Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - EARN YOUR CONFIDENCE AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE - Best Motivational Speeches for Greatness

Episode Date: September 27, 2024

"You don’t get what you wish for, you get what you work for." – Daniel Milstein  In this episode, we explore the powerful idea that life doesn’t give us what we want—it gives us what we deserve. Success is about taking action, creating momentum, and building the skills and value needed to attract the life we desire. We dive into the importance of investing in ourselves, our communities, and relationships, and why accountability and daily progress are key to making meaningful change. It’s not about waiting for life to happen, but about taking control and shaping the life we want. Tune in for insights on how to deserve the life you dream of. Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube 

Stop hitting snooze or new tech. Upgrade the whole team at Lenovo.com. Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, powered by Intel Core Ultra processors so you can work, create, and boost productivity all on one device. Win the tech search for business PCs at Lenovo.com. Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway. February is the month of love,

and while you're spending time showing love to your family and friends, make sure you show yourself some love too. Now through February 25th, shop in store and online and save on self-love items from Dove. Like Dove cucumber and green tea body wash. Dove deep moisture nourishing body wash. Dove antiperspirants, dove shampoos, and dove conditioners offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit Safeway.com for more details. One of my favorite thinkers, Jim Rohn, he says, life doesn't give us what we need. life gives us what we deserve. You don't reap the harvest because you need it.

You reap the harvest because you deserve it. Because you planted in the spring and took care of it in the summer. And oh, what a shift. A hard truth to learn, actually, that the universe doesn't care what you need. It's indifferent to you and your wants. doesn't care about what you'd like to accomplish or solve. It rewards the question, how can I be more deserving of my ideal life?

When you become more personally, your ability to acquire increases proportionally. When you build yourself up, the world conforms. And I remember being frustrated, being in a tough spot and just thinking, why won't the world give me what I need? I'm down and out. I need some type of guidance, of help.

Just a break, right? I'm out here struggling, and it turns out the answer was simple. I had to go manufacture some sort of momentum. Increase the value that I added to others, improve my skills. I remember, you know, saying, I want a million dollars. I want a huge personal brand. And I look back now and it's like, in what world did I think I was entitled to those things? Because I wanted them?

That's not the way the world works. I had so much growing to do. There was so much effort that needed to be exhausted before that was possible. Now, you identify as that. Sure, you put the shoes on and you start living like you are that, like you're on that trajectory, you believe that for yourself. But it's understanding that you are creating space for it in your life, chipping away daily. As you grow, the universe listens. And it's not that the world is a bad place or a dark place.

The world is a beautiful place. But to get, one must give. And so the question remains, what are you giving to the world, to your community, to your friends and family? What are you giving to yourself? How are you making yourself more deserving of the infinite opportunity outside your front door? It's a question that should be really helpful when it comes to prompting thought, being real, being honest with yourself. And in fact, one of the greatest advantage. advantages one can adopt is instead of pointing out at the world, right, and projecting blame,

pointing in at oneself and asking, how can I fix this? What can I do? Right? Every single time. Even when the situation was caused by outside circumstances, beyond your control, even when it's not your quote unquote fault, why? Well, because you are always in control of yourself. And when you adopt this mentality, you learn to take accountability for you, always. You learn not to blame, but adapt. And that is power. Because when it's always someone else's fault, it's never yours to fix. Someone who refuses to even entertain the victim narrative and instead seeks to find the value in a given situation,

unlocks the roadmap to becoming deserving of the world they want. And that's the control that we forget we have. We have the ability to look around and change things. If we're not happy with them, we can adjust them, but we must first own them. We have the ability to tear down the walls that are boxing us in, to remove the characters in our stories holding us back. When you take action, you're building the life you deserve.

When you look around and seek to alter the world as you know it, you're putting yourself in position to receive more from life. It's a simple lesson, but one of the most powerful lessons out there. The ideal life, the things you want, the things you hope for, they're not given to you externally. They are created within and projected. out to the world. They start with self-belief and manifest into daily action.

