Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - DON'T BE AFRAID | Powerful Inspirational Speeches for Success

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Hesitation is often more painful than failure itself. The longer we wait, the heavier the weight of inaction becomes—the agony of knowing more is required but refusing to act. That self-imposed purgatory is its own kind of suffering, a slow erosion of potential.But what if you stepped forward instead? What if you embraced the fall, knowing it's the only way to rise? Action is the antidote to doubt, the bridge between where you are and where you want to be. The moment you decide to move, you reclaim your power. The world belongs to those who dare.More from Eddie Pinero:Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletterInstagram - @your_world_within and @IamEddiePineroTikTok - your_world_withinFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/YourworldwithinTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/IamEddiePineroBusiness Inquiries - http://www.yourworldwithin.com/contact#liveinspired #yourworldwithin #motivation

The pain of hesitation often hurts worse than the very fall we're afraid of. And when you learn this, you can be proactive in mitigating that pain, the self-induced torture that is waiting, the agony of knowing something more is required of you, but refusing to act, because that little purgatory is a special kind of hell. Check this out. Quick metaphor. We'll call it the man on the high dive. So this man wanted to jump off the high diving board at the community pool.

So he walks up and he begins slowly ascending the ladder. His hands, you know, sweating against each metal rung as he makes his way up. And below, only a few minutes before, the entire thing seemed manageable. fun even. But now, as he makes his way to the top and stands on the edge, looking down at the water below, this simple activity now feels impossible.

Everything's different. The air is much thinner up there. His heartbeat thuds in his ears, right? He wraps his toes over the rough surface of the board, gripping it like the ledge, of the side of a mountain. And he's telling himself, okay, it's time. Like, go, just jump.

But his body's refusing. He turns, glances back down the ladder. He's got that sort of chirping in his ear. Hey, you know, you could just climb back down. People do that all the time. No big deal. And then, you know, something relatively unexpected happens. A boy, let's say no more than 10, starts making his way up the ladder.

He gets to the top, kind of peeks his head over the board, and bright-eyed, obviously unbothered by the height. And he asked the man, hey, are you going to jump? And the man, you know, pretty embarrassed at this point, says, well, I don't know yet. And the kid shrugged and in complete innocence, right, just speaking his mind goes, that used to happen to me. The longer I'd wait up there, the harder it would get. The man laughed, you know, but he knew it wasn't funny, it was true. Bothered him.

And suddenly another realization crept in, right? This is not about the jump, but about the weight of standing there. Because just like the innocent child suggested, the longer he waited, the worse it felt. And that feeling already had him in crisis territory. It's not just the fear but the frustration, the doubt, the slow gnawing discomfort of knowing he'd climbed all the way up there. Would he really just darned back? He looked down at all the eyes, the pool, staring up at him. What a situation?

Right now, the guy's in a place of limbo, right? It's like, do you step into the courage, do something you've never done, or do you back out entirely? And, you know, retreat back to the only world you've ever. ever known taking some perhaps regret and what ifs along with you. Because that is the thing, right? Fear doesn't just stop you from jumping. It change you to perhaps the worst place of all, the in-between. Not quite safe, no, but certainly not free either. And sometimes that place, that limbo between who you are and who you could be hurts more than the fall ever could. He started realizing this.

with increasing intensity. The mental discomfort had gotten to the point where the fall is preferable. So he took a breath and before his brain could talk him out of it, before fear could take hold, he stepped off the edge. And for a moment there was nothing, right?

Just stillness, weightlessness. And then impact. The water of the pool swallowed him whole. Cool, refreshing, washing away every ounce of doubt. He broke the surface, gasping for air. And then he felt it. Joy, relief, pride.

That feeling when you do what you've most needed to do. Because the truth had always been waiting for him at the bottom, right? The pain of hesitation had been far worse than the fall, which seems to be the way of things. This is not exclusive to our friend on the diving board. I'd venture to guess we all have those. little diving boards in our lives. Some greater and far more consequential than others.

You know, they come and they go as we navigate life, but they're there consistently. And I can only speak to my own experience, right? The biggest obstacles I face, they rarely are, quote unquote, mistakes. Usually, they're a product of moving too slow, waiting too long, thinking too small. I was having dinner with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, kind of joking about this particular area that I'm stuck in, right?

