Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - If You Want Your Life to Change, Listen to This

Episode Date: January 21, 2026

If I could tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: You have more control over your life than you think. Where you start isn’t always fair. We don’t all get dealt the same hand. That part isn’t your fault. But what you decide to do with it is.This message is about personal responsibility, self-ownership, and the hard truth that growth requires sacrifice.It’s easier to be the victim than the hero. Blame feels comfortable. Ownership changes everything.In this talk, I explore:• Why blaming others keeps you stuck• The difference between responsibility and guilt• Why life isn’t fair, but opportunity still exists• How self-discipline creates direction• Why real change begins in the mirrorTaking control of your life isn’t easy. But it’s worth it.Stop waiting. Stop outsourcing your power. And start moving forward, one decision at a time.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

What's one thing I wish I knew when I was younger that I think people could benefit from today? What single piece of information could have the biggest impact? I spent some time thinking about this question, and the more I think about it, the more the answer becomes incredibly apparent. It's that you are in control of your own life, your own destiny, your own future. And when you take accountability for yourself, life changes. Period. And if you thought that was obvious, I would advocate taking a look around. Maybe a stroll through social media, the Twitters and Instagrams, and TikToks of today.

And no, that's not the real world, but it's certainly a microcosm of the real world. What do you see? Well, you see chronic blame? I don't like where I'm at or things are, so that must be. be your fault or their fault or someone else's fault. You see people looking everywhere but in the mirror. Actually seeking out victimhood. Because that's what brings the attention.

That's today's currency. It's much easier to be the victim than the hero, because being the hero means you have to sacrifice something. It's people saying the news or some institution or the federal government is the problem. and if those things would only change, then we'd be good. Let me explain why I think this mentality is self-sabotage. And why I would take younger me by the hand, and I would say, listen to what I'm about to tell you.

Where you start is often outside of our control. Let's be real, life is not fair. We don't all get dealt the same hand. But this next part, as I once heard Will Smith articulate beautifully, is the same for everyone. What you decide to do about it right now is what matters. And that is the control that we all have. It's not your fault where you start, but it's your responsibility to choose where you end up. You can shake your fist at the same.

sky or you can start building a life that matters to you. It's easy to blame the world, to be the victim, at least in the short term. But a fulfilling life is about meaning, about fighting for something valuable, about evolving into the version of yourself that you always knew in your heart you could be. You just had to unlock. See, no one down the road was ever happy with themselves. for blaming the world while they bitterly remained stagnant. I would say to a younger me, worry less about how you're perceived and think more about who you are, what you're capable of, because that you can always control. Stop losing yourself in the news or whatever the narrative of the day is.

That has nothing to do with your progression, has nothing to do with your very next step. So sure, be informed, but do more, consume less. because by and large it's a distraction. And I would say the government, which has become the crux of our discourse today, transforming into a modern-day religion, look, the government's job is not to give you anything. It's there to protect what's inherent to you already.

Your right to live life on your terms. See, satisfaction, it will come from good habits. It will come from self-belief. It will come from taking risks and failing and learning. It will come from the courage to step out into a world that's completely unknown. It will never come from a self-interested politician or body in Washington, red or blue. So stop whining about political optics and focus on where your two feet are taking you right now. Because I promise in the grand scheme of things, that's what matters.

That is your strength. Expecting someone else to come along and change your life is like screaming into an abyss. I would say to my younger self, when you start looking around and seeing what everyone else has, and beating yourself up for not being as good or feeling like you're behind, look, it's great that their success motivates you, but dwelling on it won't make your life better. Life is a race between you and you. It's a fight between your self. yourself and those thoughts that constantly knock on the door, looking to settle into your psyche. If you defeat that demon, you'll be where you want to be, regardless of where others are.

You're right where you need to be, so keep your head up and keep moving forward. How to explain that to become something more, to change, requires a sacrifice that feels so substantial, so big at first, that it bullies most people into staying right where they are. That to become something new, you have to learn to play the fool, to get humbled, you have to change your relationship with short-term failure. And that's not easy. But taking control of your life is not supposed to be easy. Only worth it.

