave it because the clock is ticking. Leave it because you can spend a lifetime chasing distant galaxies and orbiting around someone else's sun.

Leave it because you can blink and realize you built your entire world in their image. But what if I were to remind you? You are made of dust from stars. That's right, the same chemical makeup that one lit up the night sky. My friend the universe is already inside you. It's just that this one needs

permission to expand. This one needs you to stop asking the world for directions and understand you are already home. The thing is you know. You know what's required of you. Just like I knew looking at my friend as he uttered those words. Two things. One, stop playing other people's games. And two, go all in on your own. Find your arena and light up the stage. Imagine if you went deeper on that thing that set your soul ablaze. Imagine if you knocked on the door to your own personal infinity.

What might live on the other side? Because it's easy to go wide. To dabble in many things or everything. But the courage. Oh, the courage to go all in on your thing. The courage to admit, yeah, that path over there works. But it doesn't work for me, and therefore, I guess, it doesn't work at all, does it?

Your greatness is directly correlated to your willingness to buy in to you, to not float on the surface, but to submerge to its depths and explore that place. so many aren't willing to go. That place you just a few moments ago weren't willing to go. But now is a new day. A new starting point. To go not wide but deep. Depth is the only thing that will simultaneously save your soul and allow you to gift it to the world.

So down, down, down to the part of you waiting to you, waiting to you, to re-emerge, to light up the night's sky once again. Down, down, down to the place where your internal universe connects with the external... Down, down, down. I'll meet you there. Comparison is the thief of joy. We've all heard it before, and it's true. Sometimes.

It seems like there's always a sometimes or an as a sometimes or an action. or a gray area. Comparison can be an incredible tool in simply reminding you that you're playing small, maybe way too small. So from time to time, I'll use comparison to help me paint that picture, to create that outlook.

Quick example. So on the shelves behind me and on my audible library on my phone, there's a ton of books and biographies about the founding fathers and other notable American presidents. Why? Well, because they lived lives of such courage. They lived with such conviction.

They just lived differently than we live today. And it forces me to ask the tough questions. It's like, well, why? What makes up for that difference in magnitude? I mean, was it simply the times? Were they a product of their moment in history? Were they more determined? Did they have more self-belief?

Where is this delta that I'm seeing when I look at their reality versus mine? You read Hamilton's biography, who's not a president, but you get the point. And my toughest battles seem to contain the same level of intensity and weight as his decision just want to fly. Right? So I'm going to run through three bullets that sort of frame my thinking.

It's going to seem like I'm unnecessarily beating myself up here, but the point comes full circle. So bear with me. One, Washington, everyone knows, right? Led an army initially, practically destined for defeat. His execution and death was almost assured. Then I'm like, okay, I led myself to the gym today. Adams crosses the Atlantic four times. for his country. At the time, that just brought

unfathomable risk, and he does it with a smile. Me, I'm procrastinating about making a phone call. Jefferson, drafting a declaration that claimed independence from the strongest, most powerful

empire on earth. Me, I get butterflies before going live on Instagram. We are not the same. Why? Well, I guess first, And first and foremost, let's make sure we're asking the right questions. Who says you or I don't have the potential to be a Washington and Adams or a Jefferson?

It's not productive to downplay our own battles, right? However small, after all, that's how empires are built, a stacking of small wind. No one just arrives in a position of influence. And these folks surely had their own battles. That's all subjective anyway. But the comparison here is sacred to me because there is a common theme amongst all of them. And it's not hidden.

You don't have to read between the lines to see it. It's self-belief, right? All of these people were in an environment where change was warranted, and all of them believed they themselves could be levers to help shift that status quo. It's like for no reason the buck stopped with them. And you see that from childhood on.

It suggests that if you believe you can be great, and I do, and by the way, so should you, then understand that it's not possessing of courage that is the issue. The issue is that you're merely holding what amounts to a bucket of it. When the true depth of your courage reaches miles and miles down beneath the surface, there is so much more, so much that it's incomprehensible. The problem, Eddie, is you can't hit targets you don't aim for. If you don't stretch, there will be no growth. If you aim for a moderately sized mountain top, that's where you'll land.

You'll get a view, sure, better than the ground you stand on now, but nowhere near the view available to you had you merely thought bigger. Thought of yourself as that lever that could implement change. If your giant victory is making a phone call you were dreading, well, then that's the type of courage that will define you. I think in a perfect world, these aren't destinations, they are pit stops. They are tolls that we must pay along the way. You're capable of way bigger.

Life begins when you know that. And see, I don't associate this idea as coming from a place of lack. I just think this game of life is beautiful because the journey is endless. This is a choose-your-own-ending story. And sometimes what I need is to look around and realize I'm simply not thinking big enough. The great men and women of history

that paved the way for us, they didn't stay connected to these micro-problems. They moved beyond them on their way to more. They dealt with life and death. They dealt with seemingly insured. possible in the name of their beliefs and ideals. Easy wasn't a choice, not for them. It's why their faces comprise the bookshelf behind me.

Now does everyone want or need that type of personal assent? Growth in the face of adversity. That's for you to look in the mirror and decide. But you're here, so I'm going to assume you do, and if you do, it's critical to know that, one, that type of result demands more of you and two, you have more. Comparison isn't always about inadequacy. Sometimes it holds that mirror to your face.

Sometimes it reminds you what mankind can produce with courage introduced into the formula. You just need to be reminded that you're looking at the jar right now from inside the jar. Expand your thinking. See there's more. Roger Bannister, probably with my favorite example. first one to break the four minute mile. Prior to that, it was not possible. Humans didn't do it, couldn't do it, wasn't reality. Everyone, quote unquote, knew that.

Then Bannister does his thing. Breaks it, suddenly, whoa, it's possible. Now it's real, it's tangible. Runners around the world adjusting their targets. They demand it of themselves. Rapid fire, globally, runner after runner, starts breaking that mark. Why?

Well, people didn't get more. talented overnight. They always had it in them. They just finally allowed themselves to be as good as they were capable of being. And that thing you're fighting that you're dealing with, it's not nothing. In fact, the battle you're navigating is everything and I commend you for pushing through it. But take this idea and let it be a part of the arsenal you own and possess as you navigate life's storms. The challenge of today is ultimately small compared to what the best of you is capable of overcoming. What's now the ceiling will be the floor tomorrow. Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, they were not gods. They were principled men driven by a purpose bigger than themselves.

The scope of their belief in what's possible was monumental. And so to maintain proportionality, they too grew to be momentous, to fill the shoes of self-created expectation. Sometimes the best thing you can remind yourself is how big the world is. How much you can shape and bend your reality. How powerful you are. You're not a quiet observer, but a builder of this world.

Then, risking execution makes more sense. Smiling at the prospect of death at sea becomes reasonable. Giving the metaphorical middle finger to the king of the most powerful empire on earth becomes a little easier to understand. It's like, I get it now. The world is malleable. And they knew with courage it could be shaped in their image. Insert you.

Different theater, different time, different characters, different objectives altogether. But same premise. a malleable world and an opportunity to shape it. So here is to finding the courage to shape your life. Never to dismiss or belittle your own small winds for all big things are comprised of only small things, but rather to remember where you are now is not the final destination.

It's one step on your own personal, staircase that ascends to the heavens, where you stop as a decision entirely yours. See, something beautiful happens when you set the standard so high that it hovers above the clouds, the obstacles along the way become far less intimidating, less significant. The story doesn't end down here, so there must be a way. And when we tell ourselves there must be a way, we simultaneously increase the odds of finding one. Right now is not the final boss, the coveted mountain top.

Right now is a small win that will help shape you into your evolved self. Right now is a mere challenge, an obstacle, a slight inconvenience, a story to tell, a data point as you etch into the ether, your reality. As you dream larger than life and grow into those shoes, you could have played. played small, but then you woke up. You saw beyond the manufactured finish line that was turning mole hills into mountains and realized if you want it, this world is yours. And I say, let it be so.

What you're not changing, you are choosing. In other words, nothing happening or quote unquote the same is a decision. We just don't think of it that way. And this is an idea that was shared with me under one of my recent YouTube videos by username Night Owl. So, dude, love the name and appreciate the sharing of the quote here.

And I think it's incredibly pertinent. You know, I talk a lot about the finitude of life, how time is their most precious commodity because each second that ticks off the clock is the only thing you can't get back, right? you can always reacquire money in these tangible things. Time is, you know, once that elapses, it's forever gone. So it makes sense that we ask, well, how do we maximize it?

How do we make the most of it? And I wonder this, I want to pose a question. When was the last time you were disappointed with your day? Not because you did something, but because it was underwhelming, because it felt like that sort of cyclical 24 hours. You didn't make any steps towards your goals. You know, you didn't feel like you made progress. It was just more of the mundane.

And you thought to yourself, I allowed this. You know, when was the last time you were somewhere you didn't want to be or around people who didn't let you up, didn't energize you? They're not conducive to your well-being. And you thought, I chose this. A lot of times we just assume we have to do these things because it's life and it's outside of our control. The vast majority of the time, that's simply not the case. And when we take extreme ownership of everything, when we realize that anything happening in the status quo is because we are greenlighting it.

We're allowing it to take place that empowers us. If you think of your life as an arena, it takes you from the stands as an observer. Oh, look, here are things. happening to me in my life and puts you on the floor, on the court, on the stage, however you want to think about it in your brain. It gives you the ability to change outcomes. And that's what we all have. We all have that power. We just have to get past this notion that things are the way they are. It's like, no, if you don't like what's around you, if you're looking to your left and you're right and you're disappointed or it's not enough or it's it's not aligned with you guess whose fault that is

yours and guess why that's beautiful now you can change it i want to share a story this is uh something i recently came across a tic-tok video and before i kind of dig into it a little bit i'm just going to say i actually really like the creator i think he's a funny dude entertains his audience, seems like a good guy, all that stuff. But the one thing that he does from time to time that drives me crazy is bitch about how hard things are for millennials. Homes are so expensive. Jobs simply don't pay enough.

It's way too difficult to meet people. Boomers had it so much easier. You know, it's like the same song and dance. And he gets thousands and thousands. people to join him in what I think is best described as a community temper tantrum, right? Everyone kind of claps along like baby seals talking about how hard life is. And it's like, look, two things can be true at once and often are. Statistically, he is not wrong. Okay, it's way harder to own a house now than it was 60 years ago. Both statistical and anecdotal evidence is going to

support this. But I can't help but ask, what are you getting from whining? How is anything better? Anything. Name one thing that that improves, right? If anything, you're taking steps backwards because you're creating this narrative in your brain that life is working against you, that everything is an uphill battle. And there's nothing so dangerous as a poor me mindset. And so the And that got me wondering, you know, how different would my life be if seven years ago, when I was broke, writing speeches in my boxers, practicing speaking, you know, to the wall, if I spent time every day convincing myself that I was sentenced to a life of misery because I'm not a boomer, right? Imagine if I spent more time whining than building or looking for reasons that life is stacked against me.

Like, everything would just be exponentially different. And as I'm speaking this, you know, I get it. I'm 37. I'm kind of the old man wagging his finger at people on TikTok already, I guess. But I just feel compelled to do it because I've walked through a little bit of fire. And I can tell you that if I allowed that thought pattern to consume me, I would be way worse off than I am now. Right?