Day by day, taking what matters and building it, creating a reality. The world doesn't respond to hopes and dreams, it responds to action. Because to be deserving is not to want. To be deserving is to create. It's to take life in your hands and, carve out your own journey. Minute by minute, day by day. On that long drive, in the middle of the night

with headlights and endless road in front of me, everything I knew in the rearview mirror, I learned the value of making the difficult decision. During the times of disappointment, being let down by the way the ones I counted on I believed in. I learned the importance of loyalty, the power of being there for those who mean the most to you.

Through the failures, the stress, the uncertainty, I learned that life goes on. That when you allow yourself to fall, you build an immunity to the fear associated with hitting the ground. You get back up stronger. Through the heartbreak, the loss, the pain, I learned to appreciate every moment. To look around and not take any of this for granted. To both recognize and appreciate the fragility of the present

because with the snap of a finger, life can change. In the wake of past anger and conflict, I learned to pick my battles. that rarely is it worth my time? That our vantage points are merely a reflection of our backgrounds and understandings and even the slightest effort to understand the person staring back at you can be the difference between building up and tearing down.

From being overlooked, disregarded, the smallest person in the room, I learned the value of true leadership. the benefit of empowering those around you and making them feel appreciated. That walking alone may sometimes be necessary, but that building a vision that those around you believe in is unparalleled. Life is a teacher. And only through its toughest tests can its curriculum be understood.

Can its ideas and lessons take shape? What you need exists so long as you open your eyes and you'll find an inevitable truth. That this universe, it wants you to win. It's holding its hand out, providing you everything you need. Just understand. Understand that the lows prepare you for the highs. The losses set up the gains. The mistakes build a foundation for the greatest things you will ever do.

Life is a teacher. And should you listen, you'll see that it has no bounds, no restrictions, just the next chapter. The most important promises are the ones you make to yourself. Of all the people on planet Earth, it's most critical that you're that you believe you. That when you commit, you show up, when you make plans you follow through. When you tell yourself you'll do something, you actually do it.

Here's what's interesting. Being that this is, I believe the North Star, I'm consistently chasing down this standard, trying to be better and better and better at following through. I clearly think we all should, but keeping promises to yourself is different than keeping promises to others. When you let other people down, especially those close to you, you feel the social repercussions. And for human beings, negative social repercussions are painful. We care greatly about our reputation. Don't want to let others down.

don't want to be known as the person who doesn't show up. And that's incentive enough to push us towards following through with others. But with yourself, where do the repercussions go? What are the consequences? You tell yourself, today is the day. I'm starting, beginning, trying something new. And then you don't. There's no phone call with someone on the other end saying,

Hey, where were you? Hey, you promised. Hey, you owed me this. No, when we break promises to ourselves, it seems like the situation, after maybe a second or two of disappointment, just floats away into the ether. It feels as though there is no substantial cost. But I actually think those broken people,

promises stick around. I think we wear them. We feel them. We see them when we look in the mirror. And sure, maybe there isn't that friend or family member staring us down with disappointment in their eyes. But how we see ourselves changes. Every broken promise to yourself reinforces the idea

that not having high standards is okay. Every time we let ourselves down, it supports a narrative that being let down is normal, hard for the course. If you don't show up for you, it begs the question, why should others show up for you? Why should others follow through when you wouldn't even do it for yourself? I've always believed that so many facets of life start internally and are projected out. how you see yourself, treat yourself is the sun around which all that other stuff revolves, right? Like the world will notice and act accordingly.

It will conform to the standards you create for you. So let's work on those standards. Let's make it so there's skin in the game. So that when we break promises to ourselves, say, ah, not today, or, eh, this is good enough for now. that we understand the magnitude of those decisions because they're not insignificant. They're crucial.

And sometimes we have to highlight the consequences of what we don't do. Sometimes we have to make ourselves truly feel the opportunities we let slip away. As though we did actually hold them in the palms of our hands. There is a price to letting yourself down and perhaps there's power in quantifying it. There's an idea that, you know, life isn't really you versus anyone or anything else. It's you versus you. And just like you would never let a stranger talk down to you or tear you apart,

why would it be okay for you to talk that way to yourself? Right? Like if a friend says he's going to meet you for coffee at 7 a.m. every morning and never shows up In what world would you keep driving there, sitting down, waiting, brushing it off, and, you know, rinse, repeat? Of course not. You'd look around and go, this is crazy, I don't deserve this, I'm better than this. Your defenses would kick in, you'd make adjustments. And just as you shouldn't tolerate it from someone else, shouldn't tolerate it from yourself.

