Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Driven by Action: Eddie Pinero Motivational Masterclass

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out." - Robert Collier   Newsletter: www.EddiePinero.com/Newsletter   YouTube: www.YouTube.com/YourWorldWithin   Free Ebook: www.EddiePinero.com/Ebook  Welcome to the latest episode of the Eddie Pinero Podcast, featuring a compilation of motivational wisdom that cuts straight to the chase. In this series, Eddie explores crucial concepts for personal growth and success without any unnecessary chatter. From the importance of consistency to defining non-negotiables in life, Eddie provides actionable insights. He delves into the mental battles faced by artists, unveils the formula for achieving greatness, and emphasizes the role of discipline. Join us for practical advice on adopting process and growth as integral parts of our lifestyles and understanding what it truly takes to succeed.

There's an old quote that stays 80% of life is showing up. Now, showing up means many different things to many different people, but the idea is not complicated. You can't do anything of significance unless you have first and foremost arrived. Which brings me to today. See, I had a list of concepts I've been excited to talk about things that I've either read or have been recent epiphanies in my life. And I can't wait to share those with you.

But this morning, oh, let me tell you about this morning. Finding the energy to do anything, felt like trying to squeeze blood from a rock. I woke up with a headache, exhausted, because I didn't sleep at all the night before. And you know that feeling. Like when you didn't sleep at all the night before, you're oddly constantly reminding yourself

the next day that you didn't sleep. everything just felt off. And really, as I'm speaking now, things still kind of do. And so I got up and I sort of played with the idea of taking today off altogether. Maybe I'm due for one anyway. I thought about resting. The little devil with the pitchfork on my shoulder. Continuously reminded me how great sleep would feel.

And I was sitting there kind of weighing my options. Took some ipuprofen, started the coffee, sat down on the couch, just kind of looking at the wall. what to do, what to do. But realistically, I knew. And I want to explain why. Over the years, I've taught myself through repetition that's sitting down and writing and recording,

unless I plan intentionally to do otherwise, is it non-negotiable? It's helped me see that the goal, in any meaningful pursuit, should be getting to the point where despite the circumstances, you show up. Stephen Presfield, whose voice often echoes in my mind when I come face to face with these situations.

He wrote, art is war, between ourselves and the forces of self-sabotage that would stop us from doing our work. The artist is a warrior. artist being anyone bringing something to the world that does not yet exist. And he goes on to describe the battle with the mind over sitting down in that chair and writing when we know we must write but don't want to. When a tired or distracted mind begins looking for off-ramps,

as mine clearly started doing this morning. These seemingly trivial moments, when any rational soul kind of, argue for the validity of postponing their date with Microsoft Word, well, they come to matter more than ever, because greatness is a byproduct of intentionality. If you become accustomed to breaking promises to yourself, if you leave that door cracked for exceptions here and there, it will ultimately be kicked open. And that's why I inject little reminders like that into my life. to keep that mental muscle working. For example, there can never be dishes left in my sink when I go to bed.

Why? Because if I skip it once, there will always exist reasons to skip again. It's a very easy thing to not care about. Because here is the reality. Progress is a lifestyle. Growth is a lifestyle. At least if we're talking about any meaningful type of evolution. I just finished reading,

It Takes What It Takes by Trevor Mawad. One of those three to five hour listens on Audible, depending on how fast it's playing, really packs a punch. And I'm going to be diving into a few of his concepts a little more in the coming weeks, but one thing he discusses that I found incredibly valuable

is the illusion of choice. And what the illusion of choice highlights is that there are a set of, behaviors that must be carried out to be effective. The idea of alternate roots is an illusion. There are no choices when it comes to what's necessary. We know what must be done to win. Now, knowing that is one thing. Knowing that and having to propel yourself to action when you feel like garbage is something different entirely. But that's why it's so valuable to get to that place where you can take the emotion out, remove the internal deliberation, and automate the

things you know are going to help push you to be that better version of yourself. In other words, you show up for you, period, and that is a non-negotiable. That's the level we all need to get to. And I'm thinking about this, drawing parallels to a lot of different aspects of my day, right, the interval training I have this afternoon. When you're exhausted, 40 minutes in and are switching from squats to mountain climbers or whatever it is, right? Instructor makes the announcement. I don't think about anything. I don't give myself a chance to try and rationalize any weakness.