I'm saying this out of love, believe it or not, out of concern. When the currency shifted on these social platforms to victimhood, when the incentive became garnering the most sympathy under one's videos, people started gravitating away from their power in order to be patted on the head and told, you know, it's not their fault. Another quick anecdote, a few years back, and I think I've talked about this before, I did a run across Texas with some friends.

some friends. It's like 500 miles, all in all, the route we went. And along the way, as happens when you're running for an extended period of time, started getting these little issues, right? The usual bumps and bruises, you imagine during a run like that. And we paused and we're grabbing some water, taking a little breather. And I start talking about my knee and how it's killing me. And my friend Tom, who one of my best friends, he's a little bit older and sometimes, you know, some, not, doesn't shy away from some tough love. He goes, Ed, I'm not a doctor, so I don't know what you're going to get from telling me. He's messing with me a little bit, but there is truth to that, right?

Like, what could I have possibly gotten from that exchange other than sympathy? And what's sympathy worth? I think nothing. There was a little moment that ended up being not so little. You know, I've learned to become my own biggest fan. That's not always the easiest thing to do, right, amidst the trials and tribulations of life. I'm there for myself. I give myself grace, right? But sometimes what I need is tough love with the knee scenario.

Same thing with the millennials whining about, I guess, life in totality on TikTok, with anyone talking about anything they aren't happy with in their lives. within their lives. And I think the real value is in this phrase. Do something to change it or shut up. If you're not content with the status quo, be the change or stop talking about it. Sympathy has never been a valuable thing in my life, right?

Pity from others has never helped me. And even though seeking it may feel good in the moment, it's like this, distraction from the introspection that needs to occur. It's still ultimately a mirage. It's a trick, a trap. You don't want it as pretty as it may seem in the moment. If you don't like something, fix it.

Because you can. Start working towards a solution because you're powerful enough to do that. Always. And so when you've noticed time go by and there's that reoccurrence of that, which is Again, not conducive to your happiness or well-being. When you feel that temptation to seek validation and pity for your experience, please let this be a reminder. Your strength is not in garnering sympathy, it's in fixing it.

It's in changing your life. It's in pivoting and adjusting. You are a fixer, a doer. You are a maker of worlds. not someone who bows their head and concedes to their current reality. And so, I'll end again with a little refresher on my pal night owls quote,

what you are not changing, you are choosing. You are choosing it when you're upset. You're choosing it when you vent and complain. You're choosing it when you throw your arms in the air and proclaim it's all out of your hands. It's all a choice. And the good news, the message, the takeaway, the saving grace is you were given the power to script your own narrative and write your own story. Don't waste that.

Don't let that slip away. Choose not to accept the now, but rather to create the ideal. Find away. Because first and foremost, there always is one. Find a way because you are more than strong enough. Because anything other than a solution or some semblance of progress means you gave in.

Called it quits, threw in the towel, and giving in is not who you are. Find a way Because that discomfort today, well, it becomes our greatest source of pride tomorrow. The simple decision to carry on or stick it out now is so much more than it appears to be when under duress. Sure, it's easy to turn around. But everything, everything relies on your moving forward. into that darkness.

Find a way. Because while we may think we want safety and need predictability, our souls want adventure. Life's meaning is comprised of the mountains climbed and dragons slayed, so step out and slay your dragons. Find a way. Because an evolved self has to be earned.

Keeping promises to yourself is no small ordeal. Putting your head on the pillow at night, knowing you followed through on who you decided you would be. That's power. It creates a trajectory towards infinite possibility. It points you at the stars. Find a way because you must run. reinforce the fact that the world is clay to be molded, not a checklist.

It's a game, not a chore, a gift, not an obligation. When you find a way, you become the ruler of your own kingdom. Look, there exists a way, a path. That's not the question. The question is one of effort. a willingness to move beyond the parameters imposed upon you by others, by the past, by the thoughts that bounce around in your head? Is there a willingness to endure duress in the short term?

Is there a willingness to fall down now, to look dumb, to not always be perfectly packaged or assembled? Are you willing to endure that in exchange for the infinite? I remember hearing the mantra, there is always a way to get to your finish line. It's not can I. It's not, is it possible? No, it's how. How do I get there?

The dots exist. You have to be the one to connect them. You have to build bridges over the oceans of unknowns. the valleys comprised of the unforeseen oh there is a way remember that remember that it's not the destination that's in question but one's willingness to knock and knock and knock until the right door opens remember that you have everything you need that you are armed with all that is required. You were made to connect those very dots before you. You just have to decide what's more important to you. That feeling of reaching the top of the mountain or the feeling of its shade

at the bottom. What will you give to be more than you've ever been? Do more than you've ever done. There is always a way. Are you willing to find it? So I wake up, my feet hit the ground, I get out of bed, walk into the bathroom, turn on the sink. I look up, you stare at the reflection in the mirror. It's time to rise, the voice says. I stop, I think about it for a second.

The reflection continues to speak, so I listen. It says, Eddie, life is place. some obstacles before you, some valleys. Some of it was your doing, some of it's just life, but all of it is yours now. We get in life what we allow. And pain, the internal turmoil, that's a sign that you may just be letting the wrong things live alongside you. the wrong thoughts, actions, ideas, stories, people, and places.

That reflection, he continued to share. So I listened. Eddie, here are some reminders. Take note. One, time is the most valuable currency you have, period. Bar none. Be more methodical about how you use it. This is not new, but rather a recalibration.

That little thing in your pocket, that phone, that portal, yes, the same one you use to share, conduct business, get your thoughts out into the world, the same one that's changed your life, it's also crushing you. If you don't reel in your time on that little device, the consumption, the mindless scrolling, the time that you do have, you'll be fighting for mere adequacy. Shut it off, go reread Cal Newport's deep work. Reread Relentless by Tim Grover. Remind yourself what greatness truly requires the concentration, the focus, the effort. Go. Remind yourself. Number two, there are seasons of life. There are times to sprint and there are times to pace yourself.

times to explore and times to plant a stake in the ground, times to tear down and times to build up. Don't define yourself by the season you are in. You just walked away from a lot. You in many ways are restarting. You, as the saying goes, step back to leap forward. And now you're here. So remember, you are not the struggles of the past month or two months.

You are where you go from here. You are your very next step. You are all of the opportunity before you. Number three, ambitious people tend to look forward. Often they live in that gap between where they are and where they want to be. Sometimes they only see the road ahead and this can be good because it's a motivator, contributes to one's growth and mastery of a craft, that competition in the soul, that mastery of the self that pushes one forward, but it can, if left unchecked, be just as dangerous as it is valuable.

Look over your shoulder. Remind yourself how far you've come. Compare yourself to that. Compare yourself to eight years ago and how bad you wanted to be where you are now. See what happens when that's the focal. Number four, when you're frustrated about an outcome or how far you have to go, remember, you're never as far away as you think. It's about reworking the minor details. No wheels need to be reinvented here. Breathe.

Collect yourself. Ask yourself which dots need to be connecting. Because you're closer than you think to reinterpret. recapturing momentum. You're always an arm's reach away from that light switch that will illuminate the path you need. Just reach out and find it. Number five, simplicity. Simplicity. Simplicity, simplicity, stop making the simple things complex. You'll find yourself pulling your hair out about problems that are tangential at best to what really matters. The right things are simple. A happy, healthy, effective life is minimalist, protected, preserve it.

Keep the complexity out. Remove the clutter in your environment. Clutter in your thoughts. Revert back to what's simple because there everything of value will emerge. And number six, it can be right but wrong for you. That means in your case, it's wrong in totality. Look, there will always be available off-ramps. There will always be he did this and it worked, she did that and it worked.

Stay true to you, in your world, your North Star. Even the people trying to help you, right? They can only advise on what they know. Their experience. Their experience is not yours. This is the evolution of insanity. It calls for one to be crazy until they are. are quote unquote experts to be lost until they are found.

And if you avoid pointing to other people for the answers and find the courage to carve out your own path, eventually people will point to you for the answers. And number seven, as a friend of mine once said, walk into every room like God sent you. You are there for a reason. You have something to offer, something to give, something precious. the world won't know that until you know that, until you live and breathe that, until you operate with conviction.

Give yourself the respect you hope to be granted by other people. The reflection pauses, one more time, looks at me through the mirror and says, it's time to rise. Life has given you some obstacles, it's placed some valleys, before you. Some of those were dictated by life. Some of them are your fault, but they

are all, all of it, every single piece yours now. We get in life what we allow. And pain, the internal turmoil, that's a sign that you may just be allowing the wrong things to exist alongside you. The wrong thoughts, actions, ideas, stories, people, and places. So Eddie, I hope those reminders provide some clarity, I hope they reminded you who you are and that you already have what you need. It's time to rise. So go. Don't think so much. You might overlook the obvious. You might see past all that you've achieved. Don't move so quickly. You might overstep the moment. You might miss all the beauty. you're created. One can wake up, get dressed, walk out the door thinking that they're on

their way to a someday achievable brilliant finale and simultaneously fail to understand the miracle of the now. It's in what you're doing now, who you're helping now, what you're becoming now. Your miracle. is now. And you can't see your impact because it materializes behind you as your back is to it and you step toward those distant horizons. There's a direct link between always wanting to be better and never feeling like you're good enough. If you don't properly compartmentalize the two, you'll always be chasing something you can't obtain while you walk. right by the brilliance you're piecing together in real time. That carrot just outside of reach for the runner on the treadmill. And I'm not saying your goals and aspirations aren't incredible.

I'm not saying you aren't one in a million. I'm not saying you won't shock, change, add unparalleled value to the world. No, that's most certainly possible. But I'm saying you're doing that now too. Like right now. You're not on a trajectory to someday be one in a million. You are one in a million on a trajectory to live life fully. To further expand, explore as you should. But let's not lose perspective along the way.

It's hard to watch someone who has changed your life feel like they're not good enough. It just is. It's hard to watch something so beautiful, feel like they must first evolve before they're worthy. And it's like, sure, I get it. We celebrate visible, tangible successes, the innovators and CEOs, world-class talents. People who have built the present and will build the future. But notice, there are no ceremonies for the ones who lift others up every day. who lead by example, who show up again and again when they're going through their own private hell.

There are no record books for them. But I'll tell you what, if there were, you'd be there. And if I could remind you of that every day, I would. The small things you do do not feel so small to those around you. In fact, your mere existence. changed my life and I know I'm not alone, not even close to alone. It's a tough world we live in. Tough enough to bring even the strongest amongst us to our knees. Yet you think you're flawed and insufficient. I ask, compared to what? A lot of people would have folded a long time ago.

Wouldn't be fighting for a dream or standing for anything. A lot of people wouldn't be giving so much of themselves. Again, I continuously run into this question. Why is it that the ones who are changing the world, not with their social media follower account, but with their actions, so often fail to see their own value. Perhaps they're using the wrong measuring sticks. Maybe their sights are set so high they don't realize all that they're making better along the way. Maybe they don't know that every soul they light up puts in motion a ripple effect, an exponential value add. But if you just lift your head up and look around, you would see quite the ripple effect, you would see quite the chain reaction, you would see

that you are not just working towards change, you are actively embodying it. Don't be the only one who can't see that. Why do I say this? Why spend the time? Well, because one, I think it's not something we say enough, the ones who truly change us or make our lives better, need to be told that. There's just something tragic about keeping it to ourselves, and two, because you don't give yourself enough credit. You're blind to the path you've traveled and the dragons you've slayed. I couldn't believe my ears when you apologize for being weak. Weak? Weak is retreating. Weak is being selfish. Week is forefing. Weak is forfeiting. Weak is forfeiting. Weak is your gifts. Those descriptors are antithetical to who you are. And sure we all slip into

them once in a while. We're human beings. We all endure our valleys of despair. But to fight with everything you have on your way back up, that is not weakness. That's courage. I think our definitions might be crossed here. See, I'm a firm believer that absolutely we have to be our own greatest critics, no doubt. But the value in that, the expectation, is that it's coupled with a commitment to also be our own greatest ally. Are you?