Because you're better than that. Growth is a game of one identifying what's important. Two, creating small steps that move you in that direction. And three, following through on those steps. Right, that's the formula. Being there for yourself when you fall. Hey, get back up, right? Falling is an indicator of progress, courage, and strength.

Being there for yourself when you don't want to. Hey, I know you're tired. I know this doesn't seem fun right now, but you committed and think about how good it's going to feel when you're done. Being there for yourself when you know there's more in you, but that voice in your head is tempting you to pack it all in or call it a day. Hey, it doesn't matter what that voice in your head says. is no negotiating you already made up your mind. See there's power and simplicity. Find a target

aim shoot. And although life is turbulent, there are certainly highs and lows. We are at our best when we decide what's important, initiate the journey, and show up. When I set the alarm clock. It can't be about rationalizing sleep. That beeping can't be about X many hours. No, it merely signifies a promise. It cries out, hey, remember what you said right before you closed your eyes last night? Well, time to bring that to life. So sure, that means be careful of the promises you make to yourself. Don't take them lightly. But once they are etched into the universe, they must be law. And I'm not talking about failure to adapt or try things. I'm not talking about being stubborn. I'm talking about the initial follow-through that precedes all that. Will we do what we said

we would do? And I'm not emphasizing, you know, making this the standard because life should be some perpetual boot camp, but rather because discipline is freedom. Because when we go to bed at night, knowing we set goals and meet them, we see ourselves as winners. People follow through on who they believe themselves to be. It's an endless feedback loop. You see yourself as a winner. You carry yourself as a winner. You carry yourself as a winner and other people see it.

They treat you as such and around and around it goes. So when you feel like skipping or procrastinating or quitting on your remember that it's not just that immediate moment at stake it's not a little thing it's one brushstroke on the mural that is your current reality it becomes you and again you wouldn't let other people talk down to you so stop doing it to yourself you wouldn't allow being stood up by others so stop doing that to yourself become the king or queen of your own empire rule over yourself like it all matters because it does to keep the promises you

make to yourself is playing offense it's essentially building a bridge to the outside world so that you may go shape it as opposed to merely putting up your hands and living at life's mercy never forget how much control you have how powerful you are and that you don't need to convince others, you need to convince yourself. During the highs, the lows, the ups and the downs, the sun and the rain, you need to be there for you. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year? Your skin is a great place to start.

Dime Beauty, founded by a master aesthetician, is more than just a skincare company. With four skin-conscious categories, skincare, beauty, body care, and fragrance, Dime offers simple, spa-worthy products that will help you enter 2025 with confidence. Whether you're revitalizing your regimen with nourishing products or building one from scratch, Dime makes it easy.

The work system, our all-in-one best-selling routine, includes a cleanser of your choice, toner, serums, and moisturizers, taking the guesswork out of skin care for your healthiest, happiest skin yet. Dime's commitment to clean ingredients and sustainable packaging, Packaging ensures every product is as gentle on your skin as it is on the planet.

With thousands of glowing five-star reviews and a loyal community, the results speak for themselves. Revive your skin and give yourself the routine refresh you deserve by visiting dimebeautyco.com. That's dime beauty co.com. Your best skin awaits. Hey there, it's Ryan Seacrest for Safeway. February is the month of love. And while you're spending time showing love to your family and friends, make sure you show yourself some love too. Now through February 25th, shop in store and online and save on self-love items from Dove.

Like Dove cucumber and green tea body wash. Dove deep moisture nourishing body wash. Dove antiperspirants, dove shampoos, and dove conditioners offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit Safeway.com for more details. Life is perspective. So during the good times, find gratitude. and during the difficult times, find the opportunity.

