Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - If Things Feel Heavy, Listen To This

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

Life will apply pressure whether you’re ready or not. This talk reframes that weight, not as a burden, but as proof you’re being shaped into something stronger. Because pressure isn’t punishment. It’s the privilege of becoming.More from Eddie Pinero:Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletterYour World Within Podcast: https://yourworldwithin.libsyn.com/Stream these tracks on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - @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

Pressure, as in those burdens we sometimes feel as we navigate life, it's complex, it's powerful, but like all powerful things, also delicate. That same pressure that creates diamonds and create diamonds it does, Well, it can also remind you that in the meantime, you are beneath the surface, buried away amidst that process of creation. In other words, pressure is a beautiful driver because it is, in many ways, a standard of excellence, of more. It pushes us towards a life of abundance like wind at our backs.

but see two things can be true at once and it's impossible to look at the word more without acknowledging that in order for more to exist something must be lacking in the present and there lies the challenge pressure gone too far becomes a feeling of inadequacy the same driver to explore the depths of one's potential can also, if mismanaged, take them to the spiral of never enough.

See, you are a brilliant human being with natural strengths and talents, and while certainly imperfect, we all have something to offer the world. This floating rock is a better place because you are on it. And as we go about figuring out what it all means and how to bring it to life, we have to also understand the nuance. We want to get better every day, not because we lack value in the present, but because the journey is a remarkable adventure.

Progress is happiness, humans love and need progress, growth and expansion and exploration, inject meaning into life. They help us manufacture peak moments. And it's taken me a long time to understand. that distinction. I want to be more, not because I'm inadequate in the present, but because against all odds I'm here, and what a gift to be able to push that pedal to the floor.

To squeeze from life as much beauty as I possibly can. The pressure doesn't say, because without it, you're less. It says, oh, but what a ride awaits if you're willing to step up and seek it out. I used to get so annoyed when I'd see, like, stories or memes on social media that are anything along the lines of, you're special just the way you are, right? It felt tacky. It's lacking substance. And sometimes, to be honest, it just felt like a lie. But my thoughts on that have changed. I don't think it's a lie. It's just an extreme in one direction. Just like never being good enough as an extreme in the other. Look, you're not perfect just the way you are.

We're all flawed, and we all have room for opportunity. But you're also not void of value until you reach point X, Y, or Z. If we're going to grow, we need to understand why we're growing. My favorite thing about this platform, you know, over the years, has been trying to identify the obstacles in my life. Understand them to the best of my ability, and then share that, hoping maybe there's a piece or two there that's relatable, that you can take value from.

But this topic in particular, I've never really felt like I've solved or been able to grasp. This constant weight or pressure I'd consistently feel to do more. And I know others feel it as well. I talk to them about it consistently. It can be almost suffocating. I do attribute a lot of good to it, right? It helps me get back up.

It makes me want to be better. Find new ways to share. Add value to as many people as I can. When I have my down times, that pressure says, hey, man, you're made for more. Lift your head up and go. I wouldn't be where I am without it. But then there's also the ugly side.

Like I mentioned above, the cost of ambition is sometimes the inability to be in the moment. Always reaching for. for more is the younger brother of never being enough. It can be exhausting. And so what to do, what to do, right? The question that I've been playing in my head. And here's where I am in the present.

I think this is an ever-evolving process. But as I mentioned above, I believe the answer is in why. The why is everything. There are no have-toes in life. Life is a collection of get-toes. We're not dipping into life's infinite abundance So that we fill holes within ourselves No, we're doing it to take in the show

To absorb so that we can consequently add our verse To the play of life As the saying goes, the ship in the harbor is safe But that's not what ships are built for And that's where the distinction lies As far as I'm concerned where the ship is in the moment doesn't make it more or less beautiful or valuable. But to deprive that ship of open water, to deprive its sails of the wind,

well, it just feels like a shame, like something's missing. And so with all that said, here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that as I move towards those distant horizons, I need to remember that the journey comes with a few understandings. I need to know that at times it will feel exhausting. I need to know that while building, you can become so fixated on the plans that, sure, you'll forget about your progress. I need to know how easily the future can steal from the present. But also, I know that taking in the best life has to offer comes with the price tag,

and being tired from time to time seems fair. I know that the builder with the plans can ground him or herself by looking over their shoulder every so often and appreciating how far they've come. I know that the future is always out of reach, like that carrot hanging just beyond the grasp of the runner on the treadmill. But the gratification can be both delayed and current when we're pointed to the right north star.