Hamström and a wheel vibes. And he goes, nah, man, you're not stuck. You're scared. And my first thought is, what? Right? It's defense mode. It's like, no, I'm not, actually. My brain goes into, like, you know, how I identify myself or how I see myself.

I'm like, think about all the torture I put myself through over the years. Are you kidding me? All the growth, intentional suffering? Just for the sake of becoming the person that I knew I could be. Just for the thrill of climbing the ladder, you're going to tell me I'm scared? And then I thought about it, right? While that may be true and you can't negate, you know, battles fought in the past, that was one mountaintop.

But that one mountain top had become life, right? And you can stay there and you can call that home. or you can continue evolving, seeking out new mountaintops. Sometimes we don't even realize we've been stagnant, right? Especially if it's one of life's blind spots, which, funny enough, was precisely what was creating that anxiety. It was craving growth, you know, standing on that diving board, and life requires less contemplation up there

and more jumping into pools. I just needed to hear that. And I truly cherish things like this, these little wake-up calls, these moments that shake up your worldview. They direct you to a better version of yourself. So what I advocate that you consider is whether there is any of that internal conflict happening right now in your life that you can bring awareness to, whether you've been standing up there looking down at the jump for just a little too long now.

Perhaps life is waving you forward, pushing you on. You've been ignoring that call, thinking about what to go wrong, gazing down below and feeling like the bottom is light years away. Because the solution, my friends, will almost never be further contemplation. It's in momentum. mobility allowing life to take you by the hand and educate you

free yourself from that in between because the impact of your feet hitting the water might shock you sure it might be startling might even leave you a little red right who knows but the freedom from knowing you can

from knowing that the heights weren't enough to stop you that you got the experience the adrenaline, the rush, the excitement as you made your way through the air, that's what life is about. So remember, wherever you stand, whatever jump currently awaits, any impact into the pool that calls you will be less severe than the pain or even suffering of hesitation, the purgatory of being indecisive. Because after all, no decision is still a decision, and perhaps the most painful decision,

the most costly of decisions. Jump knowing that you're leaping not just away from stagnation. Not just away from that discomfort or that pain, but further into life. Most people experience neither victory nor. defeat. Why? Well, rather than step out their front door and shape their world and the reality, most people sit back and they observe and they criticize and they condemn those who actually do. This is the central premise to Teddy Roosevelt's man in the arena speech, which I've talked about and explored a few times on this podcast,

but I had the pleasure last week of sort of rediscovering it in Sedona. And what stood out to me particularly was just the idea of how okay we are with that middle ground, of giving up the highs to not experience the lows, how okay we are with being the ones who merely observe and critique while life around. us is shaped. It's like no defeat. No, that's avoided at all costs. We want safety, safety, safety,

which means almost definitionally no victory. And when we skip those two things, what we are left with is empty space. A perpetual purgatory to which most of us are confined. Someone I respect once told me it's okay. to be hated. And it's certainly okay to be loved. But what you don't want to be is simply tolerated, right?

Merely existing is for cowards. And you might be asking, well, what does that mean for me in my world? And that's the beauty of it. Like, I could never answer that for you. You are the only person that can answer it for you. But what I can tell you is that the highs in life, make it worth living. I can also tell you that you don't get highs without lows.

And so to avoid life's turbulence because you're scared of the risk where you're scared of the criticism is to deprive yourself of life's beauty. Now, am I perfect at this? No. No, I don't think anybody is. And that's the beauty of it.

That's why I surround myself with people to help push me along because every chapter of life demands a new level of courage, new risks. You don't even realize that you've moved up to the cheap seats and you need to step back onto the floor. And it's also funny enough,

easy to see in others or easier than it is to point out in your friends than it is to point out in yourself. I talked to a friend recently who's talking to a friend recently he was talking about a business idea and just going through everything that can go wrong.

What if I fail? What if this? What if that? And they're genuine. Like, they are reasonable concerns. But I just sort of posed this question to him. Like, well, what if everything goes right? Think about the upside.