I know. If this is important to me, keep that door shut. No thinking just doing next. Simply doing what you always do, what you've signed up for, cannot be self-perseful. as some monumental sacrifice. No, it's just what you do. It's neutral. Sometimes you feel like it.

Sometimes you don't. But you do what you do. And that puts you on track to accomplish some incredible things. And so remembering this, ultimately pushed me through that studio door this morning and placed me down right in front of my mic. Sure, I had to adjust some things.

Definitely picked some you know, mellower music, there's going to be no crescendos today, or my head will explode. But this is not torture. In fact, I'm really happy with the way the episode's turning out. I would have missed out on something that I think is going to be pretty valuable in a variety of ways. But what I'm telling myself is that this is not a victory. It's certainly not defeat. It's just what I do.

And so the question worth asking yourself, when facing, the adversity life presents, and whatever arena you were in, is are you willing to show up for you? Can you turn that internal deliberation switch off when it comes to the necessities before you? Minimize that rationalizing that I battled with this morning. We don't need or want that. There should be no thinking, no crack doors, no metaphorical dishes in the sink. If you decide something is important and you sign that dotted line when it's time to execute, you act. And then you move directly onto the next.

The goal is to not even negotiate with weakness. Now that's not to say Pressfield's aforementioned War of Art won't rage on as you journey to the new horizons you've set out for. But just like anything, it's an understanding that will help you focus. We'll help you say no to the distractions and the minutia. And continue writing your story, constructing your reality line by line, and piece by piece. Time waits for no one. Look, the earth will continue to spin, the sun to set, clocks to tick. There are no perfect moments, only moments, waiting to be interpreted by those passing through them.

And as a raindrop in this thunderstorm, an actor in this play, the only rational question in my mind is if time will not wait, why should I? If time will continue its steady march, why let it leave me behind? I'm in my mid-30s, and here's what I've already seen. I've already seen songs I grew up with, referred to as classic rock. I've seen some of my childhood sports heroes struggle to throw a first pitch before a baseball game. I've seen a substantial portion of my social interaction become digitized. I've seen once forever people in my life fade away and become memories. I've audibly laughed at the ridiculousness of things that at one point I was sure were important.

I've redefined the meaning of the word home in my life more times than I can count. In fact, the way I see the world and the way I see myself operating, and it continues to change. As the saying goes, the only constant in our lives is that things change, evolve. Why does this matter so much to me? well, because when I look back, the single thing that would consistently keep me from truly pushing that pedal to the floor to truly capturing all life has to offer was a fear, a very specific fear, the fear of losing what I had at that moment. I was scared to death of loss, as we all tend to be to varying extent. In fact, we're biologically wired to respect the fear of loss to a greater extent than the problem.

prospect of acquisition. There's humor in all this, though, a deeply rooted irony. It emerges when we discover that we lose everything. It all goes. The song that's playing ends for each and every one of us. And is this a sad thing? No. No more than the credits to your favorite movie rolling after the final scene. It was the show, the experience that meant the world. It's a beautiful thing if you let it manifest in all its beauty. If you move along with it, immerse yourself in its brilliance. My point is that the only way to lose is to wait.

It's to not realize that you're starring in your own cinematic masterpiece, and those credits will at some point roll. It's to sit in a chair on the side of the gym while the rest of the room dances. Life is finite. And the power is not in a flawless existence. It's an understanding to our core that there is nothing to lose.

That the window is small, that we should carry out the human equivalent of a fireworks show. We should be a big, obnoxiously bold, absurdly courageous. We should go, live, try, experiment, explore, build, create. And yeah, sometimes you'll fail. And sometimes you'll fail spectacularly.

But sometimes you'll triumph. And along the way, the mistakes, they become wisdom. They become courage. both of which are integral to any meaningful grand finale. And as I make my way around the sun for the 36th time, the priority is to remember that these rides are not forever. They are precious. And that I have the strength to live accordingly.