So I invite you to reimagine the word pressure. Understanding the notion that you've already won the lottery. You're here on earth against all odds with your strengths and the greatness that makes you, you. Venturing deeper into life's potential, asking more of the world and from yourself is not to compensate for anything. It's not an obligation.

It's not even required of you. No, it's an extension of the human soul. The best of life. The magic all around us, an invitation to live fully. That pressure like water through a channel will flow in the direction you lead it. It's nothing more than your vehicle to distant shores. Your process for crafting diamonds with the adversity most would refuse. That pressure doesn't always indicate where it's taking you

or even guarantee that its destination will be preferable to where you are now. But it does promise quite the ride. And that, for me, is enough. What's up, guys? Eddie here. And before we jump into the next chapter, just a quick note. So as many of you know, every single video that I've ever put on this channel has been created with the intent of building momentum in your life. If you want something physical to anchor that momentum, we've created the brand AGNS or always grateful never satisfied for that exact reason. Athletic apparel that embodies

the very ideas and concepts I talk about every day. Because you're watching on YouTube, or Spotify, we've created a code for this exclusive community, YWW20. You can use that on the website, agns.lifestyle. We're right under this video on YouTube. All this stuff is there in the shop. Again, code YWW20 gets you 20% off the entire store. It's a great way to support the channel and also elevate your journey. Let it be a reminder to keep showing up.

Appreciate your time. Always grateful. Never satisfied. On to the next. It's what you do in the dark that determines what you become in the light. Remember, it's easy to shine when the cameras are on. When the crowd is cheering, when you have momentum,

when the music is loud and the world applauds your every move. But the truth is, your life is not built in those moments. No, your destiny is forged when no one's watching. When it's just you, your doubts, your fatigue, and the quiet decision to keep going. It's what you do in the dark. And I was reminded of this recently. It was an ordinary Wednesday doing my ordinary routine. I was at the gym, my trainer, about halfway through.

the workout. There's obviously no need to get too detailed here, but some important context is just that it was an interval workout. The goal was to really jack the heart rate up, right? So I'm in the middle of it switching from upright rows to step-ups on a box repeatedly. No rest. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And you get to the point where your body becomes so fatigued, obviously, that, you know, it starts to break down. You want to collapse. Your mind starts getting weak. You start looking for shortcuts. And I've been in that moment before, plenty of times, right? That's actually become my new norm with this routine. And I knew that if I could control this, If I could steady myself right there in the storm, in the middle where things are the hardest,

where perhaps I'm starting to feel a little sorry for myself. If I could just keep my head up, take it moment by moment, push through, then the rest would take care of itself. I think this is an important note because it's usually not the beginning that breaks us. That's the exciting stuff. Right before the trials and the tribulations, it's never the warm-up. It's never the first few steps or minutes. It's the valley of despair. It's the middle.

That's where the energy fades. The fatigue, your body whispers, that's enough. It's where doubt asks, what if you can't? Maybe even why are you here? but to know that that spot is where champions are made. It's where lives are changed. Well, that's the differentiator. It's what you do in the dark.

Admiral McRaven once said, at your darkest moments, you must be your very best. And isn't that life? When the weight feels too heavy, when the path disappears into shadow, when you want to throw in the towel, that's not the time to shrink.

That's the time to look into yourself and rise. Because life is not decided by how you act when things are easy. It's just not. It's decided by how you respond when it's bordering unbearable. It's what you're. do in the dark. And see, here's the secret most people miss. You do not conquer mountains in one leap. You do not finish marathons by thinking about mile 26. You do not survive heartbreak by solving the next 10 years overnight. You win one rep at a time, one minute at a time, one breath at a time.