Are you your own greatest ally? Because sometimes I'm not so sure. Do you see how much light you bring to the world? How much better people around you are when you enter a room and smile, when you listen to them and their problem, when you inspire them by making decisions with so much at stake, when you don't let the hardship of your past keep you down.

And I know how hard it's been. I'm telling you this because maybe you don't know. Maybe you talk so much about what the future will be and how big and incredible things will become that you overlook the parallel worlds you are creating with each step along the way, a pilgrim, a wanderer in search of an impact you are already making. So look, keep your head up and your expectations high. You will do remarkable things.

But don't be afraid to look over your shoulder and see that you already... Don't beat yourself up for not yet a right. at an imaginary place while you change the world along the way. Give yourself the same grace and compassion you would give to me. Allow that for yourself. Don't think so much that you overlook the obvious. You just might see past all that you've achieved. And don't move so quickly that you overstep the moment.

You might just miss all that beauty beauty that you're creating. This isn't a pep talk. This is me holding up a mirror so that you can see the value at. You're not merely an IOU to some future self. You are all the people around you whose lives you make better every day, the lives you touch by being. We spend a lot of time and we exhaust a lot of effort looking for that so-called ed. capturing the little changes or advantages that add value and ultimately pushes closer to where we want to be. These so-called life hacks are everywhere from, you name it, reshuffling daily tasks to activities, you know, exercises that enhance our performance, food, supplements, apps. The list goes on and on.

And I'm speaking broadly here intentionally because that, quote unquote, edge could mean a million different things. to a million different people. Obviously, tremendous value there in finding ways to become better, faster, and stronger. But why this topic excites me, and what I'm specifically looking forward to exploring is what I believe to be the most important advantage there is. And that's consistency.

Consistency, the unsexy, unremarkable answer. But you can always distill everything else down into that simple art of showing up, being there every day. To me, that begins at all. That will always be the foundation we build everything on. Over time, it becomes the reason you win or you lose. And I believe that wholeheartedly. Nothing matters if you aren't locked in and repeatedly making the daily effort.

No pill is going to make you a starting point guard or a stellar performance. former at work or, you know, an amazing parent. That's dedicated, concentrated, consistent effort. A metaphor I like that demonstrates this process to me is trying to get fit. Whether you run or go to the gym, whatever it is, it's much easier to stay home and take creatine, protein, supplements, than to actually show up to the gym every day. up to the gym every day, then to actually put in the miles every day, right? But without showing up, all that other stuff is meaningless.

And that's the heart of what I'm getting at. It's the lifting that's transformative. Everything else is supplemental. It's even in the term, right? Supplements. Now, is this obvious? Sure. But man, do we forget the obvious?

And there is a hefty price for doing so. It's like, yeah, we should look for advantages along the way. And this becomes more and more relevant, you know, the longer we've been immersed in the process. Those little details mean more and more, but they never mean more than having a goal and committing to it every single day. Never forget that. Showing up is power. There's a few quotes I like by James Clear, who's considered by many to be an excellent. expert on habit building that hammer down on the power of consistency.

He says, improving by 1% isn't particularly notable. Sometimes it isn't even noticeable, but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. It goes on to say, if you can get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up being 37 times better by the time you're done. And I think that's what gets me, right? That's what gets me, right? That line 1% better every day means 37 times better in a year. Nothing can replicate that.

There are no shortcuts to arrive at that type of progress or growth. None. And sure, the environment can change. There are times where the landscape shifts right under your feet. You have to reach further outside your comfort zone than you ever have. But that's still a product of your commitment to improve every single day. The context changes, the details change, but you still show up. 1% is essentially a rhythm, it's automated.

It says just like breathing air and drinking water, this is what I do, a dollar in the bank every day. What you're doing is giving life to a compound effect that will change everything. In my world, my showing up is every day, how do I become a little bit better at storytelling? How do I refine that intersection of personal development and entertainment so that we can enjoy and get the most out of the journey? How do I make this brand matter a little more, mean a little more, be a little more effective? That's my Super Bowl every day.

And funny story, I was driving this morning listening to a podcast about AI. Everyone seems to be talking about AI right now and for good reason. I heard one of the guests say that in 10 years, there will be two types of businesses. Those that successfully leverage AI and those that failed that are no longer in existence. It's a hypothesis, obviously, but it's eye-opening. AI is going to change everything. And I had to check my initial instinct that was honestly, oh, here we go, right? Another way for people to cut corners and cheat.

And I had to pause and think about it, like that's just a terrible way to look at a new technology. That's a scarcity mindset. Instead, think about the opportunity. Remind yourself that you show up every day with the same mission and the same goal. You'll earn that 1% every day. And this is just another supplement to your growth.

Utilize correctly, at least in the current moment, this is way protein or creativity. for your lifting at the gym. So leverage it. That's all. Same with any new technology. And there was comfort there. There was comfort in looking back at thinking,

look at all the previous technology, it's evolution. Look at the social platforms. How we interact now. Through it all, the changes, the highs, lows, ups and downs, you showed up. You held on to that North Star and over and over again made necessary adjustments. That commitment has been everything.

YouTube's algorithm changes did not kill me. It ended up making me a better storyteller, writer, speaker. COVID, you know, pushing my live speaking engagements aside for a while, causing me to further digitize my business model. That didn't hurt me. It made the brand bigger. Short form content. Blasting off onto the scene, TikToks, IG Reels,

that didn't hurt me. It forced me to be smarter and more thoughtful about how to integrate short-term content into my long-form content, how to make them work together. It ended up being an advantage. The bottom line being, when you are consistent, when you show up for your thing no matter what,

no matter what changes are occurring, no matter what's happening externally, when you're there for your mission, that allows you to make whatever little changes need to be made along the way. Being there for yourself, committing to the twists and turns is everything. And it may be extreme to say, especially in such a rapidly changing environment right now, but my mentality is who cares?

Who cares about all the detail and the minutia and the externality? Who cares? You know what matters. You know what you're here to do. So keep that front and center. Simplicity being the ultimate sophistication doesn't get simpler. Show up. Never let that 1% that James Clear talks about out of your site.

And then make the adjustments as necessary. Integrate the life hacks and the tech evolutions. Fighting for that 1% every single day becomes 37 times better in a year. Think about how power. powerful that is. Let the world argue over this and that. Let them be on this path versus that path. Your strength is entrusting yourself to adjust along the way. But knowing that through it all you will be there every morning when the sun comes up the light moves through your window, you'll wake up committed to be

a little better than you were yesterday. And that's why through it all, the turbulence, the highs, the lows, the ups and the downs, you will still be standing there, ready for whatever comes next. Find that spot where you're most scared to go and go there. And I promise you two things. One, that it will be painful, at least to some extent. And two, most importantly, it will be worth it. It will burn down the old you so that the new you can rise.

And I'm speaking from nothing but experience. Every word derived from the delta between how I used to live and how I live now. I'm referring to all the good that came from finding the courage to let my old self die. a recreation of sorts. And I'll tell you what happens. Your mind, your body, at least initially, start to panic. They say, wait, this is not you.

Go back to how things were. You, you followed orders. You did what you were told. You were linked to predictability. Remember how great that felt. Many of the people in your life, they won't like it either. For various reasons. Perhaps it reminds them.

of their own limiting beliefs. Perhaps it shines a spotlight on the fact that most people in your life, yeah, they want you to do well, just not better than they're doing. And so you'll get resentment and gossip and a very obvious tension. But just like your mind and bodies seek to hold you to the status quo, so does the world around you. What I'm asking you to do is to stretch beyond it, to reach for it anyway, to know, to see, to understand that there is chaos around you and embrace it, enter into it, right?

Because that is the second piece. The predictable, unavoidable friction that the unknown creates. We want to know. We want predictability. We want safety. But the truth is, everything of value, everything meaningful in the world started with the process disconnected from a result. It's like, how can you be sure how things will end up? How can you be sure this will work out?

How do you know for certain that the hero wins? You don't. And that's naturally scary, disconcerting, but you have to be okay. Dancing to the music before it plays. You have to place enough trust in yourself to let the wheels hit the road. And you may be thinking, my God, that's a lot, man, that's heavy. Sleepless nights, the risk, the judgment. You want me to invite all that into my life?

just open the door and wave the chaos in? Yes, because as hard as it might be, nothing is as beautiful or as meaningful as becoming an individual capable of slaying dragons. Suffering is inevitable. And look, you can either let the suffering come to you and hold you down, or you can go to it. Face it head on. Be propelled. by its turbulence. I was recently at a live podcast where a man named Akshay Nanavadi was being interviewed,

and he's taking 400 pounds and he's pulling it across Antarctica. Obviously, an insanely challenging feat. And someone asked him about suffering. He says, you know, I'm paraphrasing, but I need suffering in my life because it's what brings me closer to God. God. It's in those moments where we immerse ourselves into an unknown, something way bigger than us,

way outside of our day-to-day lives, right? The normalcy of waking up and going through the motions. That's where we transcend who we were. That's where we get to find answers to questions we otherwise never would have asked. We learn about the world and ourselves and how capable we are, how much we can do. We get to touch the infinite. But the infinite does not come to us. We have to go to it. See, most people, they accept what is. They look around and see not tools for building,

but a reality already constructed. A rulebook of sorts. But imagine with me the freedom in knowing that life, this little experiment we were just dropped into. has infinite potential, infinite space, infinite room for the assembly of dreams. There are infinite games to be played and paths to be walked, just because most people refuse to walk down them. Just because most people only ever know a fraction of themselves, just because most people never embark upon the adventures hidden in plain view doesn't mean you should do the same. Everything.

Everything in life has a price tag attached to it. Everything. And I'm not here telling you what is or should be important in your life. You already know that. In your world, you're well aware. I'm just here to remind you that when you close your eyes and dream of a life lived on your terms, when you can see fragments of a world different than this one,

and you're playing with the idea of reaching towards it, even digging deep to find the courage. I want you to know that price tag, the one so expensive you're tempted to move on, to deem it too much, that it's not only worth it, it's a bargain. That once you've fought through the change, move beyond the reliance on what your old friends and acquaintances think or thought.

Once you've redefined the standards in your life, You will find a contentment otherwise unreachable. You'll have arrived at a state beautiful beyond comprehension. So if you're scared, good. Good. Be scared. To let your old self die is a terrifying proposition, right? After all, your old self is all you've ever known.

But ask yourself this. Could it be that your old self fought and scrapped and fell and endured so that your new self could emerge? Is it time to climb the ladder? See that next level. Feel the sun on your skin, wind on your face, air in your lungs from the perspective of someone who's not a cog in the wheel of life, but someone making the most of the masterpiece they are in.

Feel it, let it scare you. Own it. Fear is the cost of admission, right? And when you see how incredible the show truly is, you'll understand fear was not this stop sign, it was an invitation. Don't walk towards that which scares you run. It's not you against fear.

Fear is an ally. It's you against ticking clocks, you against the sands of time. So take fear by the hand and go. Not tomorrow or next week, but today. Now. Hardy Fiber Sement Siding handles conditions that can cause damage to vinyl. From fire to hail, Hardy Siding stands tall through it all.