Are you thinking about what that could do for you and your family? Are you thinking about the impact? Are you thinking about the financial upside? Are you thinking about that? that stuff because that's transformative. And you could just sort of see behind his eyes that switch. Sometimes we just need that nudge.

That reminder that says, hey, you're strong enough to be in the arena, making change in your life, taking on the risk, taking on the burdens, stepping into the chaos of life so that you can make something of it. You can do that. Well, Eddie, how do I figure it out? Again, this is a work in progress, my friends,

and I don't think that ever changes, but I can say personally, awareness. Awareness is the key, awareness is everything, understanding that it often does not come natural to go where you most need, to go. It requires courage and discipline. I've invested heavily in multiple masterminds, engaged in very intentional conversations, spending every day in some type of contemplation, thinking about that next step, looking for the right risks. Because I know that when one stays too long where they are,

they do themselves, their loved ones, and the world a disservice. When you stay the same, no one wins. But when you're aware, everything of value starts to rise, starts to emerge. What is it in your soul that you know you need to do? Where is it in your soul that you know you need to go? Because once you've aligned with that, you get to go out, step into the world, and begin the process of falling and failing and making your mistakes. But in doing so, there's a few things that are happening at once. First, you're incrementally moving towards meaning in your life. It's been said that progress equals happiness,

and I subscribe to that. I believe in that 100%. I also believe in the second thing, which is that you convince yourself that when you fall, you can handle it. You can get back up stronger. mantra that confidence is earned. You're proving to yourself who you are.

You're showing yourself. You're watching yourself grow as you take on combatants in the arena that you stepped into. I'm a firm believer that a life of meaning isn't avoiding chaos, but rather knowing you can endure and persevere through it. So I'm going to say it again, and hopefully it hits you the same way that it hit me. Most men live their entire lives without knowing either victory or defeat. Never defeat because they shied away, because they were scared because the risks seemed too big. Therefore, never victory because the victory requires the defeat.

And so this is your opportunity to step out into the world and make your mistakes. To dispel the notion or any idea that a safe, peaceful existence is a victorious one. You will fall, repeated them. But the beauty is you will do so on your ascent to a world above the cloud. You are not for everyone. And that's okay. That's a simple truth, we'll call it, that I've picked up over the years,

and it's had a pretty profound impact in not only how I look at the world, but how I view myself as I navigate the world, right? It's particularly useful when you've lost faith in the path you're walking. You've sort of forgotten your power. And I want to share with you a pretty cool reminder of this very thing. A couple days ago, I was having lunch with a friend, very charismatic guy for the sake of this little story. We'll just call him friend.

And he's telling me about someone that he's now working with in his business. We'll call that person John. And my friend says to me, you know, Eddie, I am learning so much from John. He's adding so much value to what I do. I can't even describe it. But he's loud And he's controversial And he rubs some people the wrong way

And not everyone loves John Right so I'm sort of connecting the dots As he's saying this I'm like okay Clearly John pisses a lot of people off It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out Putting two and two together here But my friend goes

But, you know, he's exceptional of what he does. Maybe the best in his lane. And so I don't care. Because John's not for everybody, but he doesn't have to be. And you might hear that and initially think, yeah, okay, where's the value? Some jerk is helping your friend at work. Well, to me, it felt bigger than that. It felt like fate was screaming that.

ever-important reminder. To focus more on extreme authenticity than trying to reverse engineer what other people might say or think. It's like stop trying to manufacture their reaction. Because when you're you, the reaction is out of your control and not your

problem. Love John or hate John, he is 1,000% John. And because of that, he'll find his people. Because of that, he won't dull himself down or dim his light. Because of that, John is free. Quick dive into my mind. I certainly have areas of my life.

Let's say, particularly with my brand and my content creation, where I can be bolder, where I can take more risks. That's everyone's got their personal arena. That feels like mine. Right? That's absolutely unequivocally true. I'd be lying if I said my brain doesn't try to reverse engineer stories and topics that will have an impact. Like, I understand what works, and I roughly stay within that framework.