You stay locked in to the current moment because you have power over the current moment. That's how you tame chaos. That's how you survive storms. It's how you take your power back. Peace by piece, it's what you do in the dark. And I've seen it everywhere. I've seen it in entrepreneurs, staring down debt. I've seen it in runners on blistered feet at mile 20.

I've seen it in parents holding their family together with pure grit. Their victory wasn't that they never fell. It wasn't that they never doubted. It was simply that they refused to quit while in these shadows, while navigating the darkest corners of life, because you bet that storm will come. The question will not be whether it arrives. The question is, when it does, will it break you?

Or will it reveal you? It's what you do in the dark. So remember this. You don't have to conquer the whole mountain today. And when you're staring up at the momentous obstacle before you, that should provide relief. You don't have to carry the entire burden at once. You just have to own this moment, this rep, this breath. Because if you can be your best when you feel your worst, if you can steady yourself when everything's shaped,

you'll discover a truth that changes everything. The storm wasn't there to end you. It was there to reveal you. And what it reveals will always come down to this. It's what you do in the dark. The answer you're looking for is right there in the room, always. Now that's certainly a bold statement. And as I've gotten older, I've kind of learned to avoid speaking in absolutes.

Nothing in life was 100% guaranteed. So why am I so confident about that message? Everything you need is right there in the room always. Well, because I believe in the premise, you're always one decision away from a totally different life. And when we're stuck or lost or looking for change, we need not some crazy, grandiose answer to be delivered from the heavens. We need to find the little action, the tiny movement that's going to set us forth on the journey. We need this snowflake that will become this snowball that will become the avalanche. It seems like so much of life comes down to simply outsmarting our biology.

It's like the panic or the emotive defense mechanisms that come into play when we're sad or lost or feeling unsure or down. And it's an absolute superpower to know that when we're in those moments, what we need is an arm's length away. It's a perspective shift away. And I look over my shoulder and I see tons of examples here, right? With my keynote speaking, there was a period where it just wasn't quite. quite clicking, where I knew I wasn't performing the way I could. Then I was going back and forth on solutions, trying different things, experimenting, not quite getting there, feeling overwhelmed.

It's like, why can't I recreate there what I'm doing here? And then one email to the person who's now my speaking coach, and I had my light bulb moments. Like, everything started to transform. Or my YouTube channel, right? It's up, down, up, down, everything in between. And like I've said before, there are times where a simple thumbnail change, and that video explodes, causing the channel to explode. That's not a big, grandiose thing.

I can always change a thumbnail. That answer is sitting in the palm of my hand with my phone. Or an example that falls on the more human side of things, right? There are times where, you know, I felt like I've neglected the relationships in my life in order to really focus on my creativity and my businesses. Sometimes that mentally doesn't feel good. And I can pick up the phone, start a group chat, plan a dinner with some friends,

and feel like my cup has been refilled. It's like you don't have to have it all figured out, which is great news because you never will. You just need to start creating momentum. There's nothing more powerful than going to bed at night feeling like you are moving towards something meaningful. Again, doesn't mean you need to have it all figured out, but in a world where progress largely equates to happiness,

it means you are actively manufacturing momentum. That's everything. You know, I often think of my friend's son, Wyatt. He's become sort of a metaphor for that childlike instinct that seems to be the answer for so much. He's wandering around the living room, just reusing everything as it suits him. The world is not as it, quote unquote, is, it's as he sees it. Picks up a TV remote, becomes a microphone.

Finds a blanket, becomes the roof for the fort he's building in the living room. Everything is a solution to what he needs. Everything is a color that can go on his canvas. I think that's the place we need to be. That's the idea. The next brush stroke is in the room. Maybe it's a phone call, an email. Maybe it's a walk outside, a stroll to the gym.

Maybe it's literally cleaning your room, your apartment, or a house. Maybe it's one social media post. Maybe it's a DM. Maybe it's 10 pages of a book. Maybe it's watching a how-to YouTube video. Maybe it's signing up for a class, meeting up with someone to talk. business, life, or anything in between. See, we spend so much time trying to get to the moon

that we overlook the staircase it'll take to get there. Oh, and surprise, step one is at your feet. Don't think miracle. Think momentum. It's very hard to slow down an object in motion. So stop beating yourself up for not having all the answers and simply keep moving. Don't feel down for not having all the solutions and be proud you're walking towards them.