Fearlessly, courageously, my hope is that you find, it within yourself to do the same. To pull back the curtains and see now that failure was never the adversary, no, not even close. The adversary is an unwillingness to make the most of your moments. The adversary is freezing amidst the constant hammering away of ticking clocks. The adversary is the prospect of removing failures mask years down the road, only to stare directly into the eyes of regret. These outcomes constitute your greatest adversary. So for the sake of all that is meaningful, go push into the questions and the risk and the curiosity that makes life.

worth living. After all, it is not about failure. It's about time. You can allow yourself to be distracted. Or, as Robin Sharma suggests, you can do incredible things, but you can't do both. You can stay where the safety and security is. Or you can risk what you have in pursuit of your dreams. But you can't do both. You can remain the character depicted in yesterday's story, or you can take those lessons, experiences, and craft a new story. But you cannot do both. Life is a game of trade-offs. Where any decision to go in one direction

is a simultaneous decision to not go in another. A commitment to X is necessarily a rejection of Y. At least in that moment, making this question all the more important, what is your North Star? I ask, because everything you do is bringing you closer to or holding you back from capturing it. One of my lifelines over the years has been clinging to the quote or idea that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. consistently trying to arrive there. Why? Because when things get complex in my life, I don't know what I'm choosing.

Clutter means I've lost sight of what's necessary versus what's trivial. I become unclear on those critical trade-offs I'm making. And we've all experienced this, right? The simplest questions are always the hardest to arrive at. We can talk in circles about the details, but how often are we honest with ourselves, about the why. I remember job interviews in college going on and on about the books I read, the papers that written, current events. But then falling flat on my face when asked, so who's Eddie Panero? A dude doing an interview? Like, what do you want for me? My brain had never gone there. Or even less formal. I'll never forget a friend of mine a few years

back, asked me what my perfect day was, just casually as we're driving. I said, I don't know, Tom, I've never really thought about that. He goes, then how are you ever supposed to have a perfect day if you don't know? And how simple? Simple and simultaneously incredible. Who wants a life without perfect days, right? Like, what is all this for? The world is infinite.

And you can be ruled by its variability and its complexity. You can run around adhering to all its rules, hoping you're doing the right thing, whatever that is. Or you can identify, carve out, and rule over your own little piece of it, your own kingdom. You can choose you. If you take the time to uncover who you are, what lights you up. And then, as Emerson advocates, hits your wagon to that star. The best investment of our time is to truly understand and decide what we should be saying yes to.

Because if we don't know what matters, then nothing does. Here's a famous dialogue from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Alice, would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? That depends a good deal on where you want to get to, said the cat. Well, I don't much care where, said Alice. Then it doesn't matter which way you go, said the cat. Well, so long as I get somewhere, Alice added as an explanation. Oh, you're sure to do that, said the cat.

If only you walk long enough. Beautiful passage. If you don't care where you go, any road will take you there. And see, it's not wrong to not know. It doesn't make you bad or mean life is a waste of time. It just means you're taking a large portion of control, which is one of your superpowers. and tossing it up into the ether.

It means you are bowing to hope. And I know that no one here wants to live every day merely clinging to hope. This is not a we'll see how it goes, channel or podcast, right? This is about the little changes that take life from a six out of ten to a nine or a ten out of ten. It's about using what's around us to maximize the miracle we are living and breathing every day.

Again, life is complex. So for you to take the time and simplify, to remove what's unnecessary, what an advantage. Yeah, I could do this or that. I could go here or there. But guess what? I've spent the time thinking, asking myself the tough questions, and now I can be more deliberate in choosing my path so that I arrive at a correct destination. A destination that belongs to me. means something to me that lights me up and excites me. That's living. And of course, this isn't a

one-time lightbulb moment, a permanent move. No, as we grow, we change. What we want shifts. Hey, sometimes the current path even reveals itself to be the wrong path. It's happened to me plenty. But when you're consistently in tune with what matters to you, who you are, you can make the adjustments. You can be deliberate. No more shooting targets in the dark because life is too short. Our days numbered are arrows finite. Live life like each day means something. Because each day is transporting you to your something.

