Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - DO IT ALONE | IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE HARD - Best Motivational Speeches Video Featuring Eddie Pinero

Episode Date: November 7, 2024

  Today’s episode dives into the power of small steps and the value of showing up for yourself every day. Sometimes we want to tackle everything in one big leap, but real progress happens in the small, repeated actions we take. Take something like a cold plunge—it’s not just about enduring the chill. Every time I step into that cold water, I’m reminding myself that I can do hard things. It’s a daily commitment, a choice that builds confidence and resilience, and I believe that’s a reminder we all need to keep fresh. Confidence isn’t something you achieve once and keep; it’s something you earn, over and over again. Each small step and challenge faced reminds us who we are and what we’re capable of. I’ve found that when I consistently show up and prove to myself that I can push through discomfort, that’s when real growth and transformation happen. It’s not about perfection; it’s about commitment to those small moments that add up and redefine our sense of strength.

90 seconds is too much. It just is. I can't do 90 seconds. And I can't do 90 seconds because my brain can't compute 90 seconds. But I can do 30 seconds. And I can do 30 seconds forever. As we navigate our day to day, it's hard to see that. Because so often our day to day lacks clarity.

So what can we do about it? Well, we can place ourselves in situations where we are reminded. One of them, I've talked about before, being the cold plunge, immersing yourself in cold water. We're sure, there are health benefits, some of which are debated and disputed, but I certainly notice value in that department. But to me, that's not the biggest value at, not even close. To me, it's simply the daily reminder that I can do hard things, that it's who I am.

We need to reestablish that consistently. Confidence is earned. And I know in my life I must earn it repeatedly. And when I'm immersed in the cold and shivering, there's always a point in my mind, however brief, that I'm thinking I want out now. The other day, I was at this point, looked at my watch 90 seconds left, and that day in that moment, it felt like an eternity, just too much. And those of you who are endurance athletes, for example, you know that when your body's operating at max capacity, you're suffering, you're exhausted, 90 seconds is truly a lifetime. When you look at it like that, it's too much discomfort for a minute and a half. Your heart starts beating, your mind starts worrying, right?

And so what do we do about it? We look at it a little differently. Because from a different angle, you can skip it. You can do 30 seconds. The brain can grasp and digest 30 seconds. You can do anything for 30 seconds. Okay. So you start counting.

All of a sudden, 30 gone. Now what? Well, you just did 30. You see how quick that went? Do another 30. Okay. Done. Just like that.

Now what? 30 more. But this is the life? last 30. You don't even feel anything on the last 30, right? Come on. Adrenaline's going. You can feel the finish line. This is free time. This is a gift. This is cruise control. And now, done. You didn't have to do 90 seconds. You only had to do 3 by 30. And anyone's saying, come on, man, that's the same thing. Yeah, it's the same. When you're not under duress. But it's a miracle when you are.

So why is running life? Why is cold plunging life? Why is putting your body through stress or difficulty life? Because you remember that life is taking big, difficult, seemingly complex things and breaking them down into manageable tasks. That is life. The pieces are always manageable. Now the monster we allow the pieces to become when we stack them up and give them an invisible face, that's not so manageable.

That's self-sabotage. And so to arm yourself with the understanding that all big things must be broken down is to green light the extraordinary. On day one in 2014, a YouTube channel with zero subscribers growing to help over 100,000 people a day, that's a 90-second cold plunge. That's unfathomable, unthinkable, impossible. But one video weekly, at least for nine years, that's a 30-second cold.

It's very doable. Standing in front of the mirror, practicing storytelling. telling, speaking, it's 30 seconds. Reaching out to others to learn to get better 30 seconds in cold water. It's like you look back and you see that you endured that 90 second plunge simply by breaking it down. That's all growth is. That's all evolution is.