Remember, everything you need is in the room, always. The moral is to the physical as three is to one. A quote attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte regarding his troops' morale in battle. Victory starts and ends with mindset. So, the myth or story goes, Napoleon had a coin. And he was known prior to embarking upon particular battles to flip this coin. He would say, if it lands on heads, my friends, it's not our day. We weren't meant to fight.

We'll stay here and fight some other day. However, if it lands on tails, the gods are on our side. We're meant to charge into battle and collect our victory, for it is destiny. And every time this coin landed on tails, the army would proceed into battle. They would march into the onslaught of oncoming bullets, of weapons and fire raining down on them. And they would collect their victory. And as time passed, Napoleon died, this coin was eventually found. And upon examination, something interesting was uncovered.

The coin was tails on both sides. This coin had nothing to do with the gods. It was about preparing his men for victory in their minds before ever stepping onto a battlefield. It was about believing in an outcome before pursuing its realization. This is life. To believe something's possible

is perhaps the greatest weapon one can have in their arsenal. When you believe something is possible, the question goes from, can I to how will I? The gap is bridged, the terrain is crossed, because time is not exhausted on the likelihood of the outcome, but on its materialization. I heard someone say years ago that some of the most incredible things in history were accomplished by people too ignorant of the odds to be held back by them. Dreams are self-fulfilling prophecies. They require one be crazy enough to willingly navigate the enemy's fire. To step into hostile territory, put a stake in the ground, and live as though you were

meant to be there. To operate knowing the unknown is where answers live and excuse. It's believing that the world doesn't dictate your fate. It just adds variables to the story. It puts building blocks at your feet, places a paintbrush in your hand. You are the only one who chooses whether to stop or go, to quit, or continue. Life can place obstacles before you, but only you decide whether to bow down to them. navigate around them or march directly through them.

We win behind our eyes before we go into the world and collect our medals. The moral is to the physical as three is to one. So close your eyes, win your victories, then go out into the world, then go out into the world and collect them. Remember what's yours to control and what's not, what must be let go. Remember that nothing is so futile as attempting to move the immovable or change the unchangeable.

Remember that your greatest strength is focusing your time, talents, and efforts, exhausting your energy on that which you can. And sometimes this distinction hurts. But to fail to see it is to shackle oneself to delusion. Right? You can complain about the weather all day, but to complain about it, to focus on it,

to be stuck in it, is not going to change it. Your time would be better suited looking at how to adjust yourself to it. it. And that's what life repeatedly tells us. There's plenty we aren't happy about, plenty we wish we could change. But to stay there in that space is to forfeit your greatness, your strength. Why? Because there is so much you can control. So much you can do. You can always position yourself to succeed. But that calls for first separating what

What's yours and what's not. There are people I wish were different. There are situations I prayed were alterable. There are outcomes that are given without my asking. That's just life. And a losing mentality is to fight that, to feel anger or resentment at the people that let you down. Why couldn't they be how I want them to be?

It's to dwell on the situation that occurred despite your wishes. Why couldn't it have just happened my way? It's to refuse to acknowledge the outcomes that have already materialized. Why couldn't it just have evolved differently? All that, as hard as it is to see, is embracing a mentality of victimhood. It's walking down a path that has no desirable destination in store for you. When you accept the unchangeable,

you then become the architect of your reality. Sure, people, places, and outcomes weren't always the best, but now you ask, how can I navigate around it, or better yet, use it to my advantage. It is, to use the famous metaphor,

not shaking your fist at the wind, but building sails for your boat, creating a path to take you somewhere new. So let the energy, the time, and emotion that's wasted on the immovable dissolve. The question worth asking is, where do you most want to be, and how can you get there? And while those details outside the scope of your control can feel like a bottomless gap in your way, I promise that what's around you is enough to build a bridge over it. There's enough there for you to find your way.