Let's use the pieces around us to build our own skylines, etch our own stories into the sands of time. If a decision to do one thing is a simultaneous decision to not do something else, make sure to have that North Star in scope so that you don't amidst that chaos of life, unknowingly turn your back on it. Ask yourself who you are. And be as patient as possible working for that answer. Because as far as I can tell, that information is the key that unlock.

It's infinite possibility. It's knowledge that opens the door to life on your terms. You can be your greatest fan and also your biggest critic. In fact, not only is it healthy, it's necessary. To be there for yourself, celebrate that commitment to show up, but also to hold yourself accountable for growth. Because to be great is to know there's more in you. more in you, to understand that there's greatness waiting to be extracted from the miracle that is

you. Here are two words. I want to take a look at both of them. Consistency and adaptation. Consistency first. Why? Because consistency gets you in the door. It's the cost of admission. Consistency is you showing up for yourself. Day in and day out. Creating mastery and competence through repetition. Manufacturing a data set that will be used to guide your journey, taking a once stagnant idea and putting it into motion. Consistency is doing what you promise.

You promised yourself you'd do when you said you'd do it. Why? Because that's who you are. You create goals and then conquer those goals. When your head hits the pillow at night, you may be tired, you may have struggled, you may have swung and missed,

you may be wondering how things unfolded the way they did, but you showed up. So celebrate that. Celebrate yourself. Be your biggest fan. Because the world can't take your will to step forward and cannot seize your consistency, not without your permission.

So other than part one, let's call consistency the commitment to show up for you. Now the second piece. Consistency's older brother, adaptation. See that consistency, like we just talked about it, will get you in the door. It signs you up for the game, but it guarantees nothing. See where consistency puts that pen in your hand, paper in front of you, patch you on the back, where consistency gives you a chance to write your story, one's level of success or achievement relies on their ability to adapt. To do the thing that's so hard for people to do, look in the mirror and ask, how can I be better?

I've been consistent for 30 days, sure. Here's what's right, here's what's wrong. Now it's time to adjust, to be critical, to unlawful. To understand that expecting more of the self does not in any way diminish the task at hand. It gives you room to expand into that next version of yourself in a way that simply showing up doesn't. Without a willingness to adapt, you get Einstein's definition of insanity, right? Doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. You get day after day of wondering why this square.

peg won't just save us all the trouble and go into the round hole. Without a willingness to adapt, we move for the sake of moving and we work for the sake of working. But if we could find it within ourselves to look at the data that's been acquired day after day and use it to help guide ourselves to that North Star, we'll find strength. To seek out the delta between where we are and where we want to be, that is power. But it calls for more than just showing up. It calls for looking around.

It calls for observing and then adapting. So yeah, your greatest fan and your greatest critic. Be there for you. But don't let yourself get away with good enough. Showing up is critical. It's powerful, but it's just the beginning. If your eyes stay open, if you're willing to both love yourself and improve yourself simultaneously, all the world becomes available to you.

There are no mountains you can't climb or oceans you can't cross. And sure, the world will do what the world does. It will place challenges before you. But rather than those challenges being the reason you can't, rather than accepting those challenges as a permanent reality, they become nothing more than the next puzzle to be solved, the next little adaptation that's required of you. You show up, you self-assess, you adjust,

and carry right on towards that horizon again and again. So when you find yourself frustrated or up against that, wall, remember, you are building your ideal reality. Be proud of yourself for showing up, for being consistent. Because as dire as it might seem, you overcame a lot to get here. But also know that the challenge at hand is not an indictment of you or your goals. It's your chance to review the game plan and adjust. Your opportunity to do what so many failed to do,

not shrink from the world, but adapt yourself to it. yourself to it, grow because of it. Today is your opportunity to take what the world gives you and build something new. We are in some ways helpless to what occurs around us. There are things that are beyond our control. But the gift we possess, our power, if you will, is the ability to determine what we let in. how we internalize the externalities. We are responsible for being the gatekeepers of our minds, protectors of our worlds. There's a little saying that I aim to live by. It's incredibly simple.