When you have the answers, when you know, be proud of your knowledge. And when you don't celebrate all the wisdom to come. When the sun is shining, cherish the warmth on your skin, and when it's not, learn to run in the rain. When you're focused, appreciate the clarity. And when life feels chaotic, embrace the chance to manufacture order. When people come into your life, value the ride that you'll share. And when they leave, take note of all they gave along the way.

When you win, reflect back on all the hard work that made it possible. And when you lose, take in the lessons that even winning can't provide. When things go as planned, revel in your ability to execute. But when your plans and life's plans diverge, remember that some things are simply outside of your control. And now, this moment is a chance to identify and utilize the things that are in your control. Henry David Thoreau,

it's not what you look at, it's what you see. So see the world as you'd like it to be. Never turning a blind eye to reality, but realizing how much control you have over making reality your own. We are the builders. The world around us merely provides the components and the pieces.

And if one were to live, as though there were value in every moment, they would inevitably find themselves looking for that value, perhaps even when it was difficult to find, most elusive, when most would hang their heads and walk right by it. I look out my window and see a world that is neither valuable or valueless. I see a blank canvas in which we are tasked with making that decision. Life is a roller coaster ride.

It has ups and downs, the obvious and the unexpected. And while some think nothing of the high points and dwell on the low points, there are an abundance of resources, of beauty, of joy, reserved for those who understand how great the highs are and how valuable the lows. who take what comes, not as walls to live within, but as parts to assemble. Not as antithetical to their hopes and dreams, but as the very foundation they will build those hopes and dreams upon. This world is not for you, just as much as it is entirely yours. It calls for you to be that arbiter.

for what you decide will inevitably take. Marcus Aurelius once said, it's not death that men should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. And so there's the obvious question. What does it mean to truly live? To live one's life to the fullest. I don't think that's a one-size-fits-all question.

I think we all want different things. I think an ideal reality is different for every single one of us, but I do believe across the board, everyone should be looking around and reflecting and asking what matters to me, and am I living in a way conducive to that? Am I positioning myself for that life? Or conversely, have I built walls? Am I doing things just to do them? Have I confined myself to a world of limitation?

That is the question. On a recent podcast, Ryan Holliday said something on the topic that I thought was pretty profound. He said, amateurs are obsessed with tools. Referring to productivity stuff. He was chatting with productivity YouTuber. And it's like, okay, well, why is that concerning, right? To be obsessed with tools. And it's concerning.

as he explains, because they are seeking to optimize the things that they're not even doing, which is a great way to never get there. He kind of elaborated that obsessing about productivity is a form of procrastination. We worry too much about constructing that perfect path. There is no perfect path. And that friction, that resistance or procrastination is just fear in disguise. The journey is the marvel. from which you chip away at excellence.

You don't need a perfect path, you need to go. You need to point the compass in a general direction and begin. The crazy, chaotic, unpredictable variables of life are what we use to build. I think Mike Tyson nailed it when he said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Life is unpredictable. It's messy.

It's not a perfection game. It's an adjustment game. And the ones who can get hit and bounce back will move exponentially further than the ones seeking to create some perfection before they leave their front door. And so the question is, do you have that strength to simply push into the night?

Because as counterintuitive as it may seem, on the other side exists the dawn. As Marcus Aurelius suggests, that life we are meant to live exists beyond the haze. Now, two things can obviously be true at once. I'm not saying preparation is the enemy here. Preparation is certainly a huge factor when determining something's outcome or success. But there comes a time where you have to be honest with yourself. You have to realize you can't plan your way to greatness.

You're worried to walk into the chaos. That's all. You're worried about skinning your knees because let's be real, it's way easier to sit inside on a couch and plan how to trudge through the mud than to actually go out and do it. And as it turns out, it is the ladder piece that makes all the difference. The ladder piece is life. The trudging, the pushing, the finding away.