So long as we learn to separate the gap from the bridge, the details from the solutions, when all you see is why you can't go or how it can't be solved or how impossible something is. It's not that you are looking at an unfortunate truth, it's that you are looking at the wrong supporting evidence. When we stop seeing the details and outside circumstances as the deciders of fate, we win. When we place our eyes upon the controllable, when we step into what is ours to move and shape and transform,

we finally see that the journey to something bigger is not only possible, It is inevitable. There's an old quote that states 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

and 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, you know, kind of weighing my options.

Took some ibuprofen, 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 could argue for the validity of postings, postponing their date with Microsoft Word, will 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 Moad 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 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. 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-perceived.

just 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 things. 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 a victory, the adversity life presents, then 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. 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 won. 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. The most important promises are the ones you make to yourself. Of all the people on planet Earth, it's most critical 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, right? 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 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, par 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, 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 have to. 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 part. 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, you 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 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. There 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 treatment. 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 yourself, 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 doesn't. To keep the promises you make to yourself is playing office. 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. The hard thing brought me through hell. but also to that which exists on the other side. The hard thing prompted me to question and doubt, but also provided the pieces I used to build my confidence little by little. It made me ask the tough questions, the ones maybe I didn't want to hear the answer to, but also gave me the power to transform those answers I didn't like.

The hard thing meant forfeiting being the expert in my world in exchange for the role of students in a foreign arena. Gave me new ladders to climb, new possibilities to reach for. It showed that true growth requires a willingness to be the beginner. It took some people out of my arms, my circle, my work, and in some cases my life, all together but always seem to open the door to those souls better aligned to those conducive to the journey and the process let's remember what the hard thing is beyond the pain because we all know it does bring that beyond the challenges because there are certainly many beyond all that exists the hope and the

change and the promise Robert Frost says the best way out is always through. Through because it's the chaos, the haze, the darkness of night that shapes us. It's in being broken that we learn to rebuild our world with the pieces, and perhaps most importantly. We learn that such a rebuilding process is possible to begin with, that the now is not mandatory or permanent. The hard thing, as it turns out, is nothing more than a transaction. Turbulence for the view above the clouds, fear in the moment for confidence in the future. It's learning that although life sometimes appears to paint a picture of conformity and helplessness,

there's always a path leading to the very place we need to go. It just asks we find the courage. to walk it. Churchill has said the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty. And this beautiful message rings true. Because from the difficulty is the advantage. And sure, our first instinct is to see the problem.

Our eyes tend to initially fix it on that which is unfortunate. But beyond that is where we get the most incredible things life provides, as if one is removing the shell or outer layer in order to get to the nutrients in the center, the ingredients required for growth, the pieces necessary to experience life at its fullest. And so we must be reminded that those opportunities, they're not rare, they're not reserved for everyone. one but you, they just tend to disguise themselves as the things we're most inclined to disregard or walk by. But if one finds the courage to move into them, through them, if one can see the difficulty not as a deterrent, but as a bargain, they'll be given everything on the other side. Reality is not changed with the magic wand or the granting of a wish. It's from staring. down the heart thing and moving directly into it one little step at a time.

Run yesterday. My mind, as it often does, began to wander. Reflecting back on all the streets I've jogged down over the last 10 years, all over the country, up north in Canada, down in Mexico, across the Atlantic. As long as my body would allow me, I was running. You could say it's become over time something of a spiritual occurrence for me. So as I made my way down A1A, I asked myself, why? Why has it meant, and why does it continue to mean so much to me,

this sort of arbitrary activity or exercise? And not only that, particularly during the times where everything else in light feels so unsteady, when there's chaos and turbulence all around me. Well, this is the conclusion that I came to. It was the clarity. It was the simplicity that continued to pull me in and keep me going. See, when I was running, I always knew what I had to do. And there was calm in that.

Reassurance. Perhaps most importantly, a purpose. Looking back, those days where it's 94 in Miami and August, The sun's coming down. You know, I'm suffering through the run. Or days where I'm running through storms, thunder, you know, cracking all around me, my heart racing, because I know it's kind of dangerous to be there, but what am I going to do? I have to keep going.