Finding the smallest piece possible in making it action. And then why? Watching that transform, multiply, compound over time. In one of my favorite books, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, this reminder comes through beautiful. Louis Amperini, an American prisoner of war in Japanese internment camps during World War. He basically experiences unimaginable hell in suffering. He watches his friends die, he's beaten, he's starved, he comes close to death himself.

and at the end when he's rescued. And I'm paraphrasing, but I remember this part incredibly vividly. He's asked if he could do that again, and he states he'd rather die. Because turning around and viewing it holistically like that is too much. It's unfathomable. That pain is bigger than one can even comprehend. But taking something like that day by day, step by step, he did the unthinkable. He survived. In breaking the 90-second task down into

30-second pieces, he walked away, in breaking the seemingly insurmountable down into the manageable, and looking at each individual step as a superpower, he emerged. And you talk about perspective. His experience was as challenging as it gets. My cold plunge is laughable in comparison. But my mind doesn't know that. It's up to me to reinforce it. Building a business is nothing in comparison to Louis Zamperini, but my mind doesn't know that. Healing my shoulder and getting stronger in the gym is nothing in comparison, but my mind does not know that.

It's looking at the mountain. and reminding myself, Eddie, you can't leap those. I've seen you jump, buddy. But the good news is, no mountains need be left here. We ascend this thing one rock at a time, and mark my words, you conquer those manageable tasks day in and day out. You will find yourself. So when you feel stuck or too small for the task at hand,

remind yourself you're looking at a 90 second block here break that down ask yourself what your 30 is ask yourself what you can create that's manageable that will create your momentum that will shoot you into a trajectory that will allow growth and position you someday to look back over your shoulder and go wow I endured all that a transformation too big to understand on day one it's a beautiful thing watching all those little steps add up to create the extraordinary. Someone once told me that no one further along than you will ever try and bring you down. That it's the people who see you pursuing your dream and are reminded that they've given up on theirs

that usually make the most noise. And, you know, knowing this essentially invalidates all criticism. Who cares? It's the metaphorical dog nipping at your ankles. One, it's to be expected and two, often best ignored. The question is, are you able to separate it out as just part of the process? Can you ignore all that stuff that's sort of hovering around you as you walk your path? Or do you let it in?

Do you personalize it? Do you make it bigger than it is? Imagine a world where you protected dearly the things you let into your mind. You understood that things don't happen to you, they merely happen. And you get to choose what they'll mean.

Imagine if you lived with enough conviction to do what excited you, what felt right, knowing that, sure, some folks might have something to say, but that's just a tiny variable in the great play of life. life, it's rain on a summer day, you pick up the umbrella, and you carry on. It's hard to describe, but we never really understand how little these social variables will mean until some time has gone by.

I often think about being younger and caring so much, right, as a kid about being quote-unquote cool or uncool. I didn't say where or do certain things because fitting in was so important. I cared what my friends or classmates might think. We all did, right? And looking back now, it's like, what would I tell that version of me? It's pretty easy and pretty clear now actually, is years of past. I'd say, do what feels right.

Well, we often fail to realize is that that very same concept applies to the present day. The things that feel big now probably aren't. There are little details masquerading as life or death decisions. Just like they were when I had to have that Power Ranger backpack or my life would be over. It's fear of judgment. But I learn again and again what really matters, you know, was I good to the people around me. Did I do what mattered to me?

And did I do it with conviction? I think it can be that simple. Hold tightly the meaningful things and don't let the other noise infiltrate your peace. In early 2020, I decided I'd go to North Carolina for a little bit. And I wasn't exactly sure how long, but I knew that I needed to go. It felt right.

I had a friend up there, some work I wanted to do up there. And so basically, I got rid of so many things I owned that what was left, fit into my little two-door Cadillac. That's not a lot of things. You know, spent some time up there, enjoyed it, got a lot done. When it was time to go back to Florida, you know, I'm planning my trip and I realized, oh my God, I have a U-Haul full of things.