That, in and of itself, can be restricting. Never reckless. But, like, I don't know, maybe there are places I should be or could be more reckless. That's what makes this journey so fun. You are your own experiment. You're always learning about yourself. You're always growing. And the more ot-to's you shed, the closer you get to your power.

And by the way, I know not everyone here has a business or brand or posts on YouTube or Instagram. Wonderful. Those are just a few examples of many. This applies across the board. Because I do wonder whether we all have parts of ourselves that we dull down. And that's the question, right? Are there pieces of ourselves that we don't share because one third or one half or, hell, three quarters of the people we meet will say, eh, nope, not for me? Are there things you want to talk about, hobbies you want to try, places you want to go, art waiting to be made, stories waiting to be told that are ultimately never brought to life because we'd rather be half of ourselves for a majority of the crowd than,

be all of ourselves for the right minority of the crowd. It's a button that I'm always pressing. I guess because I see and I've seen firsthand how much talent lays dormant. People I know, people close to me, old friends, acquaintances. There's just so much there, so much in the tank, so much canvas left blank. So maybe, just maybe, this is finding you at that perfect moment. Or at the very least, prompting the thought. Acting is a little reminder that you weren't put here to be for everyone. You weren't put here to be for anyone. You're here to be you.

Not a little bit you, but as much you as you can possibly give to the world. You're here to continuously uncover what your authenticity is. And with each step, attract those who belong in your or. It's like not only do you get to live a life on your terms, but you get to do so with those who value what you're bringing to the world. He's not for everyone. Thank God. That's how you know he's really making a difference. I learned recently how grateful I am for storms.

Quiet skies don't show you how strong you are. Calm doesn't force you to level up. No, it's when the ground shakes we learn to endure. We're forced to find within ourselves a resilience that was once tucked away. They say confidence is earned. And well, it's earned because when we walk through hell, we give our greatness permission to walk alongside us. We grow in proportion to the discomfort we allow in our lives.

Our evolution is tied to the stressors we face. When we don't know what to do, we have to look in the mirror and find solutions. When we don't know where to go, we learn to navigate foreign, even hostile terrain. When we allow life to push us, we learn to push back. If you want more, allow more to be placed before you.

A lot of us want to be slaying dragons, but never find the courage to approach the mountain where the dragons sleep. A lot of us want our blades sharpened but never approach the fire that would forge them. It's not discomfort for the sake of discomfort. No, it's discomfort so that your greatness receives the invite to materialize. It's discomfort so that you can teach yourself what you're capable. of. When you stay safe, you remain tied to reality as it is. When you avoid chaos, you never learn to shape it. And it's in shaping the turbulence that we become capable. That we grow. So remember that voice. That voice telling you to step down, to shy away from difficulty, chaos, and discomfort. That voice is completely at odds with your potential. That voice wants to preserve.

It doesn't want conflict because conflict threatens the now. But a life fully lived takes the current state, it smashes it on the floor, and it rebuilds over and over again. A life fully lived is walking through the fire so that you are forced to become someone who can handle the flames. Be grateful for those storms. They give the excellence within you a face. They take you by the hand and show you what you've been capable of since the very day you were born. There are two kinds of crossroads.

First, the external. The crossroads at life beyond your control places before you. The abrupt changes. The sudden twists, the tragedies, even the occurrences we don't quite understand, and so chalk them up as fate. And then there are the internal, the crossroads that you manufacture, the ones that are self-create, self-induced. The, you know what, I've had enough of this crossroads.

The I deserve better crossroads. There's more out there, and today, I'm going to find it, crossroads. And I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. In fact, I think sometimes when we wait too long to manufacture our own crossroads, life steps in and gives us a little nudge. The universe pushes us towards that change like a wind at our back. It doesn't quite make things black and white.

It doesn't always put a catastrophe in front of us. Sometimes it's the mere whispering that, hey, you're accepting more pain, more friction than you should be. It reminds us to take accountability, to take control of life, something that we seemingly forget more often than we should. One of my favorite stories is Jim Rohn's famous epiphany or light bulb moment. The point where, you know, you basically realize is enough's enough, right? I'm creating a crossroads here and going down the road that I've known for a long time I should have walked down. And it all starts with a knock at his door. It's a Girl Scout, trying to sell him cookies.