It may seem unnecessary or avoidable even from the confines of that living room, looking out at the world through your window, but the courage to go is the cost of admission. It's the thinker versus the doer metaphor. By the time the thinker has acted, the doer is long gone. 1,000 feet ahead. They've made their mistakes. they've learned, they've collected data,

they're planning in real time as their feet move. That's life as it was meant to be lived. And believe it or not, that's the rubric by which we'll actually judge ourselves. Did I have the courage to do the things that matter? You know those situations we all come across them where you're kind of kicking yourself for not doing something that was just a little uncomfortable? Your heart, your soul was trying to push you there, but you couldn't bring yourself to do it.

Maybe speaking in class, proposing something at work, asking someone out, submitting something online. Whatever it may be, the ship came and it went. And you were there from the dock, watching it sail away, annoyed, because you know in your gut you wanted to do it. You should have done it. You were called to do it. We'll take that feeling and bottle it up. Multiply it by whatever number you think is sufficient for someone at the end of life in their 80s or 90s looking back at all those times they didn't act.

Reflecting back on all those ships that they had to watch sail away. Why? Because they were waiting for perfect. They waited so long and so desperately for perfection that life slipped away. That's a pain I never want to feel. That moment is the true grim reaper. It's not death we are running from. It is the possibility that we were given all of this and we let it slip away.

So point your compass and go. You won't feel ready. It certainly won't feel perfect. But it will position you for growth. It will give you something. And something is the beginning. of everything. I had a friend recently told me

consistency is more important than intensity. Interesting, I thought, right? Put it in my back pocket and moved on with my day, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how valuable those words are, how necessary. I think because typically my brain associates the acquisition of more

with an increase in intensity. It's like you want more, okay? Find a way to give more, to be better. That's the equation my brain was familiar with. And while not necessarily wrong, what it can do is diminish the power of showing up. It neglects the compound effect. The reality is that consistency over time becomes intensity.

A snowball rolling downhill doesn't just increase in size, it increases in speed. Intensity is second to consistency, because consistency creates intensity. Consistency is the material from which everything else is made. And we forget that. Thinking about how much bigger, better, stronger we'd like to be, why can't I just leap a mile?

Well, my friend, it turns out you don't have to. Miles are comprised of single steps. I wanted my run yesterday to be about three-fourths intensity. Decided the goal would be to land just under eight minutes per mile. 7.59 would put me in a good spot for my plan for the week. But as happens, from time to time, the sun, the heat, my body weren't about it, right? And halfway through the run, I'm a little higher than I wanted to be, averaging about 801, 802 per mile. mile, a little above my mark, and I thought to myself, you have to be better. You have to make a move. Right now, you have to find something in there. But did I? Did I have to find anything?

Because it turns out I was right on track and didn't see it. What I needed to do was simply hold the eight-minute pace, 801. Just hold it. That keeps me in the game. Then, we kick it up at the home stretch. And the last sprint will be enough to get my cumulative average down to $7.59 per mile. No miracles here. Forget the intensity.

All the world is asking of me is consistency. Show up, step by step. Keep myself in the game. It's amazing that when you're hurting the mind plays highlight reels of everything you lack, everything you're not doing, right? It's reaching.

We get so uncomfortable or impatient that we think we need to perform magic tricks. And it's like, no, keep showing up. Keep yourself in line. The intensity is a derivative of the consistency, and it will make its presence known. So during those first seven miles, I showed up, I committed, and I held on, right? Understanding the assignment, big picture. Not only about consistency, staying calm, and then, as a lot of, as planned, picked it up at the last mile, hit that goal.

See, these little mental games are packed with value. They reinforce bigger picture truths. Show up, put in the work, find your rhythm, and hold. Don't stress yourself out looking at finish lines you have not yet crossed. Don't let the delta between where you are and where you want to be intimidate you. That's precisely the reason people quit and walk away. They get so caught up in where they are not that they forget little steps over time are what bring about change.

They don't understand that the snowball is increasing in velocity as well as it rolls down the hill. That by staying focused, their output becomes the avalanche. So when you have to, when you feel like that you feel like that you feel like that you're going to be able to, you feel like the world is increased in size and its obstacles in number. Know that there is value in holding the 8, the 801, the 802. Know the power of simply getting on base, of getting up again and again and again, of putting yourself in position to succeed.