They're different. I can certainly look back at my own life, think about the times where I was so busy pointing out that I didn't even think to point the finger at myself. I was so worried about life being unfair that I existed in this temporary state of paralysis. The whole time not knowing that I could have been stepping forward. Could have been tapping into the single greatest power I possess control over my own life. See, every time you feel anger or the need to blame those around you, you're taking the spotlight off of what matters and placing it on things detrimental to where you want to be, to your journey

and your future. Even the most unjust, arbitrary things, let's say you didn't get that promotion you were beyond qualified for, where you were mistreated by someone or things didn't go the way you wanted them to. You can fill in that blank, but refusing to blame. others and immediately taking responsibility. Again, even in a situation like that, it gives you one of the greatest advantages in life. It gives you that gift of control. You can now assess the situation. You can now ask yourself, hey, what can I do to change this? You can delve into the

why, find the lessons and the value. You can come back and re-approach this thing stronger. Because to blame others, to take on that role of victim, it's essentially living life in the passenger seat. It might be easier. It might be less work, less responsibility, but what you never have is control over where that car goes. But when you own it, when you say, hey, maybe it's not my fault, but look, it's mine now. It's my responsibility. The good, the bad, every aspect of my life. It puts you in position to change things, to take the wheel and reroute to a destination of your choosing.

So that would be my message to the world. I know it's not an easy road. I know life is unfair. I know things aren't perfect. But the best thing you can ever do for yourself is say, you know what? This is mine to own. And I'm going to look around for that light switch that will create momentum. That little decision that will get the ball rolling.

I'm not going to sit back, shake my fist and blame life. I'm going to walk out that door and create life. That's where you'll find what you're truly looking for. 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 show. 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. The other day, I went to check out an open mic. And basically people sign up to share their short stories, their poetry, stuff like that. And I'm sitting there soaking it all in, enjoying each one as they went up on stage. And eventually this girl makes her way up. The first thing she does is she tells the room, hey, I've never done this before,

but I've always wanted to, so here I am. She takes out her phone and begins reading some of her poems. And pretty quickly, two things stuck out to me. One is she was brilliant. And it's just so incredibly talented that I'm thinking, man, if she keeps doing this, she's going to find herself in some crazy places, she's really going to make an impact. That was the first thing. And the second, as I sat there and watched, was that I noticed that her hands were visibly shaking. I was pretty close to this stage.

And I could see this happening to the point where she had to place one on top of the other, right, to keep the hand that was holding her phone from bouncing around while she read. That's how visibly nervous she was. And immediately my mind went down this road, reflecting back on the moments I've had just like that, because, man, I've been there, where you're both determined and terrified at the same time. But somehow, the desire to try outweighs the fear just enough for you to find yourself in that exact situation.

Just enough that you step in. into a foreign world, still wondering whether you made the right move, you know, every step of the way from the car, the building, onto this stage, until you hit the point where, okay, well, now you can't turn back. Now you're here, you can't leave. And the thing is, and this is what was so beautiful to me, she was never forced to do this at gunpoint. No one made her step into that chaos.

It was self-created. She could have stayed home. She could have closed her journal or the notes app on her phone, and that would have been the end of that. But no, not today. Today, one yes would lead to another. Would lead to another and another. And despite the nerves, the sweaty palms, and shaky hands, she would open a new chapter in the story of her life. proved to herself that she's bolder than she thought she was just a few hours ago.

That there's upside when you confront those unknowns in life. And as I sat and watched, I was so incredibly moved, so proud, so impressed. Partly because I know that to many of the people in that room, it might not have looked like much. You know, it's like, okay, great, round of applause for the new artist or poet. Welcome. But I knew the gravity of the moment. I understood how big it truly was. And regardless of what words came out of her mouth or how well they were assembled,

that night was not about the performance. No, it was about new beginnings. It was about outstretched wings, opening one's eyes to the learned helplessness and pinpointing the opportunity that was simply waiting for that first time. to occur. And see, that's what I want to emphasize. That's what I believe every single one of us needs to understand, to fully get the biggest moves we make in life.