Basically, the idea is, if something is not a net positive on your life, start working to eliminate it. If there's a person that is draining, creating more negative, than positive, then they don't deserve to be in your world. Stop letting them in. If there's some place you're going that doesn't align with what you value, start working to eliminate that destination from your day to day. Stop letting it in. If you find yourself constantly thinking about worst case scenarios, it's always, well, what if this goes wrong or that goes wrong? if you find yourself missing the opportunity and instead spotlighting the problem,

start working to identify and isolate those thoughts so that they can be eliminated. Stop letting that stuff in. The great part about having so much control over our lives and our perspectives is that we get to choose what gets our time and attention. The tough part, though, and it is tough, is that it means we also have to ask ourselves questions

that perhaps we don't want to ask. We have to be honest with ourselves. Like truly honest, and the reality is sometimes it hurts to do that. To ask, how am I contributing to this pain, this struggle? What am I letting in that needs to be kept outside the gate from now on? And what we often find is that the answers are there. The opportunity is there, sometimes even in plain view. But our attention is often diverted from it

and instead allocated to the things that don't even serve us or align with who we are. We've habitualized finding the problems and not the solutions. I can list examples of this over the course of my life, life all day, right? Epiphanies where I realized I needed to defend the thoughts that enter my mind and better cultivate a world where I can succeed, where I can be happy. Money, for example, to switch from seeing it as a scarce resource, something that everyone's fighting over, how to outmaneuver the guy to the right of me, how to get my hands on this elusive object. Nope, block that mentality

at the gate and let in instead the idea that money is merely an exchange of value. How can I be more valuable to more people where value goes, wealth follows? Or as I've talked about before, the injuries I deal with so frequently, right? Keeping the poor me or I can't deal with this. Or whining, I'm willing to put in the work, why won't life let me succeed? Keep all that outside the gate and let in, here is an opportunity to get better in other areas. I can't lift.

Maybe I'll take a month or two to crush cardio, to eat better, to build mental acuity. Find a way. Or maybe it's that person who made their way into my life that over time became a net negative, that we've gotten to the point where our coexistence takes away more than it has. They no longer belong inside the gate in my world. only let in people who do make your life better.

And we have control over all of this. It's about accountability. It's about personally understanding the authority you have over what comes in and what stays out. Very few things in life are just because. Things exist in our day to day because we have somewhere along the line allowed them to be there. So take some time to see yourself as the gatekeeper of your world. Audit what you're letting in and what you're keeping out.

To do so will set you up for a life on your terms. A life that's not wasted or even merely endured, but one that's lived to the fullest. Use what you have where you are. A friend of mine at one point found himself in a sense. mid-20s, fighting his way back from what he refers to as a pretty substantial setback that had occurred. He was basically rebuilding his life.

He found himself looking up at an enormous mountain to climb. Unsure what he would do for a living, how he would make ends meet, very much lacking direction. And as he pondered, he got a job as a pizza oven repair guy. learn the ins and outs of the craft as he showed up every day I still focus down the road still contemplating what would be the best move for his future and as some time passed he started to realize he was mastering the very niche craft that he was showing up to do every day right was acquiring a very specific competency and quickly becoming great at it after a little bit of time, he started thinking, hey, I could branch out on my own here. I could start my own

pizza oven repair business. And he did. And after not too long, hired an entire team to work with him, then progressed into delivering and installing new ovens all over the country, and is currently working on some new technology as well to supplement the install and repair part of the The guy's doing incredibly well. And it's interesting because you're having a conversation with him about his success, and it's like, how on earth did you find yourself doing what you do? It's so specific. And he'll tell you, you know, he worried, he pondered, he thought about business degrees and

career trajectories and all that. But the difference was that he didn't take the moment. moment for granted. He saw the value where he was with what he had, where he could have seen it as a bridge job or a chapter in the story or however you want to describe it. He saw it as an opportunity. He saw the present as the answer, show up and give everything you have to being great now. Because when you're competent in a craft and ambitious, as he is, that you're, you're, That's a scary combo. The world becomes yours.