He walks up, opens the door, and just desperately, with all of his being, wishes he could buy cookies from this Girl Scout, but he can't. Because he's broke. He doesn't have the money to buy a box. And so to save face, he tells her, you know, I'm sorry, but another Girl Scout was just here. You know, you just missed her and I bought a box of cookies from her. And she smiles, says thanks, walks away. He closes the door and, you know, upon closing it, says, never again. Never again will I have to turn a Girl Scout away because I cannot afford the cookies.

never again will I be in this place of lack never again right that's the beginning of a transformation he points to that moment is the day that changed his life he built a crossroads and changed direction in real time now is this an oversimplification sure massive transformations are complex no doubt they require a reworking of many things but they all start with a decision. A decision to manufacture that change in your life, to take the road you

are not currently taking, to walk down a new path. These decisions can hurt. They force you to become something you've never been, to do things you've never done. That's no cakewalk. But it's a different kind of hurt. It's the short-term discomfort pushing against friction. It's the building of muscle, which is way different than the psychological hurt of knowing that you're out of alignment. Knowing deep down there's more in you and that it's fading away with each passing day. That's hurt. And we all know in some capacity that life doesn't always create circumstances that move us. Life waits for us to move ourselves.

It waits for the I've had enough moment. It waits for us to see the present, not as all there is, but rather a doorway to the next thing. There are two kinds of crossroads, and I'm a believer that a meaningful existence means not waiting for the external to push you, but allowing the internal to drive you. It's the classic stands or the stage. Where do you want to be? You can sit and watch, clap when you're happy, boo when you're mad. but ultimately not be in control, or you can choose to perform,

to be on stage, to narrate, to choose your ending, elevate your character, become the hero of your story. And I say this as someone who, at points, has, you know, simply waited too long. Looking around, right, praying for the gust of wind that would propel me to the place that I needed to be.

Essentially, you know, not understern. that life was waiting for me to greenlight my own journey. Life is about the turns we take at the crossroads before us. And so never underestimate your ability to create that intersection most true to you. And never underestimate your courage to take the turn that you know in your soul needs to be taken. When the ground beneath us shakes, we crave stability. When the heavens open up and rain pours down and we run for shelter. When life presents us with vagueness, with flashes of possibility, we long for mastery.

It's more instinct than anything else. But could it be that that instinct that we run to like moths to a flame is leading us astray, that it doesn't have our best interests at heart? Would it be that we're so worried about protecting and maintaining an acceptable image for the world that we forget to build something internally that's worth protecting? What if that's shaking is what brings down the foundations that held us back? What if that rain washes away the limits of yesterday as we evolve into something more? And what if those flashes of possibility require of us not master,

No, not yet, but a willingness to be the fool. And what if that willingness isn't an unfortunate dead end, but a beginning? In one of his lectures at the University of Toronto, Jordan Peterson said, if you are not willing to be a fool, you can't be a master. In the cycle that is self-discovery, that is growth, we have to at some point step into an arena that's foreign to us, that we don't yet understand.

We have to be willing to operate with inadequate resources, trusting that they'll be picked up along the way. And that's a lot to take in. It's painful to know that others are going to have knowledge and skills and competencies that you won't. That you'll willingly inject yourself into the bottom of some hierarchy with nothing more than aspirations. But that willingness is your vehicle.

And what's clear is that everyone wants the moon, but very few people have the courage to start constructing that spaceship. Very few have the courage to be the student. That's why our inclination is to quit when we can't snap our fingers and magically be on our way, when we can't leap past that wandering around the unknowns. The reality is we have to fight to scrap to a little. obtain that sense of belonging in a particular competency. And just talking about it brings me back. It's an obstacle that we all face.

It's super real to me. I remember being featured on a podcast where the host literally asked me, why should I listen to what you have to say? Right? Like, who are you? Why are you roadmapping your journey? Right, I remember fighting for relevance in an area in which, you know, at the time I knew almost nothing about.