Well, it's easy to convince ourselves that they aren't necessary or worth it. The things that transform us hide themselves. A lot of the time, they don't feel urgent. They aren't life or death decisions. They can be the stages we never step on. The people we never talk to, the chances we never take. Because, well, what happens if we simply stay right where we are? Say thank you, but no thank you to those fleeting opportunities.

Nothing. Nothing happens. More of the same. And realistically, nothing is far less scary than all that other stuff. We don't fear nothingness. We don't intrinsically fear more of the same. No, we fear stepping onto the stage. We fear vulnerability.

We fear messing up, looking stupid, being judged. And yeah, when you do nothing, you get to skip all that. Avoid all that discomfort and that potential pain. But you also miss the feeling of victory. of closing your eyes at night knowing how badly you wanted to just let that ship sail, how terrified you were about what could go wrong, but you did it anyway. You get to feel you have earned the rush of stepping into a chaotic world. And even if temporarily you tamed it, that's what life is about.

Always remember that we have a natural proclivity to avoid pain. not to pursue the things that make us feel alive. Deep down in our DNA, there exist instructions, instructions to run away from the things that could hurt us, embarrass us. Our minds will race, our bodies will kick and scream, our hands will shake, that's just the way it goes. And so we prove to ourselves that it's all conquerable, that reality can be relearned.

It's a layer of resistance that has to be faced and then dismantled. Why was I so moved that night? Because I got to watch in real time someone dismantling that fear on their way to something incredible. It's courage. Stepping into the arena. Not for the people next to you or anyone else, but for you. Because you know there's more. you know that where you are pales in comparison to where you can be.

I'm definitely one to look back from time to time and reflect, and I'll tell you what, I'm incredibly thankful for the hard times that shaped me, the challenges that were forced upon me and made me who I am. But beyond that, and perhaps even more so, the times I stepped out on my own accord, terrified and manufactured change. The times that the fear of staying the same eclipsed the fear of failure. The times I could have stayed home, woken up the next morning and lost nothing,

but instead saw what there was to be gained and threw myself into that metaphorical fire so that confidence could be forged and new chapters could be written. Let's all remember how out of focus the present moment looks. Remember how inclined we are to look at life through a lens of scarcity. We are trying to avoid, avoid, avoid. But if you can even briefly find the strength to step back and ask, what is there to be gained? You see that not going is the real danger.

And those stages that seem arbitrary, that seem like optional stops along the way, while they're just as imperative as the air you breathe. They are not some things. They are everything. We all hit a point where we look back on the roads we traveled and see the culmination of footsteps that have come to constitute our lives. And we want that moment to feel full.

Like no stone was left unturned, like we put it all on the line. So will you step onto this stage of life? Stand your ground as the curtain opens, read your poems to a foreign audience. Will you share your voice even though it trembles? Because if you do, you're giving yourself permission

to truly live, to feel. Look, we're not here for a long time. for a long time. This is a very short ride. So why not give as much of yourself to the world for as long as you possibly can? Why not step out knowing that the difference between nothing and everything is what you do with shaky hands? Normality is a paved road. It's comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow. Vincent Van Gogh. What is normality?

Well, according to the dictionary, normal is the usual average or typical state or condition. Common. Normal is also a decision. There's a quote by Robin Sharma, and I've looked to this for years, it states,

if you want what the 5% have, you need to be willing to do what only the 5% are willing to do. What they obtain is not definitionally speaking normal. It's uncommon. And what they do to arrive at that outcome is also uncommon. They play by a different set of rules, and in doing so, end up with an entirely different outcome than most.

To put it simply, we arrive at normal when our effort level is normal. You put in normal hours or give average effort at work. Most likely your results, career progress, compensation will be normal. You pay moderate attention to your fitness, your health. Well, your level of physical fitness will be normal. You dedicate typical levels of effort to your relationships. Your relationships will be normal. Not terrible, but not remarkable.