Those days up in New England in the northeast, right, in the winter, that first mile where you step outside and the wind sort of cuts through you. You feel it in your bones. All that's uncomfortable. But problems, they seem manageable when you know where you're going. When you understand the rules of the game. And the rules of the game, every time I laced up my shoes, they were simple. You start at one point and you don't stop until you arrive at the other specified point. It placed stability into an ever-evolving landscape.

It reminded me during the most difficult times what it was like to be in full control. I'm going to say something that may appear drastic here. I'm sure many of you know that saying simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, attributed to everyone from Lincoln to Da Vinci to your next door neighbor. Well, I believe that simplicity saved my life. And I think it did many times. It's been a very up and down journey, as they all are, right? And growth is injecting yourself into a world you don't understand. It has to be, definitionally.

It's being oversaturated with options. The road less traveled is paved in distraction. And when my purpose and my path felt like they were deteriorating before my very eyes, when my understanding of life felt like it was slipping away, which is a pain pretty different than stubbing your toe, right? It feels much bigger, it's much scarier. It was faith in my ability to slay the dragon and find the treasure that empowered me. It was the thing that reminded me when I break things down into little objectives.

Not only do you conquer them, but you identify as someone who conquers them. It's peeling back the layers of complexity that reminded me amidst the clutter and the noise. There's simplicity in what I was meant to do. The shiny objects need not divert my attention. We just need to take the time to identify our finish lines. And they can change what matters sometimes does. But the moral of the story is you can't live life trying to hit targets in the dark. And it just makes sense.

Issues with the project I'm working on, go for a run. Feeling confused, frustrated, go for a run. Argument with the girlfriend. Go for a run, run, run, run. And I'd come back with less in my head than I left with, which would funny enough, ultimately, be more than I left with, right? The space to think about what matters. The simplicity of starting points and ending points. Nothing in life is that complicated.

It's not. But we have a tendency amidst life storms to stop running. During the heat waves, we forget why we're there. We lose that simplicity. We lose our purpose and our meaning because we let the... The unimportant things become the big things. I think that's what running is. A reminder that when life is simple, we understand where we're going.

Simplicity isn't convenience, it's what keeps your heart beating in your eyes open. It is life. It's waking up, knowing what matters to you so that you can push away the things that don't. It's that reassurance that, yeah, there's a world of infinity outside the window. But what makes you brilliant is that you can identify and latch on to a small few things. The world around us often says, you know, we need to use the whole canvas. But I say there's nothing wrong with identifying your favorite color and going from there. I say identifying your destination and moving towards it wholeheartedly with conviction is a superpower.

And it doesn't mean we don't stop along the way. It doesn't mean nature won't push us off course from time to time. But for one who's taken the time to identify for themselves a finish line, they are never truly lost, even during the most trying of times, because all that's required is a re-pointing of the compass. I will continue to run for as long as I can, because the further one moves into that abyss. The Morlife says, look over here.

A is important. No, B is what you need. You'll never succeed without me or him or them. This way, that way. Some in-between way is the right way. But, no, all that is distraction. It makes you feel small very quickly and will make you feel unsure and ill-equipped just as fast.

In my mind, the beauty in life is taking all that supposed complexity and finding within it what's required to paint our own masterpieces, to run our own races. Life is a run around the Charles. A run down the Hollywood boardwalk. A run to the Dania Beach Pier.

It's knowing where your heart needs to go and following it there. It's saying yes when required and know when required, but understanding you are the one who decides what required means. Beauty is simple. Contentment is simple. Meaning is simple. And we can always access those things. They're buried under the complexity we spend our day-to-day swimming in.

So, neighbor, here's to the ultimate sophistication. To getting more than you've ever had in your life by building your own parameters out of less. Someday, the things that you currently don't understand will make sense. Someday the big things you're dealing with won't seem so big anymore. Someday the doubts you have about yourself will be revealed as false. Someday you'll see that the things you worry about didn't matter at all. Someday you'll see that the road before you wasn't something you had to walk flawlessly, but rather something you had to trust and believe in.

