Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - IT’S TIME TO FOCUS - Powerful Motivational Speech

Episode Date: May 27, 2024

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” - Gandalf in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube  In this episode, we delve into the importance of refocusing on what truly matters. Eddie Pinero discusses the distractions that can hinder our progress and the need to identify and pursue our true goals. He encourages shaking things up when necessary, evaluating our actions and relationships, and ensuring they align with our aspirations. Eddie highlights the dangers of expecting success without committing to the necessary actions and offers insights on how to recognize deviations and get back on track to achieve our dreams. Tune in to learn how to refocus and realign with your true path.

I'm gonna be selfish because this message is exactly what I need right now. Exactly what I need to walk myself through. And so I'm gonna dive into it fully with the hope that in some context, in some capacity, you can pull this message or idea, inject it into your own life, whatever it is, going through, whatever it is you're navigating. Long story short, it's the shiny objects again. It's forgetting what brought me here, what I love, what matters most. It's looking around, knowing the destination, but spending time doing me things that aren't bringing me there. So how

does that happen? Misalignment tends to sneak up like a lion stalking its prey. In fact, Sometimes I imagine the value of a giant mosquito net that could be placed around the things that matter so that all that complexity can't make its way in. Let the externalities remain external, right? And I walk and I think and I wonder, why is simplicity so difficult to protect? Why is alignment always seeking to collapse in on itself? And personally, why is my inkling? the second I stopped paying attention

to wander off the tracks and navigate in circles. And well, that's the good news. It's like when you realize you've wandered off track or you're in aren't yours, you can finally do something about it. In fact, that may be the most important part. Life is about casting and reeling in, casting and reeling in.

It's fire. Fire aim. Fire aim. Fire aim. Aim. Maybe wandering places we shouldn't be shines the greatest spotlight on where we should be. It's the best way to wake up one's intuition.

Because intuition tells you what you already know. But it's magic is that it tells you so loudly that it drowns out the minutia. The brain needs the heart. Otherwise, we become capable doers of meaningless things. I think life-changing things generally are not complex things. Let's do the exercise.

The same exercise I've been doing for years. The ultimate self-awareness assessment. A, where is your finish line? Close your eyes. Do you see it? Can you picture it? Okay, perfect. Now, B, how are you spending your time?

And is how you're spending your time taking you to that finish line? Is who you're spending your time with taking you to that finish line? Or maybe you need to shake the snow globe entirely. Maybe you need to define what your finish lines are, which may just be the spot I currently find myself. micro example the other day I was with my trainer doing some barbell

overhead shoulder press and you know was focusing on the top of the movement and he says look for what we are trying to do here sculpt and define your shoulders

you're paying attention to things that don't matter that are not creating the greatest impact the greatest impact is going to be the lower a third of the movement So focus there. And it's a smaller example of a macro question. Are you focusing your time and energy on the things that are going to get you to where you need to be?

J.R. Token wrote through his character, Gandalf, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. I love that quote. That quote is everything. the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. We are what we do, what we focus on. And so when time passes, when we look around and see less and less correlation

between how time is spent and where we want to be, the e-break needs to be pulled. Expecting something without committing to the required action to bring it to life, well, that's pretty close to delusion, if you ask me. And I've danced around that flame of delusion many times before. Sometimes without thinking or ignorance, sometimes simply being wrong. But it's happened, right?

Like, why am I not gaining muscle or improving my physique? I would ask myself, as I ran 10 miles a day, six days a week in South Florida. Obviously, there's a misalignment there. Seems obvious now. It's so obvious that it's almost laughable. But that was just a misunderstanding, right? Actions and expectations unlinked. And to those not familiar with this arena,

this one may seem a bit out there, but I decided recently to stop calling myself an entrepreneur and instead start calling myself an artist or a creator. Why? You might even think, who cares what you call yourself? Stop being so vain. But here's the reality. We follow through and what we believe ourselves to be.

Sure, there are entrepreneurial elements in brand building, content creation, the media business. But also, my circle consists primarily of entrepreneurs. My friends all have businesses, have exited businesses, or growing and scaling businesses. And so naturally, you know, without even thinking. about it in a lot of ways, I start to look at my work more and more procedurally. Systems, workflow, scale, great, to an extent. But the magic is in the message, it's in the craft, it's in the creation. I've had to tell myself this 900 different times, 900 different ways.