I'm sure you get the idea here, the pattern. Generally, over time, what we get starts to reflect what we gave. And here's where the self-assessment comes in, the awareness. You have to ask yourself in pursuit of something greater whether your actions are aligning with your goals and objectives. There's nothing so futile is telling yourself you're going to achieve miraculous larger-than-life outcomes and then putting in average typical normal effort.

If normal goes in, normal comes out. And as I was thinking about this recently, as it pertains to my life, I had a little epiphany. So fitness is a big area of focus for me. I run or do some type of strength training six days a week. As far as I can tell, that level of effort is beyond normal. I go above and beyond in that area. of my life. But even though I'm aligned on my mission to be the 5% there, I realized there was a gap.

I realized my diet was very normal, completely unextorinary. It's just easy to convince yourself to eat whatever you want after a really long run, right? Why not pizza? After all, it's the normal thing to do. But I had to remind myself that what I wanted in that area of my life, is not normal. Therefore, the inputs cannot be normal. It was time to start standing up to those things that are very easy to say yes to, to rationalize. And that's the idea here. I pick my 5% categories where I truly want to excel and make sure

there is nothing normal about their development. You want top-tier results. You have to give top-tier effort, make the sacrifices, map out the path. You know, I've come to see this differently over the years. It's not an indictment against you as a person for choosing normal. But know that it is indicative of a choice. And the output eventually comes to align with the input. All the actions or lack thereof stack up to resolve.

to resemble something and it's up to you to decide what that is and so the next question perhaps somewhat of an obvious one is when it comes to the things that matter most to you why stay confined to normal it's the above and beyond the peak experiences the times we overcame

fought and won took the risk and came out on top That's when we are at our best. That's when we get the most from life. So is normal the end of the world? No. It's just that abnormal is the beginning of one. The world, it needs you.

But it needs the real you. Not the one with the mask looking to blend in. Nor the one making all those concessions to avoid being left out. No, the real you. With your flaws and your insufficiencies, your strengths and your gifts, your hopes and your dreams, it needs the you that so often hides away

underneath that blanket of caution and skepticism. The you that's coupled with vulnerable, more easily ignored than brought to life with conviction, but that's the you this world needs. When I was younger, I seemed to separate life into two categories. Me and one and everyone else in the other. And guess which of the two categories I assumed had it all figured out? In my mind, I was the one, the only one who didn't know.

didn't know, the one who was winging it, stumbling my way through each and every day. All those other people though, they not only had plans, they had the right plans. They knew the right details, but I didn't. And so in my head, me being right required I necessarily look to them. I follow their lead. If there exists an established, correct path, that must be where I steer the ship. But then some time passes. You grow older, maybe pick up a little wisdom along the way.

And you realize that no one really knows what they're doing. There are very few objectively correct roads that must be traveled. Life is not a paint by number, it's a blank canvas. And understanding this changed the image in my head, from one of me knocking on the door of a party everyone else was at, to visualizing almost 8 billion individual souls running around trying to figure things out in the limited stretch of time they have here on planet Earth. I realized I had at times felt small only because of the gravity I attributed to people. people who were just trying to figure it out themselves. And the point, certainly not to diminish anyone else's journey,

it was to give myself permission to embark upon my own. It's hard to do that when you view everyone else as one collective, all-knowing entity. As opposed to 8 billion people just like you with thoughts, fears, hopes, and plans. The question is not what is the right thing to do here. The question is, when will you allow yourself to venture out into the world and find what the right thing means for you? That's what's required. And the world will be better for you having found it, because after all, no one sees life like you do. No one has the background or worldview.

The universe has conspired to put you as you are here now. Almost an impossible occurrence in and of itself. How easy that is to forget. We were born on the summit, yet the inclination for some reason is to keep our eyes closed. No, open them. Take it all in. Allow the view to propel you forward. The world needs you.