Helping trade professionals look their best when they recommend Hardy Siding and Trinning. See the proof at James Hardy.com. The other day, I heard someone say, I heard someone say that they've found some of the most important things in their life in places where they weren't supposed to find them. Which is interesting to me. One, because that seems to happen a lot. And two, because it's like who creates the parameters around what we're supposed to do?

Who sets the rules to begin with? You know, I'm continuously blown away. by our tendency to create imaginary walls and then live within them. To build steel bars around ourselves that separate the now from future opportunity. In one of the first videos I ever made, I talked about this nagging feeling of discomfort that occurred right after I left the corporate world and started my own business. And at that point, to call it a business,

I was giving myself a lot of credit. I was basically just starting to make videos and put them out. on social media. But I would run in the middle of the day, right? That was my thing, right through Boston, along the Charles River. I loved running. But I couldn't help feeling this guilt

like I wasn't supposed to. Like I was doing the wrong thing, doing what I was taught not to do. My whole life, I learned that you go to school or work during the day. That's the right thing. In a decade removed, I've grown, and I've learned, I know how crazy it sounds now.

But it took me a long time to even enjoy it and not feel like some devian who was leaving everything he'd worked for up to that point to go and fail spectacularly. The supposed to followed me around like a shadow. Constantly trying to pull me back in. Freedom to me is separating oneself from this exact sentiment.

It's doing what's best for you, exploring your own worldview, blazing as the saying goes, your own trail, because you'll find very few supposed to's there. I think this is a microcosm of a greater truth. The most important things we do in life, our pivotal moments, our epiphanies are found where we weren't supposed to find them. Because what we're supposed to do is very rarely methodically thought out. It's simply the norm. It's marching orders. It's what the crowd is doing. It's what will help us blend in.

And it's interesting, as I've pushed further and further into life, I've come to believe that rarely is what's best all one thing or all another. It's working to find a balance that supports your ideal life trajectory. That balance will lean substantially more one way or another, depending on who you are and what's important to you. And so, I'm not suggesting one always needs to be different. Or if something is common, it's wrong. No, thousands of years of evolution and societal stressors

have in many ways narrowed down for us what's effective and efficient. It's helped us survive. And to dismiss this outright is obviously counterproductive, but it does explain why any break from these norms, physically hurts, we associate them with survival. And here lies the divide between surviving, which we are supposed to do, and excelling, which is to embark upon a different game altogether.

Survival is mitigating risk. Excelling is hunting down the opportunity. Survival is blending in. Excelling is asking, what about me is unique and how can I dive into that fully? Survival is not having to innovate on any large scale because the instructions are clear and laid out for you. Excelling is asking, now that I know the rules, how can I bend and maybe even break them so that I can improve my life and the lives of those around me. And I'll continue with the same example, because I know a lot of folks find themselves in a similar situation now.

I wasn't supposed to deviate from my previous life trajectory. My education, my career track, my 401k, but I did. And I found something I otherwise would never have, an ability to work on what I enjoy and share that with others. I wasn't supposed to leave home, the Northeast. the most important people in my life live up there. But I've found comfort, peace, and new beginnings down here that I never would have experienced. I wasn't supposed to do many of the things I'm doing today.

It was a genuine curiosity and a willingness to chase down what's meaningful, and the beautiful thing is anyone can do that. Every single one of us can detach and depart from the supposed to be. in our lives. And hey, maybe some of them should be there. Maybe some are adding value and stability that you need and maybe even cherish. But I can promise some of them aren't. And it's worth a look. It's worth thinking about those things. Where can we be a little braver, a little more courageous? where can we venture outside the scope of what we've subconsciously deemed every day life? I love the notion that there's always more in you.

You just need to give yourself permission to pursue it. It only makes sense that no journey begins until we give it the green light. The world is yours once you give yourself permission. to pursue it. So what are you conceding? What have you accepted as fact that upon further review you might find to be fiction?

There's a world of infinite opportunity waiting for you. Just past your acceptance of the way things are. Just beyond all those supposed to. What if those less than ideal things in our lives?

Right? So our limitations, our constraints, The aspects of life we consider to be, you know, a bad hand. What if they weren't just things we need to learn to accept or little tragedies we have to live with? What if they were ultimately the aspects of our lives that create the best of us? The elements of our world that push us to our greatness. And this came to mind earlier. I was listening to a book called How to Thoultry.

think like a Roman emperor by Donald Robertson. And he explores this point. He talks about Socrates and ancient Athens and how he lived in abject poverty. How, according to the standards of ancient Athens, was not an attractive person by any means. It just seemed to have a lot working against him. And the question that's posed

is whether these exact circumstances ultimately created the man that became of the most important thinkers in history. He implies that his reality and his surroundings shaped his worldview, so it only makes sense for one to conclude that all of it contributed to the life he lived. If Socrates was born wealthy and attractive and all these things, could he have become the man that he became? Probably not.

And the reason I love this is because, to put it simply, it reframes the those less than ideal circumstances in our lives. Whether it is a personal trait we have no control over or an occurrence we deal with, it's understanding that a lack of ability in one area helps guide us to that spot where we can thrive. A disappointment we encounter helps us regroup and make our way to the thing that is ultimately best.

The less than I use, deal. The things that at surface levels seem bad or problematic. They're always working for us to push us towards our contentment and our growth to our greatness. I can say on my end, it was the turbulence I experienced in my life that created that sense of curiosity for me. It was a lack of understanding that pushed me to write about life. Explore the hardships we face and the resilient. of the human spirit through it all. It's a pretty famous Stoic idea that states, we can't often control what happens,

but we can always control how we respond to what happens. And there lies the power and the understanding that when one door closes as the saying goes, you are pushed closer to the one that will open for you. You have to decide whether you will find it within yourself to open it. Or will you focus on the one Well, you focus on the lack, the gap, what's not there, what you don't have, what went wrong. See, all those things, the things that most people use is their reason to stop or quit or not go.

They can be the reason you lose or they can be the very reason you win. You find a way. But that means moving forward trusting there is good to be had, understanding that everything that goes creates space for what truly needs to be there. I understand it's common, right? But it's not just a cliche that adversity creates us. The difficult times shape us. Why? Because we are transformed by the bad and the difficult.

And that which in the moment does not seem ideal. Because they force us to move further into what we were meant. to do and who we were meant to be. Just like Socrates was created from his adverse situation, his brilliance derived from his circumstance. Your greatness will be derived from yours. So remember that next time you feel as though you've been slighted by life or something's been taken away from you. While it may feel negative, and I get it, from time to time it does, it ultimately ultimately becomes the wind at your back, bringing you where you most need.

Looking back and understanding what you might have done differently is a source of strength. Awareness is a currency of sorts. But being sorry for yesterday, dwelling on the days gone by, that is a waste of time. See, those feelings of discontent, The emotions that rise to the surface as our minds sort through that catalog of regret. You know, the emotions that try and pull you back down into the very moment in which they occurred. If you let them lead you by the hand back into a manufactured hell, they will. And down you will go, reliving an expired pain that you can neither prevent nor do anything about.

about. After all, it is the past. But alternatively, if we can do one of the hardest things for humans to do, which is depersonalize the occurrence, remove the emotion and find the value you stand face to face with an advantage in life that is exponential. Not only are you refusing to be defined or tortured by yesterday, but you're creating a framework. by which you can actually use that pain to make a better right now. You're acknowledging that your mistakes are not indicative of a current reflection in the mirror. They're not metal bars keeping you closed in. There are opportunities in disguise.

A friend of mine once told me, from our pain comes our purpose. From our despair comes our hope. It's from the times we got it oh, so completely wrong, that we can now arm ourselves with the ability to get it right. To be better and faster and stronger and wiser. The reality, or life in the big city, as this saying goes, is having to fall in order to rise again. Because if nothing falls, there are no ashes from which to rebuild.

We change when we've lost. We evolve when we're going to be. evolve when we're cornered. We become more when life shakes our worldview. There's power in this suffering. That is, if you choose to find it. And that's always a decision that's ours to make. Again, those same memories that can pull you down if you let them can also be used to elevate yourself, higher than you've ever been. There's just saying that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do about it. And when you think about it, it's obvious.

Because knowledge is only as powerful as our willingness to put that knowledge to work. Yesterday's pain, its lessons, can be the very reason you transform, evolve to a higher version of yourself, but that's only if you stop using those lessons as an attack on your self-esteem and start seeing them as the gateway to tomorrow. Otherwise, they'll remain that ball and chain around your ankle. Is the mistake that cost you your business, maybe the inaction that fractured a relationship, a swing and miss that hurt your pride somewhere along the way?

Are they going to remain sources of pain in your mind, mental images or reflections of where you fell short? Are they going to fuel the comeback, the sequel? When we fall, we're given one of life. greatest gifts, a part two. Armed with the knowledge we otherwise would never have had, armed with an understanding that with the failures comes the strength. As I've grown, I've placed more and more emphasis on thinking.

How do I perceive myself? Because when that slips, life is never too far behind. But when you capture and maintain a healthy perspective, things seem to improve along with not because thinking makes it so but because how we think prompts how we act and how we act changes our lives it's that simple so the question okay that happened now what does it mean to you will always be crucial what are you going to do about it now will always be imperative. And if you look, you'll find that opportunity everywhere. I was thinking recently about all the books I've read all the

podcasts I consume and there are a ton, right? But how valuable is that information if I don't act? How much could any of it mean if it's consumed and then forgotten? A memory with an image and a title. I'd be better off reading one good book a year, or listening to one podcast and injecting that wisdom into my life immediately, acting on it, using it to manufacture momentum. If the acting is more important than the knowing, why have I not placed greater emphasis on the action? Like 90% more emphasis.

And I think that's a question we should all be asking. And so let's move from the book example back to the thinking, reminiscing about our mistakes, the times we let ourselves down. What are our memories, if not just little novels, where we as the main characters, embark upon the hero's journey? Warriors called to something greater, leaving a previous world, facing our demons, learning about ourselves along the way,

perhaps cut short, left without a conclusion, only in need of an ending. And these painful experiences are essentially us walking around with novels unfinished in our heads. We've done the work, we've learned the lessons, endured the pain. And rather than continuing to revisit that discomfort of the moment, that stopping point, rather than dwelling on how we shut the book after the conflict occurred, let's open it back up and integrate that value, that lesson into the press, Let's grow from it. Let's evolve because of it. That's what's so beautiful, so exciting about the future. It hasn't happened yet. It's in your control. You're painting that picture now in real time and so how convenient that you fell yesterday. Now you have an opportunity to be stronger today. And how incredible that you learned what actions or in action

was not in line with the person you want to be. Now you have an opportunity to root all that out. And how beautiful that you felt the pain of quitting, of stopping short, of throwing the towel. Now, as you push forward into that great unknown, you have a reminder, a benchmark to compare with the difficulty of the present moment. You can silence the voice in your head begging you to slow down because you now know what the alternative looks like.

To put it simply, you are not the same person you were yesterday. Specifically because of what you've been through, you have those mistakes to thank for the meaningful road you will travel. And let that be the expectation. We don't get through life without mistakes. There is no perfect journey. And the ones who move courageously into the future know that more than anyone. Life pushes back. The world has a say, and sometimes that means we must be humbled along the way.

It means we swing and miss. It means plans fall apart. But you will prevail. maybe not immediately, but eventually because you perceive the adversity as merely a cost of admission, specifically because you don't let it run loops in your mind. Rather, you extract the value and transform it into momentum.