It's like that metaphor about the mosquito net I mentioned not too long ago. It's like, why is everything else trying to collapse in on that truth, on that simplicity? Because every time I deviate from me, I find myself wandering through a desert of discontent. I have to learn this same damn thing every six months. And, you know, part of my realization is that's okay. I think growth requires a rewiring and readjustment. You know, consistent acclamation. But you have to continuously pull back in what matters, right?

It was not systems and workflows that got me here. It's telling stories and helping people see the value that surrounds them. So it makes me happy. That's what I'm best at. I feel like a kid on Christmas every time I come back to that. You stretch a little too far, learn, dial it in, find yourself stronger than you were. Stretch a little too far, learn, dial it back in, find yourself stronger than you were. It's like going to the gym, breaking the muscle down so that you can be built back up stronger.

And so perhaps the value here is an opportunity for you to similarly think to yourself, what am I doing? And is it taking me where I most want to go? And if not, it doesn't mean you've wasted time. It's not an indictment on the steps you've taken or the paths you've walked. It's a celebration of the awareness, of the new, newness, the novelty in the next chapter. It's a celebration of the fact that you, just like me, can go anywhere we want to go next. The wake of the boat does not drive the boat. This moment

in and of itself is new. It's a rebirth, a creation. What will we do with it? We go too far in order to regulate and find ourselves better than we were when that has to be a rebirth. that dust finally settles. But what's absolutely imperative is asking the questions. It's looking at your own life like an eagle flying overhead, seeing things holistically, big picture. Emerson said famously, hits your wagon to a star. So find the star that lights up your soul. And make sure each step guides you not away from, but towards that light.

Those little blasts of intuition, they matter, they mean something, they are reminding the brain that doing the wrong things will bring empty victories. Trust me, you can win a race you care nothing about and a lot of people do. Define your terms and execute. Choose your mountaintop and ascend. We explore in order to refine. So let each step be a chiseling away of what no longer serves you so that you can capture the pieces of life that light up your soul. Sitting in my office, dimly lit, head in my hands, disappointed.

Mostly in myself for letting the opportunity escape because I had it. I could have held on. Instead, I watched it slip away and in frustration, leaned back in my chair, looked up, noticed a little rectangle of light subtly bouncing around on the wall. It had made its way from a small gap in the curtains, completely breaking the uniformity of darkness. presence, signaling just how much exists outside our periphery during those tough moments. Reminding me how much our darkest days only remain so long as we refuse to let light in

and how periods of longing are unavoidable. But whether we lay down because of them or stack and stand upon them is a up to us. Now I don't know why what we need is hardest to grasp during our times of greatest vulnerability. But I do know that we are capable of standing up, of lighting a match amidst the shadows of life. I do know we are strong enough to take the curveballs and the complexity They not just exist with them, but transform them into our stepping stones. So often the endings we didn't think we wanted become the beginning we didn't know we needed. It's not about being perfect.

It's about getting up when your soul feels heavy and your body is weak, making your way to the window, opening the curtains, and letting the light in. The key to maintaining perspective to never relinquishing your control or composure is to understand that there is value in the seemingly valueless. That when we most want to hang our heads and retreat to a place of sorrow, we must hold on to the fact that somewhere underneath it all is the reason you will not only move on, emerge victorious rise from the ashes of despair stronger than you ever were when

light turns out the light and shakes your world at the foundation it isn't to check your progress but to remind you that you can be the light you can withstand the rumbling underneath you that we will never completely mitigate adversity but we were given perhaps the greatest gift of all the power to decide what will become of it every day there is a specific decision you have to make it's the first and it's the most important decision because from it you effectively roadmap your destiny what I'm referring to is the choice to either have a positive outlook or to allow negative

negativity and doubt to chart your course. It's a dilemma that truly is that simple. Every morning you choose how you want to view the obstacles ahead of you. And what you get out of life will be very different depending on your decision. There's an old Cherokee legend that touches on this conflict. And in the story, there's an older man, he's talking to his grandson about life. He explains that inside all people there's this fight going on. The struggle consists of two wolves. One manifests itself through negative energy.

He's anger, envy, sorrow, inferiority, all that is evil. The other is joy, compassion, faith, truth, all that is good. So he finishes explaining this. The boy sits there, he thinks about it for a minute. Ask his grandfather, well, which one wins? The grandfather replies, whichever one you feed. What we sometimes forget is that we are the sole makers of our own destiny.