Use what you have where you are. And you will, because of this monstrosse, doors unlock that perhaps you never thought possible. There are pieces around you now that will push you to grow and evolve. The problem is we very often dismiss them. What my friend turned into an empire, a success story, could just as easily have been an obligation.

while he waited for the world to give him something different. And sure, I think it's important for me to emphasize the point isn't to stay where you are forever if you're unhappy. Of course not. The point is that there's value in aiming to be exceptional at whatever it is you are doing, whatever you are committing to, even if it appears mundane.

The point is that so much potential is sewn into our, day to day, it just tends to blend in and not feel important, at least at first glance. You know, doors open for people who are great at what they do, and people who are great at what they do live with a curiosity, consistency, and intensity that others might not. It's amazing how when we feel that we are gaining competence in something or excelling in something, it becomes comes enjoyable, which highlights the fact that, you know, so often our stagnation is a byproduct of us standing in our own way, choosing not to grow. I mean, I can't explain how trivial what I do now felt when I first started in 2014. Sharing my thoughts into a microphone, making little three-minute

videos, uploading them to the internet, right, to an audience of my immediate family for zero dollars. You know how dumb my rational brain was trying to convince me that was? You know how easy it would have been to move on and simply look back on that period of time as my little YouTube experiment? But again, there is this strange phenomenon that when you inject yourself into something and vow to get better at it, it lifts you up, it excites you, it brightens your world. I had, as I've talked about, so many times found that in a lot. of what I love and what adds value to others. And that was everything.

And the solution appeared not because, you know, I bumped into someone that had some life-changing opportunity for me. It wasn't because I found this shortcut or secret formula. No, I just used what was already sitting in my little apartment on Comav in Boston. It's incredible how often our answers are right where we are. That's why as I've progressed through this journey, I understand balance. I understand the value of, sure, looking at that horizon, having big plans and ambition, but also cherishing the opportunity at our feet now, looking around.

Because again and again and again, the opportunity is disguised as triviality, is the stuff we walk right by. Always remember that there's something around you, can be transformed into opportunity, even if it's small. And if you choose to look for it, you will empower yourself. Every day things. I can throw off examples for days. The internet, incredible resource, leverage it.

Whether it's connecting or sharing or creating or learning. Your day-to-day effort, like my friend with the pizza oven installation repair company, That world doesn't exist if he doesn't take the little things incredibly seriously. Show up to whatever you do with the tenacity that will propel you to new height. Whether it's in that same field or it carries you over to another. Or utilizing your network. There are people you know today right now that can contribute to your momentum. Seek them out.

Time. The 30-minute blocks that we deem insignificant or downtime between one event and another. Think of the compounding of turning that into a push-up session every day or your 30-minute audiobook time. And sure, all of these examples are sort of sporadic, they're contextually different, but they have one very important common theme, and that's opportunity being squeezed out of resources that we already possess. It's instead of walking by the pile of bricks every month.

morning picking one up at a time and beginning to stack them. I'm a firm believer that the difference maker for so many is not IQ. It's not going to this or that college. It's not your background. It's did you recognize the opportunities surrounding you? Did you find the value or the excuse? Because both will always exist. And that's what we have to understand. Understand the details around you can be your reason for staying right where you are or for doing the unimaginable. So understand the power of utilizing what you have where you are. Make a point to look for the tools within reach. They say what's trash or junk to one man can be treasure to another.

We'll understand that your eyes are capable of seeing both. You have to leave them to the value. You have to become comfortable with pausing, letting the emotions subside and asking, how can I win here now with the pieces that are available to me? Because they are available. And if you're willing to pick them up, you can undoubtedly, as Thoreau said,

build your castles in the air. Sometimes it's not about the odds. It's not about things being perfectly aligned for you. Sometimes it's about making something out of nothing. It's about simply finding a way. Or as the saying goes, using what you have where you are. I want to share something with you that I've found pretty valuable. So the World Cup is on, and I really enjoy watching soccer, or football, depending on.

where you're from and what you call it. And caught a handful of games over the Thanksgiving holiday. One of those games was Argentina against Saudi Arabia. And for those who maybe don't watch or follow international soccer, Argentina is a powerhouse, right? Ranked third in the world coming into the tournament. Their team has some of the best players in the world. They're just incredible to watch.