You are not your past. You are what you decide to make of your past. Feeling stuck is a feature, not a bug. Having moments of doubt is a feature, not a bug. Losing perspective from time to time is a feature not a bug. There's no way to step out into the world and avoid these things. Therefore the question is not will these moments arise. The question is when they inevitably do, what will you

make of them. And I think that fork in the road is often very misunderstood. How you look at the world around you is everything. Not because as the great Tony Robbins says, you close your eyes and chant. There's no weeds. There's no weeds. And they're suddenly gone from your garden. But because it's indicative of the choice we have. That when something happens, we don't always get to control how it unfolds before us, but we do get to choose what it means. And that's it. A simple decision.

And you can see how it's just as easy to go one way as it is to go another. Citing another brilliant voice in this space, Jim Rohn used to say something along the lines of success is easy. It's nothing more than a few simple decisions every day. Well, when asked why isn't everyone successful, he'd say, because being unsuccessful is easy too.

Choosing not to do those things is easy too. Right? Everything is about your decoder. The world provides the pieces, but it makes you the architect. And so, what are you building? The ones who have had the greatest impact, designed beautiful change, added value to the world, they did it through chaos. Yet those who are the angriest, who've done very little with the gifts allotted to them, they'll cite some variation of chaos for the reason they haven't succeeded.

It's the lens, it's the decoder, it's the fork in the road, and you choosing which direction you will take. If you're feeling trapped in a routine, you have in some capacity, in some capacity, taking the pieces around you and created a story of limitation. You're forgetting that nothing is stopping you from trying something new today, taking a risk today. When you're feeling insufficient or like everyone around you has it all figured out, you've taken the pieces and created a story of imaginary adversaries.

This is not you versus the world. It is you versus you. This moment has given you a fresh start, a chance to find alignment with that which is meaningful to you. One of my favorite metaphors, life is a staircase, where the chaos and the turbulence are ultimately there for you to tame and then move on to the next step. In fact, that's the only way we climb. The world will consist of challenges and one of the most important gifts we can give to ourselves is to remove the notion that we can just waltz on through. with zero problems. Having that as the benchmark sets us up for failure. There is no perfect

path or pursuit. Instead ask where is the value? When we fall, ask where is the value? How can I rise, grow, adjust? That's why perspective is everything. One man or woman's business failure is the reason he says, I tried and talks about what what could have been over beer with his buddies for the next decade. Another man or woman's failure is the reason she's able to pinpoint where the problems existed and come back stronger, wiser, armed with solutions. See, these aren't wildly different circumstances or initial occurrences. What has occurred are wildly different interpretations, wildly different interpretations, wildly different

reactions. Trust me, I'm human. I get the instinct to point out at the world. To shake your fist at the sky, turn your back on the opportunity. But in truth, that's the only way to ensure values not obtained. There's a stoic anecdote about a teacher on a boat out at sea during a storm and it's enormous, right? The waves are crashing over the side of the boat, rocking the boat, rocking the boat back and forth.

And that teacher turns pale just like everyone else. He freezes in fear just like everyone else. The only difference is the teacher is not crying out or screaming. And the message here is that the initial reaction, that's human. It's human to feel anger, it's human to feel frustration, fear, doubt. The difference comes down to, can you pause?

Can you collect yourself? And instead of immersing yourself in the emotion, ask, what can I become from this? That is power. A relationship ended. Okay. How can I now plant a seed to greater fulfillment? The plan didn't work.

Okay. Why? What can I? I learn that will be advantageous on the next approach. I'm lost. I don't know what to do. OK? Instead of thinking less of yourself or the lack of knowledge,

how about appreciating the fact that you've established a foundation upon which a solution can now be sought? Losses do not exist so long as adversity is pointed out and transformed into value. And whether or not that happens is entirely up to you. When it hurts, there is value. When you're down, there is value. There's always something so long as we learn to find it.

And that's what will make all the difference. Adversity is not avoidable, but living right means knowing it can't be avoided because it's a requirement. It's from the chaos that calm and order and meaning and growth and momentum are obtained. So even though you may be tempted to turn your back to run or cry out when the winds are strong and the waves come crashing down on your reality, remember that you can not only withstand the disarray, but you can come out on the other side stronger. Courage is designed to move.

Which is why one bold action can completely transform your life. It's why one step forward can create space for you to experience and obtain things you've never had before. I've been sharing with you quite a bit lately how I've essentially rediscovered Greg McCune's idea of essentialism. Redefining focus, cutting away excess. refusing to operate at 65% on many things, right? And instead, focusing 100% on the thing that means the most to me, right? Going all in on the right thing. Might seem small.

But I promise you, in our world, it's not. And the other day, I was in the car talking about how, basically when you go all in on that thing that feels right, alignment's the word I've used many times, but that thing that's right for you, when you give it the attention and time and energy deserves, the universe seems to hear you. It's like it gives you strength back. And obviously there's a pragmatic element to it, right? It's like what you water is going to grow.

You can only improve what you focus on. But that relationship between attention, effort, and life seeming to help pave away for you when you go all in, it's so strong that it makes me think there might be more to it than that. It blows my mind how quickly after realigning things happened. that haven't happened in years. It's like you commit to something and life arms you for the journey. You lock in, and you are in your own way,

provided wings. And I'm explaining this to Jules, who's riding shotgun. She goes, I love when that happens. It's like courage creates vibration. One of those light bulb moments, right? Exactly.

The vibration of courage. Courage creates space for everything you need. That courageous act. And by the way, everyone knows what that is in their own world. That thing they should be doing

or that thing they've wanted to do. Depending on the season of life, maybe it's going faster towards something. Maybe it's slowing down a pursuit that isn't quite right. Maybe it's less, maybe it's more. Maybe it's solitude, maybe it's putting yourself in more social situations, right? Locking in on one thing or exploration and discovery.

It's different, it changes. But you know what that is, because you think about it, because your soul communicates with your mind. Whatever it is, it's an arm's length away. The extended hand of courage doesn't mean the pursuit or task before you will be. easier. In all honesty, it's probably the opposite. You are voluntarily stepping out into the storm. But what courage does, despite the chaos or voluntary turbulence, courage gives you a chance. It puts you in the game and allows you to tell and show the world who you are. I sometimes laugh at the disconnect that once existed between my actions and who I wanted to be.

Big plans, big goals. But I was only willing to take minimal risk. The world simply can't hear you from inside your house. It can't translate a dream into a reality or transform hope into tangible progress if it remains tucked away in the back of your mind. Not until you find the courage to set it free. To give it to the world. To start that ripple effect or vibration that will lead you hand in hand into the unknown. When you own that for yourself, the lens through which you look at life adjusts alongside you.

Everything is now in the context of how to create that storyline. The same things you once walked right by become props in the play of your life. The right people become wind at your back and the wrong ones fade back into yesterday's chapter. Life wants to push you forward. It wants to be an ally. So let it. Allow it to be the wind at your back. You have incredible thoughts, brilliant ideas.

There are game-changing opportunities that need you to breathe life. into them. So here's a thought. I want you to wake up a few minutes earlier this week. If you're a coffee drinker, get yourself an iced cup, sit in a comfortable spot, and for those few moments, get out of your head and into your heart. Paint a picture of what lights you up, a could-be reality, and then choose one courageous act that will take you to that day, that will bring life to that vision. Not tomorrow or the next day, but today. Right now, this very moment,

and watch how that consciousness, that decision infiltrates all areas of your life. Watch how it acts as a brush, painting seemingly a black and white landscape and puts color into it. It's the start of everything. The power you've always had, the sound of strength, the heartbeat of your future self. It's the sunrise before a new day and the sunset that gives way to a sky full of stars.

It is the vibration from your fingertips to God's ears. From your soul to the world, it's where you were meant to go. So my friend, go there. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. That's a quote from the queen in Lewis Carroll's book, Through the Looking Glass. I listen to that, and I wonder, how is it? Or how does it make you feel that the difference between possible and impossible is your willingness to step into chaos?

Impossible is just a compounding of smaller possibles. Impossible is a refusal to say no. Impossible is moving forward through those checkpoints in life. Where most people look around and simply say, I don't want to pay the metaphorical price. I don't want to give what's required here. I really enjoy history. Lately, I've been revisiting a lot of,

various battles from recent all the way to way back, from Alexander the Great's conquest of Tyre to George Washington and the American colonists against the British, even the famous Battle of Thermopylae with the 300 Spartans that we all know about. You know, all of these have in their own unique way defied the odds. And what strikes me is, you know,

if you look at any of these scenarios on paper, They all appear to be suicide missions. It's crazy. You know, the 300 at Thermopyla, obviously being close to that, and I'll touch on that in a second, but all very special in their own unique way. All took an apparent impossible task and did something pretty remarkable with it.

See, when you immerse yourself into something, you've been something seemingly impossible, without the prospect of turning around in your head, there's a shift in your mind. You know you have to find a way forward because forward is the only way, and so you do. You look at the landscape differently.

You look at the resources accessible to you differently. Funny enough, you know, there always seems to be something to solve the problem, some dot that can be connected, some loophole, some advantage. Some tactic that can move you, maybe not directly to the finish line, but just far enough to adapt and survive. Some path to triumph that, you know, when looked at as a whole, gets lost amidst the daunting nature of the task. It's like leaping a mountain is impossible. But climbing one rock at a time is very doable.

And it's that, right? again and again and again that gives you just enough life to cross the abyss. So back to those examples, right? You take Alexander the Great. It was the courage and ingenuity to literally construct a causeway from land out into the water to the tiny island city state of Tyre. simultaneously using his navy to cut off supply lines and breaching the wall that surrounded the city. On paper, that's an impossible, just unthinkable feat.

For Washington, it was surviving winter, a superior army. It was finding a way to manufacture some key battles that were enough to convince the French to come in and support the country. cause one day at a time. Again, the greatest military force on earth at the time, a seemingly impossible, insurmountable obstacle. At Thermopylae was using the landscape and superior skill to their advantage, holding their ground, and making a substantial dent in the Persian army. Again, one of the most powerful armies on earth at the time, you know, all the way until,

it was the last of the 300 men, completely turning the numbers game upside down. Impossible is looking at the size and scope of a task, not the little actions required to bring it to life. And that's generally a rule. When you operate under the premise or the notion that there is a solution, you find one. And I can give you the example of YouTube,

as I usually do because it's obviously near and dear to my heart and something that's changed my life. A platform of this size and scale 10 years ago is unthinkable, impossible, laughable. My brain didn't even go there. It's impossible for someone who left their day job running out of money in a small apartment in Boston

to create that, right? But when the door is not cracked, when it's shut firmly behind you, there's no escape plan, when it's, I am going forward, and that is the only direction I'm going, everything around you becomes an instrument in the symphony that will be your growth. You find a way.

It's like, why do people talk about rock bottom being what turned them around? Because in that moment, they had to start using what was around them to win. There was no off-ramp. They had to see the utility in what existed around them. The hours I used to waste became more precious.

Every dollar, how can I stretch it into something that matters? Boston is a major city. I started asking, who can I connect with and learn from? Even Microsoft Word went from being something I had to reluctantly open once in a while for an office job to this portal where I could share my thoughts with the world. We don't see life as it is. We see life as we are. And when you're only focused on one goal, you know, you become this vehicle through which magic happens.

When I was a kid, like, way back, right? 90s computers first became sort of household items. I used to play this Star Wars game. It's just a demo. And I love this metaphor because I, you know, was on level one, wandering around, frustrated, trying to find this door that would bring me to level two, and I could not find it. And I looked and I looked and I would spend hours and hours.