Because your time to sprint will arrive. And when it does, you'll be battle tested and prepared. But the sprint only matters because you stayed steady, stayed consistent throughout. Step, step, step. So remember when the rest of the world is talking about the shortcuts, the life hacks and the secret solutions that will change your reality, they're missing the mark.

Because one brick at a time, one step at a time, one day at a time, you're building something that can't be man you've been. You're being manufactured overnight. You're committing to the process and will ultimately experience that which can only be experienced by those who paid the price. Those who didn't panic or over-analyzed, but put one foot in front of the other consistently every single day. The end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, I saw what lies. It wasn't unveiled as though someone turned on the light, but dripped. One moment at a time into my soul until the cup was full.

Drip. Drip. Drip. A mural gaining clarity with every step backwards, away from the initial starting point, where I was so close that I could make out nothing but indistinguishable shapes and colors. The end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona. Life made sense. Drip.

Growth is an identity shift, period. Meaning that if human beings follow through and who they believe themselves to be, then one must believe himself to be something new in order to initiate that change. And no, not just see that version of himself. of himself. Not just acknowledge it, but believe it. As sure as that sun will rise, so will the new version of you. At the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, I was reminded to ask, not is it possible, but Eddie, do you, with your entire being, believe it to be so?

The first question is always true. It's the second that waits for your permission. Drim, weight is transferable. What do I mean by this? Well, hiking up a mountain with 30 pounds on our backs, we saw a few things. Life throws curveballs. Not because the world is bad, but because that's what life does. It's hard.

And thank God, because through this story, storms, we learned to become capable navigators. And so in the name of this pursuit, we went up, up the mountain we climbed. And it was in looking over our shoulders, we saw a hidden truth. Sometimes it's the quiet one. The one in the back. Not saying much. Contemplative, slowly making his way through the elements.

Eyes determined, locked in. Sometimes he is the experience. climber. Already been up and down mountains, others couldn't even imagine. Mountains of 30 years, battling autoimmune issues, hip surgeries, and blood transfusion. Sometimes he is carrying far more than 30 pounds of weight on his shoulders. And his fellow travelers, you can't assume that you know what others carry with them. At the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, we were shown that strength is a willingness to help your brothers and your sisters carry that weight when needed. Sometimes it's visible,

sometimes it's not, but to always have that hand extended. And just as important, when you are the one with the weight, having the courage to let others give you a hand, the courage to say, look, I've been up mountains and down valleys, I'm working and trying to. and growing, but right now this is more weight than I can bear. Can you help? Drip? We far too often give up the great in exchange for the good. Platoon number one, it's beautiful. It takes a long time to climb there. You look down on a world never seen before. An incredible view. It's new. It's exciting. And soon it becomes a nice. It's a controversial word, enough.

How much does one need? Is life merely an ever-evolving climb? A race to our deaths, to the abyss from which we emerged? Well, here's what we were reminded by a fellow traveler at the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, the effort to go from where we were at Plateau number one to the top, the very top, the I can see the world. world from here top was minimal, perhaps even negligible. It was a mere decision, but the view at the peak was 360 degrees, jaw-dropping.

Somehow even more beautiful. But most importantly, it was there. It was always there. Calling us, beyond the distraction that is enough. And perhaps you owe that to yourself. Perhaps the world to not to private of your gifts, the very gifts that materialize as you make your way from plateau number one to the very top, the peak. Perhaps it's time to acknowledge how much is wasted when we fall in love with enough and not the journey that is a life fully lived. Drip. The gold lives beyond the silence. Silence used to scare me.

Let alone silence in a crowded room. It was a space in need of an occupier. It was a question in need of an answer. Silence has always been a subtle adversary. One that I would naturally look to defeat with my words. Oh, silence. But at the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, I learned that silence is an invitation,

that magic often lives on the other side. That if you let it breathe, it's slow, calming, breathes, it will breathe wisdom back into you. That 20 beating hearts with the courage to let the drum of silence beat alongside them will see that which they were very recently unable to see. Drip. Power is in letting go. You know this. I know this. We know this because of the narratives we take with her.

we take with us. This signaling our eyes convey to the world. Apparently whether we want them to or not, it's never been about the acquisition of more, but the courage to let go. To strip away layers. To tell the right stories, sure, but also less stories overall.