It needs you with your mistakes that have helped you evolve into the person you could never have been without them. It needs you with your worries and your fears. Conquering them will be pivotal in your evolution. It needs you with your flaws and blemishes. How else would life convince you that the things that make you different are the same things that make you strong? It doesn't matter how many people tell you or try to explain to you the magnitude of what's at your feet. Life does not begin until you allow yourself. to start living.

And so you realize that yesterday does not define you. And the categories in which you've placed yourself they're transitory. The past is not the reason you can or can't begin again. It's not who you are forever. No, it's the advantage you now possess as you move forward should you choose to move forward. It's in realizing you are bound by nothing

that you free yourself. And for the one wondering, why does it matter what I think? Why should I start or try or risk anything? Why should I pick up the brush and start painting on that canvas before me? Well, because that step is where it all begins, the meaning, the purpose, it's all predicated upon our willingness to pick that brush up and start painting.

You ask what's the point? The point is everything. One detail at a time. we dismantle our previously held notions about what life is supposed to be and finally start living one that matters. No one's masterpiece will look like yours. No one's depiction of life will follow the same parameters you've etched onto that canvas. In fact, there are people that will be changed forever because you chose to live your life fully. There are lives of those around you that will be transformed because you are. picked up the brush.

There are stories that will now end in triumph because you found the courage to start, to see light in yourself. You being fulfilled and the world being better off, they're not two different things. When you live a life true to yourself, when you let go of the half-toes and step into the get-toes, the world experiences the luxury

of the beauty that comes next. When you fill your cup up first, you're able to then replenish those around you. That's not nothing. So who are you? Beneath the characterizations, beneath the roles you've taken on, beneath what you feel you're supposed to be.

All that. Who are you and will you give life to that person? Will you be that courageous? After all, that's what life is. It's not a game of right and wrong so much as it's a game of courage. The ones willing to take the leap end up worlds away from where they began. So my ask of you is that you begin tearing down those walls created in your head. The ones that accumulated over days and months and years.

The ones that box you in or keep you out that suggest you are, anything other than that one in 400 trillion miracle, ready to embark upon the ride of a lifetime. And sure, it means shedding the comfort of obscurity, the safety of projection. Looking yourself in the mirror and saying, I am worth it. And there's more out there means without question you are taking off the training wheels, dancing with vulnerability. But it also means When that time comes and you look back on how you lived your days, you can say I truly, you can say that the world needed me, and I had the courage to heed its call. I came across a quote recently that said the road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces.

I thought this demonstrated or captured a realization that's pretty hard to articulate. And that is just how tempting it is to rationalize, stopping, or discontinuing your journey when life gets tough. How much sense it always makes to want to call it quits when things get uncomfortable. It's like, it's not just that doing something valuable is hard. It's that it's hard, and every three feet there's an invitation to not have to do it anymore. There's an endless supply of exit signs and escape route. Therefore, accomplishing a goal is simultaneously saying yes to the challenging things, while also saying no to the comfortable things. It's fighting off two demons at once.

The good news, though, is that you were made to do just that. You just have to change the way you internalize the process. You have to change what you see along the way. I talk a lot about perfection. perfection as the enemy. And that's something I wholeheartedly believe to be true. But I generally talk about it in the context of perfection, keeping us from starting.

Right? I try and unveil perfection as this defense mechanism that it truly is. Oh, things aren't perfect. I'll wait. Things aren't exactly where I want them to be. Then I won't go. emphasizing that it's in going that perfection is crafted, like a statue being chiseled from stone. You fall, you get back up and find that in doing so,

you end up with a little more clarity than you had when you started. You let the trials and tribulations of the journey refine the product. And so that's the beginning, right? That's finding the courage to start, removing the idea of perfect when really it's just our fears masked. But what about when you've already started? What about when you're underway, when you're in the midst of those trials and tribulations?