And, you know, I didn't know about cheat codes or how to research any of that. stuff, it's just exploring. And this is anticlimactic, but eventually there was a day where I found it, this camouflage door in the back. And I went through it and it brought me to level two. And the reason I'm telling you this, because I believe that door exists for all endeavors. It's always there, right? Sometimes buried underneath layers of trial and error, sometimes behind miles and miles of road, of road, sometimes hidden in plain sight.

And so we need to remember, Impossible does not mean cannot be done. Impossible just asks, how long are you willing to look? How long are you willing to scratch, claw, and fight for that result you're looking for? The pursuit does not end until you do. do, which not only completely debunks impossible, it shows you just how powerful you are. All things are possible if, if you are willing to bring them to life.

What is the complex, but an accumulation of that which is simple? What are big things, if not just a multitude, of little things? There's comfort in the understanding that all we have in life, all there is, is simplicity. Easy to understand pieces. It's just that sometimes we stack them so high that they start to take a new shape. But like Greg McKeown references in his book Essentialism, the power isn't always in acquiring answers. You already have them.

in front of you, the power is in cutting away the things that don't need, removing all that stands between you and your ideal existence. And I think that's one of life's great misunderstandings. We don't need to find more. We need to remove the excess until we're face to face with what matters. And to adopt this principle, it's nothing short of liberating. Chaos, confusion, disorder, They don't imply that you lack the right things. They suggest you haven't stripped life of the wrong things. You have not simplified. A thousand miles is intimidating when you look at it holistically.

It's a long journey. But it's just a collection of steps, and well, shouldn't we find solace in the fact that anyone can take one step? It's not a game of complexity. It's a game of understanding what's in front of you. And what's in front of you is always manageable. So much of our stress stems from forgetting what that journey is made of. Whether it's a change in career, mastery of an art, some kind of personal transformation, the result we want. When looking at it from the

starting line, it's too complex to understand too many pieces stacked up. So let's break it down. Let's find the foundation. What's really there? What are the one, two, three things we need to do? What is that golden question? What matters? If you lose sight of that, then you will stumble through life.

I've learned this. I've lived it. The time I take to myself every day is invaluable to me because I ask myself those two questions. What matters and what are the simple? steps I need to take. What can I remove? I was talking about this during an interview this week, my personal growth. And one of the most important aspects has been the understanding and zeroing in on what's important. I used to take so much pride in composing the background music to these speeches, end to end. I used to love to be able to say I did it all. That was

so I thought the great differentiator. But ultimately I learned to take a step back and ask what matters here? What do you care about? It's the storytelling that I love. It's the impact. And let's be real. No one cares who wrote the background music. It's holistically. How does the piece make you feel? Right? And this understanding allowed me to cut away. License the music. Save two days a week, acquire clarity, and realize my goal is not to be Mozart. My journey is to be one of the great communicators. storytellers of our time and if a day goes by where I'm not taking a little step towards that, it's the wrong move. Small example in the grand scheme of things, but right on point. It's the power

in understanding what matters that makes a difference that allows you to grow, evolve. And I'm confident that this not only applies to long-term pursuits, but also our challenging times, the dark moments, the periods of uncertainty and discontent. Same concept. Where do you want to be? And how do you get there? What's the simple thing you can do to close that gap? Because you are never helpless. You can always do something. And my friends, those little somethings ultimately evolve into everything. And when we put our phone away, step beyond the noise. spend time with ourselves, we can see how much of life is running in place. Stacking and stacking pieces that aren't even part of the masterpiece we're trying to assemble.

If you want answers, start with the understanding that they're buried under mountains of things you don't need. So cut away. Cut away the people and places and things that convolut your story. cut away the exhaustion of time that provides no value in return cut away the thoughts that make life more complex than your journey from where you are to where you'd like to be as you stand right now you have everything you need and there's nothing greater than that nothing more powerful than that understanding so why not step outside the complexity that you've manufactured that you're living in into a world of clarity, simplicity, and capture what matters. There's a row of sunflowers in my backyard right outside my parents' window.

My mother planted them because they were her favorite flower, and we saw them all the time. in a little house off Lemon Avenue in Southern California with a basketball hoop in the front and fruit trees in the back. Granted, time has a way of altering our memories. And I'm sure to some extent my reminiscing has been dramatized. But I can't help when I look back at that period of time to feel anything but good, like pure happiness.

happiness, simplicity. Coming back from the pool, laying out in the sun with my brother and sister, or, you know, creating forts out of lawn chairs while we launched peaches, plums, and lemons at each other like complete idiots, you know, having life-altering conversations, critical discussions. Like, who's the most important character in Star Wars and, you know, that scene in Titanic. The side door of the garage I used to sneak in the slim, shady, LP, I got caught. I don't know what it was, but all of that was right. And when I think of that row of sunflowers, slowly swaying in the breeze beneath the California sun,

my mind often wonders if that's gone forever. I don't want to entertain the thought, but I can't help but ask. You know, my pragmatic brain doesn't even know what. what it is. Somehow my soul does, though. I probably post too frequently for most folks to listen to every episode. But if you've been following along, you've heard me refer to, you know,

the last few months as certainly challenging mentally and physically. And this is not, you know, the world's smallest violin, poor me type moment. Everything's fine now and will be. But hey, you know, the thing about talking about where I am is that you'll get the good, the bad, and the ugly, right? So I'm going to see if I can sum up this background context in about 45 seconds here.

Recently, I found myself doing too many unimportant things, swaying from the writing, speaking, and video creation that I love so much. I swung the pendulum all the way to the other end and walked away from a lot of projects. Tore down my studio, spent about a month building a new one with various sets, colors, designs, just got it functional about a week ago. Sat down, rolled up my sleeves, looked around, and felt deeply like I had absolutely nothing to say.

Just tired. Tired. And a little lost. And I think it came to a head the other day. I cleared my schedule for two days to sit, to think, and to write. Which is a big deal for me now, right? Even with everything I cut away, I have clients and, you know, a production team to manage, a business to run, videos to make, working with sponsors, all these things, right? But I knew I had to do it.

And so I did, and two days later, I kid you not, I had nothing worthwhile written down. Some anecdotes, right? the kind of stuff you get when you search for inspirational quote on Google, but nothing that I felt moved the needle or was, you know, game-changing in any way. And that's when things felt the heaviest they felt in a long time. It's like, okay, dude, you just took an axe to your entire life to go all in on these videos, you better execute. Or, well, or what? A voice asked You know what the difference is between my brain and the brain of a golden retriever, sitting on the couch, looking out the window, thinking about nothing but food and that squirrel that he so desperately wants to chase? The difference is, I think, in stories, and so do you.

And that is a beautiful thing so long as you're telling the right ones. What a power that is. Life is a culmination of the stories you're telling. And when I've said this is therapy for me in the past, to sit here and share these thoughts, I'm not kidding. I start these videos with a question and sometimes find my answer before I'm even halfway through. And the story I've been telling myself for the past few months

is that life is hard. Life is chaos. So be better. Find a way to be better. Sometimes that is the cold heart truth. Sometimes it's what I need. But sometimes, that's not the answer. Sometimes I need to remember to plant sunflowers again.

Sometimes I need to remember that contentment and momentum and fulfillment is an outstretched hand away. You know, momentum doesn't have to be some crazy artistic breakthrough. Sometimes momentum can just be recapturing that feeling of laughing in your backyard on a beautiful day in Southern California. And maybe you've been there. Maybe you've felt lost or overwhelmed or stuck. Maybe you've been in the minutia so deep that you've forgotten what life is all about. Well, maybe this can be your reminder that you're not as far as far as far.

you're not as far off as you think. That you just need to reach out to stretch into the darkness and create that little spark that will remind you how good things really are. Hopefully I'll be old someday. You know, looking back on life, and I bet I won't remember the struggles or difficult times faced in this studio. But I will remember the sunflowers. I'll remember the times I closed my eyes and breathed life in.

So whatever season of life you're navigating, don't forget, nothing is gone. No beauty has been dissolved. It just waits for us to recreate it. The hard thing brought me through hell. but also to that which exists on the other side. The hard thing prompted me to question and doubt, but also provided the pieces I used to build my confidence little by little. It made me ask the tough questions,

the ones maybe I didn't want to hear the answer to, but also gave me the power to transform those answers I didn't like. The hard thing meant forfeiting being the expert in my world in exchange for the role of student in a foreign arena. It gave me new ladders to climb, new possibilities to reach for. It showed that true growth requires a willingness to be the beginner. It took some people out of my arms, my circle, my work,

and in some cases my life altogether. but always seem to open the door to those souls better aligned, to those conducive to the journey and the process. Let's remember what the hard thing is. Beyond the pain, because we all know it does bring that, beyond the challenges, because there are certainly many. Beyond all that exists the hope and the change and the promise, Robert Frost says the best way out is always through.

Through because it's the chaos, the haze, the darkness of night that shapes us. It's in being broken that we learn to rebuild our world with the pieces, and perhaps most importantly. We learn that such a rebuilding process is possible to begin with, that the now is not mandatory or permanent. The hard thing, as it turns out, is nothing more than a transaction. Turbulence for the view above the clouds, fear in the moment for confidence in the future. It's learning that although life sometimes appears to paint a picture of conformity and helplessness, there's always a path leading to the very place we need to go. It just asks we find the courage.

we find the courage to walk it. Churchill has said the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. And this beautiful message rings true. Because from the difficulty is the advantage. And sure, our first instinct is to see the problem. Our eyes tend to initially fixate on that which is

unfortunate. But beyond that is where we get the most incredible things life provides, as if one is removing the shell or outer layer in order to get to the nutrients in the center, the ingredients required for growth, the pieces necessary to experience life at its fullest. And so we must be reminded that those opportunities, they're not rare, they're not reserved. for everyone but you, they just tend to disguise themselves as the things we're most inclined to disregard or walk by. But if one finds the courage to move into them, through them, if one can see the difficulty not as a deterrent but as a bargain,

they'll be given everything on the other side. Reality is not changed with the magic wand or the granting of a wish. wish, it's from staring down the heart thing and moving directly into it one little step at a time. There's a haze that circles around our most important moments. And I say haze, because often the things that will be most meaningful in our lives or that will best position us for future transformation or success, they don't really accurately depict the value that they ultimately provide. In fact, a lot of the time we get the opposite impression.

The answer is deceptively masked as the problem. The thing we are most inclined to run away from, it's often unclear to us that the pain we're experiencing will become the purpose. The loss will become the strength. We can't always see that losing the job will become our reason to find ourselves and the work that will be most meaningful. We don't always understand that losing someone that was a big part of our lives will ultimately create a little space that will bring about connection with others who will lift us up and make us better. We aren't always aware that falling short is incredibly powerful. because it's what most often prompts us to look in the mirror

and ask that magical question, how can I be better? Again, we see it in a million different ways, different contexts, the solutions masquerade as problems, or as has been famously put, the way often presents itself as the obstacle. Which means we have to operate with a sense of awareness

and understanding that often alludes us. Sometimes the reality is that it hurts to let go. But if it's not right for you, it hurts to hold on as well. The difference is when you do find the strength to let go, you simultaneously create space for the things that will make your life better. And I've noticed, you know,

as I've navigated this crazy place well into my 30s, that the discomfort I've experienced in the past, it rarely utilizes my future as its benchmark. When I'm uncomfortable, it's because something has gone awry in the now. This moment hurts. In this moment, I feel less than. In this moment, I feel lost.