Someday you'll look in the mirror and see that you had it in you the entire time, that there was nothing you needed or should have been hoping for. Yeah, someday. Someday that will all be true. But what about some days from the past? I remember years ago thinking someday I would venture out into the world. Someday I'd speak my mind. Someday I would start my own business.

I would surround myself with people who believed in what I believe. Someday I'd make a little more money, have a little more time to do what I love. Someday I'd have all that. And as I look around, I realize it looks a lot like someday. But guess what? As we grow, so do our some days. It's a chase that never. end. There's always something more. There's always something bigger and better. And the problem is not

the ambition. The problem is forgetting that in so many ways, you've dreamt of being where you stand right now. You have arrived. You're not the same person that 10 years ago was throwing some days out into the universe? No, you have grown. You have learned. You have evolved. Why does this matter? It matters. Because without acknowledging how far you've come, you cannot acquire the strength needed to go where you must go. When you don't feel good enough, it's often because you haven't looked over your shoulder and opened your eyes. The evidence is right there. It's hiding in plain sight.

There's proof that you've been there. That you faced demons and conquered them. Endured your battles and overcame. You did that. And at one point not that long ago, you couldn't say that you had. You weren't yet that. person, but things are different. Now, what you have today was once only that hopeful someday.

It was a fleeting thought. It had no merit and no value, yet you brought it to life. Look what you've done. Understand how far you've come, how you ran when you could, you walked when it was possible, you crawled when you had to. And, continued on to arrive at a someday that is right now. You, my friend, are a maker of things unseen, an architect of tomorrow's and some days. So don't you dare. Don't you ever entertain the delusion that this gift suddenly stops now.

Suddenly the burden is too much. The mountain is too tall. No, what you do is overcome. is who you are. You've done it for you. You've done it for the ones you love. And in some cases, the ones who didn't even understand, but you kept going, marching through the fires of hell

to turn some days into right now. And I get that the road before you is uncertain. There's no way to know exactly how life will unfold. But that's besides the point. A bird can't predict every gust of wind it's going to encounter. It spreads its wings, takes off, and adapts because it can, because it always has, because that's what it does. I'm not advocating that you should have all the answers. No, I'm suggesting that you trust yourself to find them.

To move forward into the haze that surrounds you, to make sense of the seemingly illogical, bring about reality from the make-believe. Someday you will have what you're aiming for. But here's to never letting a today go by without realizing that you are always living out a someday from your past, you are always arriving and leaving simultaneously. The accomplished and the student, crossing the finish line and on the starting block with another race around the corner, another chance to stretch your leg. in reach for the heavens.

If you ever forget that, I ask that you find it within yourself to look over your shoulder, to remember what you once asked for, and to appreciate the journey that you have undertaken. You did that. Now onward you go,

you have more some days to bring to life. You don't have to know everything. everything. In fact, you don't even need to know most things. But you do have to know that progress often calls for us to move forward without knowing. It asks that we're willing to learn along the way to pick up the pieces as we walk by them. That's a vulnerability that is sometimes tough to face. Right? It's a nakedness that we never really shake. The idea that in order to grow, we have to leave the now, ill-prepared for tomorrow, but knowing that we have everything we need to make the transition.

The losses become lessons. The failures become data points. The mistakes become our clarity. And until we understand this, there really isn't an upward trajectory. We place too much value. on the known, the things we understand, the cyclical nature of a day-to-day that is, as much as life can be, predictable and determined.

Characteristics that are actually antithetical to growth. In fact, one could make an argument that in this incredible day and age of information, our need and ability to know often comes at the expense of true transformation. I studied podcasts for so long before I started one that I could have created and improved upon my own, I don't know, 400 times over.

I had to find out who uses what, when to upload, how long the episode should be, and on and on. There are books and videos, there are classes and coaches and coaches. All of it wonderful, I'm sure, in its own way. But nothing so powerful as that university of experience of life, the idea of the thinker and the doer.