Because we all know this. When you're in pain, your body wants one thing to remove yourself from the pain. When things are uncomfortable, your default is to seek out those aforementioned parts. parking spaces. Reprieve from the grasp of the unknown. Things aren't perfect, then I'm done here. Things feel awkward or uncomfortable or unclear, then why bother? What I want to do right now is make the argument that it's most important to continue forward when we're in these moments. It's most

critical to move forward when the road is unclear and those tempting parking spaces start revealing themselves. Things are not perfect, maybe even far from perfect. And this is right about the time when we forget why we started. I've run into this in my past, right, particularly with injuries. There was a period in my not too distant past when my ankle and shoulder were simultaneously messed up, right? So couldn't run, couldn't really do any upper body work. My physical activity really took a dive. So I'm a little discouraged. And sure enough, I found the eat whatever you want parking space. It's like, who cares?

You're not working out. What's the point? Just focus on the business. Put a pause on all that stuff. And then eating whatever I wanted became, well, what's the point of getting up at five when I could just get up at seven? I sleep two hours longer is how I rationalize it. It's not like I'm going to be running.

And then there goes some very important alone. time, thinking time, and you can see how easily the wheels sort of fall off the wagon, not because you're a bad person or don't want the result, but because the second thing stopped being perfect or working the way I wanted them to, I found a parking space. There will be few stretches of time in life when everything's perfect. Things going exactly how you want them to. It will simply be the exception, not the rule. And then the question becomes, can you put your head down and continue forward knowing that life will call for adaptation and adjustment?

But that those tempting exit signs are not for you. They are weakness. They are for those who forget their strength and their courage. I mentioned a little while ago that growth is fighting two demons. Saying yes to the mountain ahead and no to the off-rams. But when you step back and look at things different, you change the dynamic. You put the odds in your favor. When the off-ramps become reminders of your strength as you pass them one by one,

indicators of your commitment to move forward. And when the mountain ahead becomes merely the way, not some giant sacrifice or monster, but merely a path, Things simplify in a way that empowers you on your mission. There is no perfect or imperfect. There is adjusting when necessary and taking the next little step along the way. And using the previous example, it's like, I'm injured, okay, this will definitely be a time for adjustment. Maybe it's yoga, stretching, practicing being more patient, maybe greater emphasis on meditation, mental strength, whatever it is, but

we don't stop, we continue stepping forward. The next step will look a little different, but that's all. If perfect is a standard one seeking to maintain, they'll always be pulling over, they'll always be backing off, because very rarely do we have stretches of perfection. Life is an adjustment game, not a perfection game. Life asks, what can you do when your hands are tied behind your back? What can you do when you're tired?

What can you do when you've just endured loss? When your pride hurts, your plans fail. And trust me, that's when you see all those off-ramps. That's when something in the back of your mind says, hey, all this goes away if you just throw in the towel. Just go seek perfection somewhere else. You'll find it there, but you can chase that rabbit down a million paths. There is no perfection waiting for you and there is no flawless pursuit.

Life comes down to what will you do now, where you are with what you have, can you find a way to win when it hurts? Look, we all need to understand that life is innately difficult. And success calls for a simplification. that is adapting and stepping forward. That's all. Things are hard, you step. Things don't go as you planned, you adapt, and you step.

But you are always moving towards that North Star. Whatever it is for you, it's deeming those parking spaces insignificant with regard to your life and your journey. Quitting is not brought about by the external world, No, failure is a decision. Failure is saying, you know what, this costs more effort than I'm willing to pay. Those parking spaces have become more tempting than the top of this mountain.

Failure is a choice. And so, for one to succeed, they must simply stay in motion. Choose adaptation over a self-imposed end. Yeah, enjoy those moments. of perfection, the times the stars do align. But see them as the exception, not the rule. We are not defined when things are great. We are defined by our ability to pick up the pieces

and keep moving forward when they're not. Our lives are shaped by the exits. We don't take the parking spaces. We don't even notice as we ascend the mountain that is light. because anything other than the road ahead was never an option. You didn't succeed because things were perfect. You succeeded because you found a way to win when they weren't.