There are always going to be external factors. Whatever they may be, negative people, tough circumstances, maybe a lack of resources. They'll be there. But they cannot dictate your happiness or your success unless you let them. Yeah, they may cause you to alter your approach. You might have to make adjustments. That's good.

That's how we develop, that's how we improve. But no one and nothing writes your story but you. Your attitude, your emotions, they directly coincide with how you see the world. So anytime you feel discouraged, negative, envious, anything that's not positive, just stop. Don't waste your time with thoughts that aren't bringing you closer to your goal. There's just no value in it. Tony Robbins says this beautifully. He says, you have to be the guardian of your own mind.

Allow in only what will help you. Because God knows the world will crush you if you let it. So take the wheel. What you need to do tomorrow when you wake up is look at yourself hard in the mirror. Make a conscious decision to feed the good wolf. You'll be amazed at how far it will take you. Sometimes success is merely hanging on.

when others would let go. Not doing anything spectacular or out of the ordinary. Not leaping a mile or jumping over a mountain, but simply carrying on. Thomas Edison has a famous quote that's really stuck with me over the years. He says, many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success. when they gave up, right? How close they were to the finish line

when they turned their back and said it wasn't worth it. It's really an interesting thing to grasp. Success is seeing what others can't. It's believing when others don't. It's taking the abstract, those visions, those pictures in your head to make believe in finding the courage. courage to make them real.

Bring them to life. It's this constantly evolving process, and it grows a little bit every single day. Sometimes we feel that progress. We feel the momentum. We do something big, and it's exciting. And sometimes the progress feels small. And then there are times when we get knocked down, and we don't see it at all. We feel like, because we weren't validated,

that we lost, that we failed, that it wasn't enough. We forget that's part of the process, that progress is a journey. And it goes when you go, and it stops when you stop. Just like that famous Dalai Lama quote, right? The only way to fail is to quit, period. No one ever stops because they can't. They stop because they decide to. They stop because they see that huge mountain and they think that's impossible.

They forget it's only made of little rocks. They stop because they get so disheartened by the distance of the finish line that they forget it only takes a collection of little steps to get there. You don't have to leap the entire distance. You know, I've been there. This is me speaking from experience. It took me years to figure it out. And even now, life is rapidly evolving.

I've poured my heart into things that, let's be honest, no one cared about. I've invested in opportunities that fell apart right in front of me. And each time, it felt like the end of the world. I've been lost. I've been unsure. Gotten up after things didn't go as planned and it felt like a loser. I had to look myself in the mirror and pick myself back up off the floor. But there's one thing that I kept doing.

that I never thought twice about. And that's continuing on. Whether life lifted me up or it beat me down, my plan for tomorrow was always the same. Get up and try again. Keep going. And as I sat down this morning with my pen and a piece of paper, I thought,

what's the one thing I would want to be told if I started out again? What's the one thing that people need to hear most? most and it's to simply keep going keep taking because one day the world will start to make sense and you'll look around and you will be thankful for one thing that when most would have stopped you didn't when the world said no you said yes there is nothing so powerful as a soul that refuses to back down. See, persistence is not an important thing or an essential thing. It's everything. So live as to see. Not what can be lost, but what will be gained. Find that light in darkness, even if it's a flicker, even if it's a spark. See, every loss makes you a little tougher, and every instant of sadness.

uncover something beautiful, every moment of fear teaches you to be a little braver, every broken heart opens the door to a new connection. Instead of doubting yourself, feeling inadequate in life's darkest moments, know that you need what you are going through. You are uncovering the little victories hidden in plain view. So when the world feels like too much, and your patience is thin, be stronger than that voice in your head, begging you to think small. Stand on every experience, the good and the bad. Let it elevate you to a beautiful tomorrow.

I've always been amazed at how much life can change with a small perspective shift. You hear something the right way, maybe even something you've heard a thousand times, this time you just hear it differently. And suddenly the light bulb goes off. Suddenly, it all makes sense. I was talking to one of my friends recently about how he threw discus in high school.

And he was incredible at the sport. But for a long stretch, he was inconsistent with his release. And coach after coach, after coach, would try and help him with it. But it wasn't until one said to him, hey, instead of sprinting to the release, think of it as a scissor motion. Right now, I don't know much about discus, but for whatever reason, that clicked for him. The gear started turning, he went to states.