In this moment, I am X, Y, or Z. It's all generally immediate, emotive responses to what's happening. Which is why I advocate so strongly for pausing, pulling back, taking a breath, and assessing the whole picture in totality. See, I've made decisions in my life that have set me back a year, right, that destroyed me emotionally, totally altered my plans. And I look back on some of those decisions now with all the pain they brought, and I think, you know, was there another way? Did I make the right move? Did I need to endure all that? And I'm not going to pretend, you know,

I know how some parallel universe would have unfolded if I acted differently. But as I reflect back, I still think that I made the right choice. I don't see another way. Sometimes there are no easy decisions. Sometimes life is about choosing the least bad option. I've talked about having to step back in order to leap forward, or stepping sideways in order to ultimately advance.

Sometimes the thing we need just looks like discomfort, the sheep in wolves' clothing, where you have to seek out monsters in order to destroy the ones that live inside of you. The reason, one, I think this is so important, and two, I'm so passionate about sharing it with others is because, again, our instincts drive us away from the things we need most. It's just how it is. Humans are more emotional than we are rational.

And there have been plenty of times where, you know, just being reminded, Eddie, I get that this is challenging, but where do you most want to go? Eddie, you're playing defensive, which I'm sure minimizes problems now, but will never propel you forward with your career. Eddie, you're dragging your feet and calling it perfectionism. Could it in fact be fear? I've had a lot of these little, and sometimes not so little, epiphanies over the course of the last decade.

When people ask me about speaking, which being that I do it for a living would make sense, tips or insights, whatever it is, I'm being completely sincere when I say that I wish I had some formula I could propose. right, that would make you go from zero to 60 in three months. But the truth is, the biggest bang for your buck is stepping right into the terror. The thing you're most inclined to run from. And that was it for me, right? Shear terror.

Actually shaking nights where I stayed awake, reciting keynotes into hotel mirrors. Couldn't he? And I'd, you know, wrap up, the event would be over. I'd just go back to the room and collapse in bed because I hadn't slept the night before, right? That's how it started. And the more times I didn't give myself a way out, the more I saw past the fear, put emotions aside, and reiterated to myself that underneath all that discomfort was value, the better I became.

The less dramatic each speaking engagement became. And the terror evolved into excitement. Eddie, please get through this, eventually evolved into Eddie, how can you make this speaking engagement more exciting, more fun, more captivating than the last one? I recently spoke at the MGM Grand Arena, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. And I'm sure you can imagine, not necessarily because of the event. But it prompted me to think back to all those times I wanted to say no, so badly with all my heart, with every fiber of my being, but didn't.

It was just a proud feeling. Like, you get those moments from time to time where everything becomes a single snapshot. It all makes sense. Because over times, I truly didn't understand why I was moving forward. I just did. I just knew I'd burn the boats. There were no other options. And when you collect that W, you quickly remember.

And so all this, to emphasize the very important point that it may not be speaking at the MGM Grand Arena that you're North Star. Maybe it's something totally different. But I want to remind you that the road to wherever you most want to be is not perfectly paved and decorated with flowers. It won't always be sunny with clear blue skies. And to take it even further,

the paths that are paved with flowers and clear, blue skies are often the wrong ones. In a world of trade-offs, we know that the best things often require the greatest sacrifice. The beautiful things are often derived from a willingness to endure prior turbulent. And should you find yourself amidst all that in the thick of it, it's essential to know that should you choose to do so, you can transform the chaos into something incredible. Realistically, that pain of loss, we can't do anything about, right? Nature has made it so that we feel every sense of what's been taken away.

But nature doesn't do such a good job of reminding us of the infinite value that can now move into our souls, be used to open our eyes so that we may see the world as we've never seen it before. There is such power and the ability to view that fleeting emotion, the discomfort of now, in terms of what it will ultimately become. As the saying goes, the hardest thing and the right thing are often the same thing. So be your own judge, your own critic. Decide what best points you to that place amongst the stars you long to be. Just understand that the road won't be pain-free,

and those who try to make it so miss out on a lot of the brilliance available to us. That haze that tries to conceal what's most important is only effective if we keep our eyes close, if we aren't honest with ourselves. But if you know, one, what's most important, and two are committed to one day arriving there, the short-term obstacles, become a relatively small price to pay.

I find it interesting that what we want most is often brought about by the inverse of what we'd expect. It's a paradox that's amazed me for much of my adult life. And what do I mean? Well, here are a few examples. The best way to achieve freedom in your life is to be incredibly disciplined, two things that are seemingly opposite in a sense. Or that the worst of times often open the door to the best of times.

Or it's from a position of strength that one is best able to ensure peace. Or from our suffering, our pain comes our purpose and contentment. And you get the point I could go on and on and on. But the reason this is so important, why I think it's worth discussing, is that it sheds light on the value hidden within our struggles. You know, when you realize the paradoxical nature of growth, the discomfort makes a little more sense. It's easier to wrap our hands around.

So let's say getting up early. Perhaps you weren't a morning person, but you're trying. You're trying because you think those few extra hours in the morning will add some lift. The alarm clock goes off. The last thing you want to do is open your eyes. Maybe you even start thinking, who cares, right? This isn't that important. You begin rationalizing ways.

You'll go back to bed and just make up for the time throughout the day. But when you simplify the equation, you realize what you have is an opportunity. And you're either going to say yes and capitalize on that opportunity or say no and stay where you are. Discipline, even with the small seemingly trivial stuff, becomes freedom. And if you want to position yourself for a life on your terms, where you're at the wheel on your schedule, it means facing demons just like this.

It means you fight your fight now so that you can mitigate it later. Rather than saying, I wish, or beating yourself up for not being a little bit tougher in the moment, you instead get that sense of accomplishment. You get the luxury of time and freedom. And I think that's a simple but perfect example of how discomfort in one moment becomes contentment in future moments. Not a very intuitive trade-off. Or how about our low points? We all know no one escapes low points.

I've always found them easier to handle and internalize when I know that it's bringing me closer to something valuable. When I know that there's something good on the other side and that the pain I'm feeling, the thoughts that are inevitably going to pass through my mind like clouds on a windy day. They're obviously not ideal, but they're not a waste either

because something will come of them. And the goal in that moment under the duress is not to move the immovable. After all, you can only control, but you can control. But it's to simply put one foot in front of the other until you emerge from the storm because we all eventually immer.

emerged from that storm. It's when we get into the habit of trying to do what is outside the scope of our control that we do ourselves a disservice. Because look, we're human. Equipped with human biology and human emotions, navigating a tough world that is indifferent to how we feel or what we think. And while we can certainly strengthen and fortify that emotional IQ, the reality is no one is on a high all the time. is ups and downs. And when we realize our superpower is not to fight the down times, but to accept

them, take them in stride, learn from them, and extract the value, we empower ourselves. We're giving ourselves permission to live life just a little fuller after what we've experienced. The human Experience requires many seemingly contradictory puzzle pieces all working together in unison to create that final illustration we're looking for. Not just discipline and freedom, not just low points and high points, but countless others. Jordan Peterson of course famously discusses chaos and order and how both not only exist but are pivotal to a fulfilling life. We are designed for chaos.

We must step out into unknowns, situations that feel bigger than us. The courage to do so ultimately becomes the pathway to order. As we get used to the change, we acclimate, we find our answers, and ultimately create a sense of fulfillment. The challenge being that now we have conquered our demon, we must prepare for the next. Because just like too much chaos isn't good, too much order is equally destructive. Another example of something we'd assume as negative.

Chaos. Being the thing in actuality that paves the way for better days. It's a staircase. I've heard Tony Robbins say something similar when talking about our need for both certainty and uncertainty. We must have some elements of everyday life matters. out, but too much creates a mundane existence without the adventure and growth we've been looking for. It's from the unknown we capture more of ourselves. It's from the uncertainty we get growth. And I say all of this, not just because I think it's fascinating in and of itself,

but because it's incredibly easy to forget, especially in the thick of things, that it's all essential to life, working the way it should work. Those losses become gains. The disappointment becomes growth. The downtimes become launching pads to evolve experiences, greater adventures, and new chapters. It's certainly not intuitive to look in the mirror when amidst life's chaos and say thank you to the universe.

I get that. I'm not implying that you should. But I am saying it helps to know, it helps to be aware of the paradoxical nature of your journey. I look back at the times I was most fearful or angry at myself. And if I could go back and tell that version of me one thing, it would be that all that adversity is going to push me forward. That I'd never have the things I wanted most if I didn't step into all that discomfort.

That it's going to be okay. that I'm going to be incredibly thankful for it all and so will you this is the push pull of life the chaos and order of the day it is not in spite of but because of those moments you'll be more than you've ever been the human experience is a paradox and the quicker we get that the quicker we let it work for us no more fighting unwinnable wars but rather taking all that we can control and using it to lift ourselves up to be our best selves to make tomorrow the miracle that it can be I want to share a theme with you that continuously reemerges

in my life and every time it does I'm grateful I'm a little bolder a little wiser, a little more grounded. The idea is simple. It's creating a low barrier to entry. Let me explain what I mean. The other day I was on a call with Ashley. It was a brilliant member of the team here, and we're talking about social media.

And as we're talking, I'm going on and on about the end state, how I think things should in a perfect world be with our platforms and the output. And it's important to note for this particular project, we're kind of on the ground floor, right? So in reality, I couldn't possibly know what the end state's going to be. There's a lot of epiphanies to be had.

There's twists in terms that I couldn't possibly anticipate. I think it's great to have a North Star in a vision, obviously. But winning in the long run requires observation and reflection and adjustment and on and on. So as I'm speaking, you know, she's listening, nodding her head, you know, agreeing with the vision. But after some thoughts as well, why don't we just start with what we have now, right? Keep the barrier of entry low so that there's less friction and we can start seeing how, you know, things evolve. And I thought that was just incredible, right?

It's what I'd temporarily lost in the moment for sure. You win by going and then evolving. So many would be amazing pursuits were never started because we make initiating them too complex. Same thing happened on another call that same day. I'm talking to Tyler, a business partner for another project coming around the corner. And I'm sending him videos talking about ideas

for rollout, different avenues. we could take, which again, it's great. It's better to have a large vision and trim it down than no vision at all, but the convo is the same. You know, Ed, I love it. It's great. But what if we start with one thing though, one idea? Let's get the gears turning.

That needed to be the theme for the day, and I appreciated it, right? So a few thoughts. One, surround yourself with sharp people like Ashley and Tyler that keep you grounded, but two, and perhaps the main point. Stop creating friction for yourself when you're beginning new things. I've talked about this in different contexts, you know, and I've hammered it into my day-to-day in many ways, right? Like if I'm going on a run, you know, I have the running stuff by the door and ready to go

with a glass of water the night before so that when I wake up, the process feels so easy that to not go would seem stupid. But life is complex, and so are we. It was a great reminder that your handle on something in one area of life doesn't mean you'll implement it across the board. And I was grateful for that reminder, is what I needed at that time, right? The reminder that winning is going.

Winning is beginning. Because you're immersing yourself in the process and you're acclimating to it. You're seeing what works and what doesn't. You're growing as opposed to taking an extra three months to put into place parameters that will probably change anyway. One of my favorite mantras is simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Powerful, but sometimes elusive. But if you can keep it front and center, it adds immense value to your life.