To hone in on the important stories. There's no requirement today that says we must be attached to yesterday. There is no life sentence that demands we remain cellmates with past mistakes. At the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, I saw that the freedom to recreate oneself is perhaps the greatest gift each sunrise presents. Drip, you can be the one. A message eloquently conveyed by a carrier who practiced what they preached. noting whether you were a beggar in a past life or a prince in this one, whether your family heritage is one of poverty or nobility right now in this moment, you can be the one.

It takes one person to stop a trend. One person who says no more, I'm done, this ends here. It takes one person to adjust the compass and begin walking another path entirely. At the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, 40 eyes stared off into space, knowing, feeling, trusting that their journeys to become that one were already underway. At the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, I saw what life could be. It wasn't unveiled as though someone turned on the lights, but dripped one moment at a time, into my soul until the cup was full. Drip, drip, drip, drip. A mural gaining clarity with

every step backwards, away from the initial starting point where I was so close that I could make out nothing but indistinguishable shapes and colors. At the end of a windy dirt road in the mountains of Sedona, life made sense. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year, your skin is a great place to start. Dime Beauty, founded by a master aesthetician, is more than just a skincare company. With four skin-conscious categories, skincare, beauty, body care, and fragrance, Dime offers simple, spa-worthy products that will help you enter 2025 with confidence. Whether you're revitalizing your regimen with nourishing products or building one from scratch,

Dime makes it easy. The work system, our all-in-one best-selling routine, includes a cleansing, of your choice, toner, serums, and moisturizers, taking the guesswork out of skin care for your healthiest, happiest skin yet. Dime's commitment to clean ingredients and sustainable packaging ensures every product is as gentle on your skin as it is on the planet. With thousands of glowing five-star reviews and a loyal community, the results speak for themselves. Revive your skin and give yourself the routine refresh you deserve by visiting Dimebeautcom. That's dimebeautyco.com. Your best skin awaits. Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway. February is the month of love. And while you're

spending time showing love to your family and friends, make sure you show yourself some love too. Now through February 25th, shop in store and online and save on self-love items from Dove. Like Dove cucumber and green tea body wash. Dove deep moisture nourishing body wash. Dove anti-perspirants, dove shampoos, and dove conditioners offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit safeway.com for more details. Seneca said, he who is brave is free. Because to be free is to face your fear. It's to intentionally step into the chaos of life.

And in doing so, unshackle yourself from fears restraint. He who is brave is free because freedom is only obtained in purpose. pushing past the original restriction and hesitant. Freedom is moving through the haze in carving out a life on your own terms. As someone who spent time on both sides of the fence, I can tell you, you know, I lived a pretty substantial portion of my life playing scared, lacking the courage to step into what was meaningful, right? Playing someone else's game, which,

even if you win is just a reminder that you are living in the shadows of life but should you approach the other side should you find the courage to step through you'll see that the walls that once surrounded you were self-made

the layers of concrete that inhibited your freedom and your opportunity they were built by you and just as you built them up you can tear them down See, there's a life others would like you to live. There are things others would like you to say. There are beliefs others would like you to believe.

And it would be easier to chant along, to nod your head and conform. But it would certainly not make you free. See, freedom is taking head on that thing you've been scared to do. But you know on the other side there's more. and you refuse to deprive yourself of it. Freedom is saying what you believe because even though it may be unconventional or different, even though it may be deemed unacceptable,

it's in your heart what you believe. Freedom is going not where others have gone, but where your soul lead you, through new landscapes and towards distant horizons, which brings us to the question of all question. Can you find the strength? Can you dig deep and unveil a world unrecognizable to most? Can you move beyond the facade of reality as it is now

and construct something truly meaningful? If he who is brave is free, then we must remind ourselves that courage is the spark that ignites the next chapter of life. we must remind ourselves that the discomfort is worth it. The doubt will be transformed into answers. And sure, pushing through that resistance is not easy, but nothing is more difficult to carry with you

than the knowledge that you chose to live in a cell of your own making. So here's to finding the strength, the courage, and the self-belief to live free. There's a haze that circles around our most important moments. And I say haze, because often the things that will be most meaningful in our lives or that will best position us for future transformation or success, they don't accurately depict the value that they ultimately provide. In fact, a lot of the time we get the opposite impression.