The Saudis, on the other hand, not so much, right? They're certainly not known for their soccer. So it's kind of a David and Goliath-esque story. So what's the significance here? Well, let me share some stats. Argentina possessed the ball 69% of the time. Saudi Arabia, only 31% as expected. Argentina took 15 shots.

Saudi Arabia, only three. Again, as expected. Argentina dominated with possession and had more attempts. Saudi Arabia, however, won the game two to one. Shocker, right? Outmatched, outclassed, out everything, except outscored. Which happens to be the only thing that matters in a soccer game, obviously. They had far fewer opportunities.

but what they did do is capitalize on them, made the most of them. Now those two teams that could play a hundred times, it wouldn't be outrageous to predict Argentina winning 95 of those matches. But this is my point. That 5% can be carved out, can be willed into existence. What it comes down to is what you do with what you have. what you make of those few and far between opportunities that arise. Because here's the deal, there will be times when we feel simply outmatched by life.

As though the universe is outshooting us in control, bending and shaping us to its will. And maybe at that particular point in time, that's exactly what's happening. To use the previous metaphor, maybe at that moment, We are not the Argentina. We are relegated to a lesser equipped adversary. My message to you is that there is enough there to hold off the Goliath, pressing and pushing. My message to you is that there is enough to be outshot but not outscored. That when we must dig deep, we are capable of unearthing a strength, a will, an ability to ride.

I'm not talking about making it through unscathed. No, I'm talking about making it through period when it seems as though we couldn't, when we had to crawl through hell to reinvent ourselves or rewrite the story. There's power in knowing that despite the seeming struggle and despair that a way exists. In fact, a friend of mine often says to me,

there is always a way to arrive at your ideal outcome. You just have to figure out how to connect the dots. In other words, that outcome you're looking for, it already exists. The question is, how do you get from point A to B, to C, to ultimately your destination? It's not a matter of whether it's possible. It's a matter of arranging the pieces at your disposal to create that bridge. And the reason I love this World Cup metaphor is because that all or nothing mindset in the past has been an adversary for me. Those who've been listening to me for a while have heard me talk about it.

It's like things aren't perfect, fine, I'll wait until they are. And oh, I'm injured and can't work out. Okay, then who cares what I do? I'll wait until things are back till I'm healthy, until they're how I want them to be. But no, to win, sometimes you have to find a way, when the odds are in favor of the resistance. Sometimes you have to step up when life is out shooting you 16 shots to three. Sometimes you have to be better than you thought you could ever be.

It's easy to maintain momentum when you're healthy, right? But maintaining momentum when you're not at your best, that's something different altogether. Coming out on top when you're the underdog, digging deep and finding a way to win, when the easy thing to do would be to submit to life. That's special. And guess what?

It's always there. It's always available. Admiral McRaven, in one of my favorite speeches ever written, he says, if you want to change the world, you must learn to be your very best in your darkest moments. It's beautifully said. It makes perfect sense it seems reasonable. until we are knee-deep in those moments.

It's easy to forget when we feel intimidated by a task that seems bigger than us. It's easy to forget looking up at an obstacle or situation that seems to be statistically favored by life. It's easy to forget when walking away feels like the more pragmatic option. But that's why, regardless of the hell of the hell. to climb, you must remember. When you are outmatched or seemingly outclassed amidst the battles of life, there is a way to come out on top. Emerge victorious, your job is to find it.

And the opportunities may be few and far between, but what will you do with them when they present themselves? How will you make the most of the resources that you've, do have. Because sure, life is largely determined by the small stuff, the predictable things, what we do day in and day out. But the pivotal moments, the times that shape our existence, they come down to finding a way when there appears to be nothing to cling to. You are down but never out, lost but never gone, as long as there is a heart beating in your chest. As long as there is blood pumping through your veins, there is a way.