And I love how Peterson articulates this battle. He says at some point you'll want to make a change and you'll feel like an imposter. And guess what? You are. But you have to be. You'll ultimately feel worse if you don't do it. That's imposter syndrome. Feeling like a stranger in your own body.

And guess what? It's not wrong. It's just a beginning. I like explaining it like jumping into a cold pool. It feels uncomfortable at first. It feels out of place. but then things normalized. They become comfortable.

And what's the other option? To fear that minute of discomfort and never jump in? It's what we need to tell ourselves when we want something, but the climb seems too steep. That climb is manageable. You'll acclimate. The adversary is pushing beyond that fear of starting anew,

taking your limited understanding, bringing it to the base of that mountain, the new Goliath and looking up with confidence. And the question is, can you be foolish enough to do that? And once you've made that ceiling, your next floor, will you be foolish enough to do it again and again and again? And breaking through that fear, knowing that stumbling around for a period of time doesn't kill you,

it's required. It's the inability to show weakness or appear vulnerable. That's what chips away. at you for a lifetime. If you want more, immerse yourself in that cycle of mastery. Start at the bottom and ascend. And when you approach the top,

separate yourself and find another ceiling to chase. Replant a seed. Play the role of the fool again. This is the formula for growth, for prosperity, for fulfillment. This is the pathway to anything of substance. You take your als, you embrace your... critics, you swallow your pride and move towards a tomorrow that far exceeds today.

As your reality changes, your perception changes, the company you keep changes, you'll start to see that what's around you is made by people who are willing to fail and fail often. Our world is when devised by those who could put pride on hold, by those who were humble enough to crawl through the unknown long before they ran anything. Who knew that before they played for any title or championship, they must first play the fool? Your existence is derived from how you choose to look at the world around you. Your outlook is either creating you or destroying you. And we have to be cognizant of the reasons, the explanations, the stories we tell ourselves, We have to be aware of how we rationalize everyday occurrences.

We have to ask, am I seeking out solutions to the right problems? What's the root cause? What's the actual reason? And we all find ourselves in ruts from time to time, right? We all have low points. For me, when I'm struggling, it's usually creatively, drawing a blank or writer's block or whatever the case is. And it's funny, my mind always goes right to the,

external excuses. Instinctually, I start to think, well, maybe I don't have the right technology, maybe I'm not in the right place, maybe the right circumstances aren't occurring. But when I force myself to step back, right, and dig deeper and really ask myself, what's the reason, which is sometimes an uncomfortable thing to ask, you know, I always come to the same conclusion. It's not the camera in my hands or the recording software or the mic. It's simply the temporary disappearance of self-belief temporarily I forget that I can make magic that I can change the world with what I have right now and so can you that is the actual reason but I have to peel back the surface because the truth is if you don't have a good story to tell a $10,000 camera's not going to help you you got to learn what captivates what

inspires learn how to articulate your thoughts and ideas learn how to bring what's in your mind to life See, people want to put band-aids on bullet wounds, and that's not going to fix a thing. An interesting thing people come to me with. You know, they're building brands, creating social platforms, building businesses online, which is great because it means exposure, but it also means you're susceptible to negativity and criticism and haters. And how particularly initially, it's emotionally taxing, seeing that stuff, right? Seeing people criticize your creativity, and they come to resent the comments. come to resent that interaction.

But again, I always go to what is the reason? And I ask because if you don't go deep, if you don't find the root cause, you don't fix a problem. The problem is not the 53-year-old in his mother's basement trashing your work or your ability. He has nothing to do with this. The problem, when you're really honest, is confidence. It's the ability to understand that a life of no risk or criticism

is a life of very little reward. And with that realization, the solution changes. It's not what can I do to avoid the criticism. It's how can I stay true to myself and have that be enough? Where I can rise above shatter. Where I can be indifferent to naysayers because, look, expectations don't matter. What matters is your happiness. What matters is your progress.