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

Again, we see it in a million different ways, different contexts, the solutions masquerade as problems, or as has been famously put the way often presents itself as the obstacle, which means we have to operate with a sense of awareness and understanding that often eludes us. Sometimes the reality is that it hurts to let go. But if it's not right for you, it hurts to hold on as well. The difference is when you do find the strength to let go, you simultaneously create space for the things that will make your life better. And I've noticed, you know, as I've navigated this crazy place well into my 30s,

that the discomfort I've experienced in the past, it rarely utilizes my future as its benchmark. When I'm uncomfortable, it's because something has gone awry in the now. This moment hurts. In this moment, I feel less than. In this moment, I feel lost. In this moment, I am X, Y, or Z. It's all generally immediate.

Emotive responses to what's happening. Which is why I advocate so strongly for pausing, pulling back, taking a breath, and assessing the whole picture. in totality. See, I've made decisions in my life that have set me back a year, right, that destroyed me emotionally, totally altered my plans. And I look back on some of those decisions now with all the pain they brought and I think, you know, was there another way? Did I make the right move? Did I need to endure all that? And I'm not going to pretend, you know, I know how some parallel universe would have unfolded if I acted differently.

But as I reflect back, I still think that I made the right choice. I don't see another way. Sometimes there are no easy decisions. Sometimes life is about choosing the least bad option. I've talked about having to step back in order to leap forward. Or stepping sideways in order to ultimately advance. Sometimes the thing we need just looks like. discomfort, the sheep in wolves clothing, where you have to seek out monsters in order to destroy

the ones that live inside of you. The reason, one, I think this is so important, and two, I'm so passionate about sharing it with others is because, again, our instincts drive us away from the things we need most. It's just how it is. Humans are more emotional than we are rational. And there have been plenty of times where, you know, just being reminded, Eddie, I get that this is challenging, but where do you most want to go? Eddie, you're playing defensive, which I'm sure minimizes problems now, but will never propel you forward with your career. Eddie, you're dragging your feet and calling it perfectionism.

Could it in fact be fear? I've had a lot of these little, and sometimes not so little, epiphanies, over the course of the last decade. When people ask me about speaking, which being that I do it for a living would make sense, right, tips or insights, whatever it is, I'm being completely sincere when I say that I wish I had some formula I could propose,

right, that would make you go from zero to 60 in three months. But the truth is, the biggest bang for your buck is stepping right into the terror, the thing you're most inclined to run from. And that was it for me, right? Shear terror. Actually shaking nights where I stayed awake reciting keynotes into hotel mirrors. Couldn't eat.

And I'd wrap up, the event would be over. I'd just go back to the room and collapse in bed because I hadn't slept the night before. Right? That's how it started. And the more times I didn't give myself a way out, the more I saw past the fear, put emotions aside, and reiterated to myself that underneath all that discomfort was value, the better I became. The less dramatic each speaking engagement became.

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

It was just a proud feeling. Like you get those moments from time to time where everything begins. comes a single snapshot. It all makes sense. Because over times I truly didn't understand why I was moving forward. I just did. I just knew I'd burn the boats.

There were no other options. And when you collect that W, you quickly remember. And so all this, to emphasize the very important point, that it may not be speaking at the MGM Grand Arena that you're North Star. Maybe it's something totally different. But I want to remind you that the road to wherever you most want to be is not perfectly paved and decorated with flowers. It won't always be sunny with clear blue skies.

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

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

That haze that tries to conceal what's most important is only effective if we keep our eyes close, if we aren't honest with ourselves. But if you know, one, what's most important and two are committed to one day arriving there, the short-term obstacles become a relatively small price to pay.