Having a little place to stay, right, eating basic things, some cheap furniture, some technology. Not because it was intentional, but because it was unintentional, right? Because when you don't pay attention, our natural inclination is to pick unnecessary things up. I think our personal lives are similar. We collect things without protecting the core that matters most, allowing life to ultimately become so cluttered that we can't differentiate. How can you tell what's important when you have a U-Haul full of things? What's important when you let too much into your life?

You end up with shelf space for the opinions of those who wouldn't even come by and visit if you were in the hospital. The words of people who don't have your best interest at heart. The fears of what could go wrong. The ego not allowing vulnerability. These things have no teeth when life is simple. Protecting your world is one of the most powerful things you can do. Being the gatekeeper for your mind is strength. Criticism, haters, skeptics.

It's not that these things don't exist, it's that they will fall around you like rain as you move on to better things. You don't stop because of them, just like you don't go because of them. You simply exist with and move alongside them. You understand why they're there, but you don't give them the luxury of infiltrating your inner peace. You do not let them in. Your world within is precious. And as you navigate the external world, we have to choose wisely what gets permitted. 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 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, 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 one 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 can control.

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 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 ideal, 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 resilience of the human spirit through it all. There'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 lack, the gap. 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, that 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 becomes the wind at your back. bringing you where you most need.

Deciding who you'd like to be, most often starts with leaving the parts of you you no longer want to carry around. So reminisce. Think back, examine. Because you didn't just arrive at today. This moment is the result of thousands upon thousands of steps and conversations

and decisions. Our lives are sculpted like ocean shores, one wave, one gust of wind at a time. And sure, there were certainly events that expedited the process. But the point is, holistically, landscapes take time to materialize, as did this one.

But you're not confined to this moment. In fact, you in and of itself is an idea. You is a story that incorporates the things you used to do, places you used to go, people you used to know. You is not right now. You is how you summarize the path that created right now. But you can change because you will always mean. mean what you decide it does. So reminisce, think back, examine, and feel the warmth of the good times, bask in the moments

that lit up your soul. But don't be afraid to pull back the curtain on those things that, well, maybe you aren't too proud of, the things that no longer defined you, perhaps never defined you to begin with. See, before we cut ties with those stories and send them out to see, we must do the hard work of recognizing what they are. Before we can identify the life to be lived, we have to be able to see the one that will live no more.

And so it's okay to walk down that road. Those things are no longer you. They are ideas, old ideas. bad ideas, and so they will be relegated to the sands of time. They played their part as everything does, and now it's time. So reminisce. Think back, examine, grab what you love, and let it become your guiding light. Take hold of the meaningful and pour it into the new you, the one you're making now, the one that matters,

now. You'll need it. Because the old you, it'll try to reemerge. It'll present itself in the shape of old faces with old expectations. Old places connected to old habits, old stories that just don't want to end. But these characters, they played their part. And thank God they did, because now they're recognizable. Now you know to cut ties. You know, I wish it weren't so. I think we all do, but sometimes life requires that we touch that burning hot stove in order to understand that it's hot. It's easy to dismiss these occurrences as a bad thing or wasted time.

But I think they're a beautiful thing. Recognizing and mitigating our mistake leaves us with a new foundation to build on a blank canvas. It makes you not a prisoner. to yesterday's work, it makes you an artist again, a designer, a creator. So reminisce. Think back and examine, but not to hold on. Remenist to let go. To say the goodbyes that will make space for the hellos. To free yourself of excess that will make space for the necessities. You've spent a long time designing you. Some of it ideal, but all of it valuable in its own unique way.

The reality is that now, in this current moment, not all of it needs to come with you. So reminisce, think back, examine, so that before you move ahead, you know exactly what needs to be left behind. There's a really cool clip of Steve Jobs in 1996. 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, 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,

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%. Right. Understanding that there are going to be people who have things to say, some of it 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. Right? 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, 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 says 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 explained 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 way. 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 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,

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 more. nearly 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.