I challenge you to find it. We sat around in a circle on a beautiful fall morning to build dream catchers. Something, to be honest, I never saw myself doing in a million lifetimes. The feathers and strings and beads and glue stretched out on a blanket in the middle of the circle. As we built, we took what we needed piece by piece. And it's safe to say, mine was far and away, the least, let's say, aesthetically pleasing of the group. Black and bright yellow string wrapped around the top,

above which an assortment of random beads sort of dangled carelessly below. It wasn't the most beautiful dream catcher ever made, but it was mine. After a quick Google search, I learned that some Native Americans believe that the air at night is filled with dreams, both good and bad,

and that the purpose of the dream catcher is to protect from the bad ones, the nightmares and the evil spirits. Interesting, I thought, putting it away, expecting that to be that and life to move on. But a few days later on the flight home, I got up mid-flight to grab a charger out of my carry-on overhead. And in the same side pouch was, you guessed it, that little black and yellow dream catcher.

One of the dangled strings had snapped. My sloppy craftsmanship already was causing the top to loosen up. But something compelled me to grab it along with my charger and I sat back down. I had 8.5 hours to kill, put my chair back and closed my eyes. The previous week had been an important one. A complete break from, you know, my typical day-to-day routine. And probably more important, some forced introspection. I like to think of the trip as briefly leaving the heart of a city.

Which when you're in a city, you obviously know you're there, but you can't really grasp the magnitude and scope of the place. Not until you leave it and see it from the outside. The gorgeous skyline with the lights and buildings that extend into the clouds. A picture you only get from a distance. That skyline from five miles away just doesn't feel like it could be the same place you live in. You navigate everyday street by street with car horns and cafes and people talking, coming and going.

It just kind of flips life upside down for you. Presents new perspectives and questions, and I felt like that's what I'd done. Stepped outside that metaphorical city. And I'd picked up a solid handful of new questions. There were plenty of firsts for me. Met some incredible people, tried new things, went new places, explored new foods.

All made me realize that my worldview had slowly, over time, as tends to happen when unchecked, collapsed in on itself. That there was so much more, so much hope and opportunity, so much left. To the extent that the flight back didn't feel like the end of a trip, it felt like the beginning of something new. Like I wasn't leaving these things. I was taking them with me. But here's the deal.

Beginning only matter if you're... You make them matter. Things only change when you make them change. When I was in junior high, one of my teachers would sometimes joke that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Half serious, but the point is important. It's not what we intend to do. It's what we breathe life into.

It's what we allow to take shape. Let's say that little dream catcher in my hand was a magical entity that sucked out of the sky all the bad dreams and nightmares and left me with only the good stuff. Let's say it was the gateway to all that was powerful, meaningful, and important because removing what I don't want is critical. But what I'm then left with is mere opportunity, not guarantee. Dreams are only potential. life is only what we make it.

So growth must be a team effort between me and this little black and yellow defender of worlds, watchmen of the night. A duo. And we agreed. It reminds me of what truly matters and I show it that I'm not afraid to make something of what remains. Of those ideals granted passage to the space behind my eyes. I have to live up to my end of the bargain.

And sure, it will be messy at times. Shaky, sloppy, ungraceful. But that isn't a problem. It's par for the course. Plus my lack of elegance will get no sympathy from my unravelling black and yellow ball of string and disordered beads. The goal is not perfection.

It's organized chaos. It's a commitment to the unknown to taking the pieces and building something with them even when we don't understand what it will become. And as the pilot's voice interrupted my sleep through the inner calm, letting us know to prepare for landing, I realized the magic of where I'd just been and how it would evolve into the road ahead. that when we know in our hearts life is pointing us a certain direction, when we've separated the good dreams from the bad, we are halfway there.

Now we must have the courage to realize what's possible. To be strong enough to stand up when we have something to say, to embrace what calls to us, to explore where our paths may lead, to get up and dance when the music plays. to stop holding back tears when they must fall, to smile when our hearts intend, to leave the old stories and narratives behind, and to step beyond our egos and towards our authenticity. This is how we make sure that the dream catcher's work is not in vain,

and it's how we make the most of this gift. we've been provided. And so we sat in a circle on a beautiful fall morning to build dream catchers. Maybe not to collect the bad dreams. But to remind

ourselves that it was okay, no necessary, no, everything to let ourselves make the good dreams reality.