So fix that. You know, we spend a lot of time adjusting our sales, worried about catching the right breeze, getting the logistics right when there's a hole in the center of the boat that's taking in water. Let's find out where that is. Let's fix that. Figure out what the actual area of improvement is what's the actual reason for not being where you want to be. And sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's humbling. But guess what? It creates the long-term solution. Last year was one of the most challenging of my life. Spread very thin, trying to do a lot, right?

speeches, give keynotes, capture video, create music, make marketing content to the point where I just felt lost for a while. And an easy escape, right? The way I rationalized it was, well, you feel like this just because you're doing too much, right? It's a great thing. You're ambitious. No, that's a mask. When I became vulnerable, when I asked myself the difficult question, when I humbled myself, dug deeper, realized that maybe, maybe you're not doing the right thing. Maybe you're doing more of what you already know because recreating yourself is absolutely terrifying Because you need to take that next step and subconsciously you don't want to you're scared to Now I know what to address right reasons help shape answers It's not more and more and more of what's been done, but it's reshaping your life not once or twice or three times

But constantly that creates bigger targets that changes things you know always dive deeper than the surface level because usually your problems are not the world around you it's not what you don't have it's not externalities holding you back it's a refusal to look yourself in the mirror and ask difficult questions you are not a victim you are equipped with every single thing you need you just need to zero in on your actual inhibitors and eliminate them by one. I've always said success is three steps. It's recognizing there's better out there,

recognizing you're worthy of pursuing it and taking the leap. So what's keeping you from leaping? What's keeping you grounded? It's not money. It's not tech. It's not where you started. It's your mindset. So change how you see the world around you. So I want to revisit one of my favorite quotes. Mark Twain, if you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect. This idea resurfaced in my mind last Saturday night. Just because of what was going on during the day, I didn't really have a ton of time to get to the gym, so I ended up going pretty late. And there was not a soul around in the gym, completely empty, completely quiet, going from machine to machine without any people or having to wait or anything like that.

And I just got this moment of clarity, this sort of ever-relevant reminder, that there is a ton of value to be extracted from the abnormal decisions that we make. Now, I'm not saying there's anything heroic about going to the gym on a Saturday night, working out, it's working out. you get it in, that's wonderful. I'm not even saying there's anything wrong with working out on quote-unquote normal hours or during normal hours.

What I'm saying is being exceptional necessarily means you are doing that which is not ordinary. In that situation highlighted, you know, or I will say reminded me that there's an entire world slightly beyond the scope of normality and that world accumulates to provide treasures beyond comprehension.

I love that message. It's changed my life over the years, and every time I come face to face with it, I feel reinvigorated. It's like an opportunity to re-audit where I'm focused and how I'm spending my time. I'll never forget that interview with Kobe Bryant, where he's talking about his morning routine, right?

And he says, you know, he practices no matter what, two hours every morning he's there before everybody else. Whether that's shooting or drills or working out, I'm not sure exactly what he does, but he's there and no one else is. And he says, you know, a week, that's not much. A month, that's not much. But months turn into a year,

which turns into multiple years, which turns into a decade. And that much time, that much extra effort compounds into an advantage that just no one else can reach. Right? At some point, Kobe is too far along because of his additional concentrated effort. He can't be touched. And in my life, I've found my greatest return on investment by highlighting the things that matter most

and consistently delving into them in a way that most wouldn't. No miracles. Just an acknowledgement that right beyond where most people stop, there's value. Not even far beyond, just right there. You know, in my world, it was showing up every week to create a YouTube video, even when the response for years had been underwhelming. Would most people do that? I don't know.

I was practicing writing speeches and speaking them out loud in my studio to an audience of zero. Would most people do that? It was acclimating myself to risk, in my ego to bruises along the way. Would most people do that? And see, the great news is there's nothing special about any of that. Those are simply the metaphorical gyms I chose to walk into. The daily shootarounds that ended up ultimately changing my life. And so now, because you know I have to ask, what are yours?

What can become your empty gym? What can be the thing that's a little out there, a little different? the opportunity left on the table waiting for you to reach out and take it control it make it your own remember just because the crowd goes one way doesn't make that particular decision wrong but it does make that particular decision ordinary in ordinary my friend is not why you're here 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 has placed 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. 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 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, years ago and how bad you wanted to be where you are now. See what happens when that's the focal pole. 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. yourself. Ask yourself which dots need to be connecting because you're closer than you think to 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

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 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 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 provided 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.