The most powerful thing you can do is have a general sense of direction and go now with what you have. Ashley and I will change our social media tactics many, many times in the future, because we're collecting data and we're moving forward. Tyler and I will approach our venture in probably countless ways. Because we're not in love with a particular strategy, we're in love with the end goal. And perhaps you, in your world, are at a point where you're seeking to initiate something new. And you're playing with the pros and cons, you're listing ideas in your head. Categorizing details and nuance that, sure, it seems important right now in this moment,

But will it forever? Right? My advice to you is to mitigate detail and instead place the value on finding the courage to begin now. Before you're ready, before you have all the answers, before you know how X, Y, and Z is going to unfold. Mitigate the friction to such an extent that, you know, the pursuit feels like an ice hockey rink. You're sliding into whatever comes next. Never underestimate how powerful. Estimate how powerful that is.

And be reassured by the fact that in three months from now or a year from now, the journey won't look the same. You'll be better in execution and wiser in strategy because you simply created a low barrier to entry. You leveraged perhaps the most important ability you possess. You began. I was watching a master class by author Margaret A. It was on storytelling. And, you know, I knew going into it, it would be interesting.

I'm not a particular fan of her work, at least from a content perspective. But look, we're talking about someone who's, you know, truly made a mark on the world. Right? There's a lot to be learned from her. So I buckled in and listened to what she had to say. And unsurprisingly, there was a lot of wisdom there. And there was one idea in particular. that really resonated with me.

Both as a writer, yeah, but also outside the quote-unquote creative space, which I'll get to in a second. The idea was centered around finding the moment to begin, a story's true starting point. And it was interesting. She said, you know, people think stories start on page one, but she'll pick up a book. And I don't remember if she was referencing new authors or maybe someone, a book just off. the shelf at a bookstore. But she'll be reading it and she'll think, ah, okay, so this story really begins on page 10.

That's the starting point. I think she even referenced her own writing process, being a few chapters in and thinking, ah, this needs to be the starting point. Got to cut away the other stuff and move this up to page one. And, you know, understanding that's obviously important for those looking to entertain and captivate an audience.

You need to give the reader a reason to stick around. But I could also very easily draw a parallel from that to, you know, a bigger picture, our real world. All I could think about was, you know, what story are you telling yourself and where did it start? Or more importantly, has it even started? There's something both liberating and beautiful about the fact that all of us in the stories we are living could at any moment recreate that metaphorical first page. And I believe that with all my heart. Like we think, oh, page one started years ago. This is how things are now.

This is where I exist in life. But what about the idea that beginnings don't have to start on page one? What about the idea that you can cut away as much as necessary to create the right beginning? The story that feels right to you. We don't know anything to the words that we're really. written leading up to now. We're not beholden to the chapters that came before. Robin Sharma talks about the idea of killing your darlings, which is an old saying that refers to that very challenging task writer's face of cutting away the things that aren't absolutely essential to the story's main

narrative. It's hard to do. We place value and importance on these things because they feel like a part of us. We feel like they're too significant to dismiss. But in reality, the act of letting go is ultimately a value add because it ensures that what matters is what stays. It's the ability to understand that the story doesn't begin when thoughts become words. It begins when there's alignment. When the story captivates, inspires, and in the the one you're writing, the one that is your life, you can always make that moment right now. There's always a new novel that can be written with new objectives and characters and storylines. It's okay to chop anything that led to this moment.

It's okay to create a beginning as you stand here today, right? It's the idea of sunk costs that changed my life years ago. just because you spent a long time making a mistake doesn't mean you need to continue making it. Just because you've been writing this story of your life for years doesn't mean the beginning is behind you. You can start this novel here. You can begin this epic adventure now. And I think there's tremendous power in looking at life like that.

It's never too late for a new beginning. It's never wrong or impossible to, even at chapter 4, put your finger down on a new starting point and say, this is where it all begins. Where the new ideal takes shape. We are all authors. And if authors have anything, it's control over the narrative. It's the ability to design a world that aligns with the one they imagine. It was an ordinary run on my ordinary loop, on an ordinary day, right in the middle of an ordinary week.

I rounded the last corner that I'd encounter before finally returning back to the street that I lived on. Beautiful sunny afternoon, I remember the sun bouncing off my skin, the sweat dripping down my face. I was looking ahead, but not really at anything, more so lost in my thoughts. Then out of nowhere, this little butterfly kind of swooped in, appeared right beside me, and it seemed, as it floated through the air, to link its pace with mine, effortlessly gliding. I looked over at it, and back at the ground, over at it again, back at the ground. And for a second, I wondered what it would be like. to be one of those flying machines.

The ones built for flight, navigating the sky with no restriction. What a feeling that must be. And as I looked over for a third time, it had slipped back into whatever types of things are important to a butterfly on a warm June day, but realized, as I carried forward, alone again, that for a few seconds we were side by, It in the air and me on the ground.

I hung in there with the flying machines. That's right. The creatures with wings designed specifically for flight. I was for a time amongst them. So what truly separated us? See, my whole life, I have drawn lines. The lines that separate them from me, from can and cannot, from possible and impossible.

impossible. There have been times where I saw reality is pre-packaged. Basically as though you get what you get, factory, stock, out of the box. It took a long time to see what I wanted and instead of saying, hey, must be nice, or they have it made, to instead ask, how can I reverse engineer that outcome? What do I need to do now to get what is ultimately a basic? because it's very available and it's very real. Just because you are not built like those flying machines doesn't mean you can't run alongside them. Join their ranks. Become one of them.

The thing is, instead of drawing walls and building parameters, you have to give yourself permission to adapt and evolve. I was thinking about this the other day, as one of my best friends was sharing some of the work he does with his real estate portfolio. He was talking about some of the lessons learned on social media, and it was met with resentment, disdain. You have X, I don't. You make Y, I don't. You came from Z. I didn't. And I read the comments, I just shook my head and thought, they don't know. They don't know. He grew up on a farm in Michigan.

spending a long time working for less than minimum wage. They don't know that he put himself through college. They don't know that he took out a loan, having no clue what he was doing and learned how to renovate a home by himself. See, here's what he didn't do. He didn't point up and say, wow, look how free they are.

Must be nice. No, he asked, how do I run alongside them? I am not an observer. I am a flying machine. Because the truth is, we can do so much, become so much. Once we've erased the mental lines that we've drawn over the years. Once we give ourselves permission to join that little segment of reality,

we've deemed to be ideal but have yet to walk towards. Nothing happens to the ordinary moments. the ordinary days or weeks or months, until you realize ordinary is just a label you've been placing on the pathway to extraordinary. Everything you need is there, except your past willingness to walk through it. And today is a new day.

You will take to the sky in your own life when you stop drawing lines around everything you want and compartmentalizing it is not for you. and instead run alongside the life you want as though it was already yours. Life is not a game of those who are and those who aren't. It's a game comprised of those who will and those who won't. Those who see how they can and those who see how they can. You can wish, hope, and watch time fly by,

or you can join the ranks of the flying machines that leave all that behind and take to the sky. There's a really cool clip of Steve Jobs in 1997. He's on stage at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. Back a little over a decade after originally being fired by Apple, he's taking questions from the audience. And this particular guy stands up and grabs the mic and asks a vicious question. He basically tears into jobs.

I'm implying that he doesn't know what he's talking about, questioning the value that he brings to the company. It's just super aggressive. And I think one of the reasons it stuck with me all these years is because upon hearing it, You know, my instinct as an observer was to be insulted for Steve Jobs. The guy just got lit up. And you'd think he'd fire back, defend himself and his accolades, of which there were obviously plenty to draw from,

but that's not what he does at all. He instead does two things in particular that have, over time, added tremendous value to my worldview. The first thing, as I was kind of alluding to there, is he didn't at all get angry or defensive, which may seem like an easy thing to do, but again, observing it, like you can feel the tension there.

It's like Jobs saw the criticism as merely procedural. That's it, right? There's something to be expected as one builds. He completely depersonalized the attack as it was being fired his way. His exact quote was, you know, you can please some of the people, some of the time. But one of the hardest things when you're trying to affect change

is that people like this gentleman are right in some areas. And I'll explain what he means when he says the guy's right in a minute or two here. But that response totally reduced the tension by 90%. Understanding that there are going to be people who have things to say, some of which will question your ability and your effectiveness. And if you're looking from a 10,000 foot view, that's to be expected. And this is a part that was shocking to me, warranted. He says the criticism is warranted.

Growth is messy and sloppy and a work in progress. And so criticism will, from time to time, hit the nail right on the head. And you, as a designer and creator, have to know that you'll both make mistakes and be called out for them. That's the way it goes. That's the contract one signs with the world in order to bring to life those things that are not yet visible.

It's scary, it's intimidating, right? At least at first. Again, my reaction was to get defensive. But I think what made Steve great, as he smiled and jokingly said, here we go, made question, and was the reassurance that, look, I signed up for this. So in actuality, it's a good thing.

It's not an attack. It is growth. And I try and keep that in my back pocket as I do my thing, right? It's sharing your thoughts, it's a vulnerable thing. And if you are going to fall apart or crumble, anytime someone's not totally in love with where you are at the moment or what you're creating or your last piece of work, you're in for a, you know, a rude awakening.

It's going to be a long journey. So that depersonalization is everything and incredibly valuable. And the second part brought a ton of value to me as a creator as well, just in a different way. And this is the part that I alluded to earlier when Steve said that his critic was in some way correct. You know, when he was being hounded about his knowledge gap in some specific technology, right? I'm not really sure what the technology was. But Jobs basically explain that you're right. I'm not an expert there, but it's not about the specific technology or the minutia.

It's about giving your consumers, your audience, the world what it wants. It's about having a big picture, a vision. And that's what made Jobs so special. He didn't need to be involved at such a level of granularity. The vision changed. It revolutionized technology because it was reverse engineered and brought to life. Here's this exact quote.

Jobs said one of the things I've always found is you've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards for the technology. You can't start with the technology and try to figure out where you're going to try to sell it. And I've made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room and I got the scar tissue to prove it and I know that it's the case.

End quote. That was an incredible thing for me to hear. If anything, because so often we get caught up in the weeds, right, we let the details drive the decisions, whether it's technology or anything else. I often think of that, you know, in my world. Don't worry about what's in place right now. Worry about where you need to be and then backfill to make it happen. And sure, you know, some people might not get it. And sure, it will certainly mean you'll have to delve into everything.

areas you don't quite understand as you seek to support that vision or bring it to life. But that's the price that must be paid because vision is king. And so, taking those two concepts I just talk about if you were to combine them, you'd walk away with the understanding that, one, growth is sloppy, criticism is inevitable. And two, don't forget that adding value to the world should light your path. not the little details that peak your interest along the way, right? Not everyone is going to get it as you build, and that's okay.

The way I see it, everyone is building something. And as they build, you know, will surely come face to face with some sort of resistance. And while it's not always easy, there's value in finding the strength to smile to yourself and understand that resistance is merely part of growth. It's a necessary component of your evolution. as you add value to the world, as you seek to leave yourself and the world around you better than it was yesterday.

Aristotle has a quote that states, to avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. What a waste that would be of the potential and greatness contained within you to let it slip away for fear of what might be said. As Jobs explained, right, you can please some of the people some of the time, but it's not about that. The benchmark is not being perfect and never making anyone angry. No, it's seeking to bring to life that which does not yet exist,

trusting yourself and your vision. It's not taking personal that which is merely part of the process. Because when the storm arrives, that will ultimately carry you through to the most incredible things you'll have ever done. in your life.