The thinker that absorbs and contemplates weighs one option versus another and another. Exhausting time sufficient for the doer. to fall on her face twice, pick up the pieces, make necessary changes, and be on her way. See, the information is out there. It exists and can be incredibly valuable, but simultaneously can contribute to us thinking our way into stagnation. A thing can only be what you make in.

Things provide the value you decide to extract from them. I like using the example of water because it's simple. Water is necessary to sustain life. Without it, one cannot go on. Too much of it, however, can sink a ship or flood a building. Too much is disastrous. And you can pretty much fill in the blank with anything else here to demonstrate that point. Life is a balance between not enough and too much.

scarcity and excess. My opinion is that now, with regard to information and technology, we exist on the too much side of the spectrum. I mean, I can't even remember the last time I was having a conversation about something I wasn't sure about without interrupting it to pull out my phone and Google the answer. Again, this has its positives. Knowledge is power, but to what extent?

And I'm talking big picture. here. This is about so much more than, you know, picking up a phone to Google information. This is about never feeling like we're equipped enough to step into something new. Because we can always be obtaining more. And it's like, where do you draw that line? I now, because of the accessibility of information, find myself frequently staring like a deer in headlights because some minor detail hasn't been made clear to me because everything is not perfectly ironed out my brain has become conditioned to know because knowing is now incredibly easy but life is about generating a

meaningful existence meaning is carved from unknowns it's not googled or found on Wikipedia a podcast or YouTube video can't give you you meaning. It might help you prepare or point you in the right direction, but meaning is about self-discovery. It's about, yeah, taking those things you learn, but

giving them life. You know, it's pulled out of the world around you like diamonds from the earth. Necessarily calling for going when you don't know exactly what the destination looks like, starting when you don't know what the end result will be. We are

consuming at the expense of living, absorbing at the expense of feeling, right? There's the idea that a business book is not the same thing as creating a business. Being on social media is not the same thing as being social. It's an aspect of those things served up without the risk or the upside. That is not real life. And one of my favorite movies, Goodwill Hunting, Robin Williams' character, a therapist, is talking to Matt Damon's character. He plays this brilliant young man who has, you know, a photographic memory, he's read every book in the library, he's a genius.

But even with all that, he doesn't quite have the courage to move out of his little world into something bigger, into the opportunity that's available for him. If only he'd find the strength to seek it out. And here's a segment of Robin Williams trying to explain that to Matt Damon. He says, so if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me this skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about life's work, political aspirations, him and the Pope, sexual orientation, whole works, right? But I bet you can't tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You've never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling, seen that. If I asked you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus on your personal favorites.

You may have you been late a few times. But you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. I ask you about war and you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me, right? Once into the breach, dear friends. But you've never been near one. You've never held your best friend's head in your lap and watched him. gasp his last breath looking to you for help.

I look at you. I don't see an intelligent, confident man. I see a cocky, scared kid. And the quote goes on, but the idea is a powerful one. And one of the reasons I've rewatched that scene over and over, it's not that he's trying to belittle the character. He's trying to help him explore the depths of his own personality, his needs and desires, trying to arm him with the understanding that he's strong enough to move

beyond the walls he's built around himself, that all that knowledge he's obtained and acquired is meaningless unless he gives it life. Knowing isn't enough. And I want to qualify this again because it's important you meet me where I am. I'm not making a case for ignorance or, you know, books, knowledge, understanding. That's critical. but it's the other piece that makes life worth living. You don't get the reward without the risk, and the risk requires that one moves into the haze without clear understanding of an outcome.

It's moving into life without total certainty, and we are hardwired for that certainty. We're built to want to know. And now, on top of that, we have the tools to take in infinite knowledge. I want this to be a reminder that we have to circumnavigate that idea to some extent. We have to trust ourselves to figure things out as we go.

That waiting until we have everything figured out simply leaves the door crack for regret to sneak in and make itself comfortable. There's an entire world out there waiting for you not to have it all figured out, but to instead stumble upon the realization that you don't have to know. To move forward, you have to simply trust. That's when the world will transform before your eyes. 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, 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 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 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, 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-examined. 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.

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. 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. Grow because of it. Today is your opportunity to take what the world gives you and build something new.