He had the best performance of his life. All because he looked at the same situation through a different lens. He found clarity in what was around him. Now, you might be thinking, what does that have to do with me? Well, I'm of the thinking that in our own lives, the battles we are all individually fighting, the struggles we are going through, you know, amidst that storm, we are one little light bulb moment from the clarity we need to re-engage, to create momentum. We're never as far from what we need as we think. But what we do is we convoluted things. We tell ourselves that, you know, the change required is monumental.

It's some larger-than-life transition. You look at my friend, the difference between a good season and an amazing season, it wasn't a year in the wait room away. No, it was a small mental shift. And even in your world, if the shift is just the beginning, great. Everything of substance does in fact have to start. And it's arriving at that point. Giving yourself the gift of clarity in a pursuit that becomes critical.

I've always visualized that epiphany as me sitting in a dark room pitch black, which is intimidating. It's intense. feels even helpless at times, but understanding there is always a light switch and arms reach away. There's always the thing that will be transformative. We just have to keep reaching, keep stretching, keep feeling around for it because it exists. And with an outstretched arm, the very thing necessary to get us out of the dark and into the light, is waiting. And that's just it. You know, we can't conflate the goal with the delta between where we

stand now and the goal. No one can run a marathon in one giant step. It doesn't matter how strong you are. You're not leaping the course and diving through the finish tape. No, you're running thousands and thousands of little manageable steps. But we come face to face with situations in life, where we know the finish line, whatever it is in your particular case, is way out there in the distance. And it's overwhelming, it's intimidating, it places us back in that dark room where we're surrounded by the unknown and inundated with stories we tell ourselves about how difficult life is.

This is where you need to reach out and look for the light switch. It's where you need to remember you're not responsible for the finish line because how could you be? Humans are only capable of moving forward one step at a time. It's where you have to understand that the greatest impact on the discus right now is a change to your release point, a perspective shift, something minimal. That gets you the distance. Every time I've been stuck or lost, it has been an adjustment to the way I'm looking

that the world around me that's ultimately made the difference. A little reminder to take the pressure off. At least in the sense that we can only control what we can control. And usually that's the step right in front of us. So my suggestion is to stop looking up at the mountain and look down at the very next step. Because from where you stand, there is a path to get you there. But the process calls for you to, one, believe it's possible, and two, make the little adjustment

in real time that will put you in position to do just that. You're never down and out. Not so long as there's air in your lungs and blood pumping through your veins. You are, rather, one decision away, one epiphany away, one flick of the life. light switch away from recapturing momentum and finding yourself again. There's an old quote that stays 80% of life is showing up. Now, showing up means many different things to many different people, but the idea is not complicated.

You can't do anything of significance unless you have first and foremost arrived. Which brings me to today. See, I had a list of concepts I've been excited to talk about things that I've either read or have been recent epiphanies in my life. And I can't wait to share those with you. But this morning, oh, let me tell you about this morning. Finding the energy to do anything, felt like trying to squeeze blood from a rock. I woke up with a headache, exhausted because I didn't sleep at all the night before. And you know that feeling.

Like when you didn't sleep at all the night before, you're oddly constantly reminding yourself the next day that you didn't sleep. 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. me how great sleep would feel, and I was sitting there, you know, kind of weighing my options. Took some ipuprofen, started the coffee, sat down on the couch, just kind of looking at the wall, what to do, what to do. But realistically, I knew. And I want to explain why.

Over the years, I've taught myself through repetition that's sitting down and writing and recording, unless I plan intentionally to do otherwise, is a 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 Pressfield, 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 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 Mawad. One of those three to five hour listens on Audible, depending on how fast it's playing, really packs a punch.

And I'm going to be diving into a few of his concepts a little more in the coming weeks. But one thing he discusses that I found incredibly valuable is the illusion of choice. And what the illusion of choice highlights is that there are a set of behaviors that must be carried out to be effective. The idea of alternate roots is an illusion.

There are no choices when it comes to what's necessary. We know what must be done to win. Now, knowing that is one thing. Knowing that and having to propel yourself to action when you feel like garbage is something different entirely. But that's why it's so valuable to get to that place where you can take the emotion out, remove the internal deliberation, and automate the things you know are going to help push you to be that better version of yourself.

In other words, you show up for you, period, and that is a non-negotiable. 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. Right? No, 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 as some monumental sacrifice. No, it's just what you do. It's neutral. Sometimes you feel like it.

Sometimes you don't. But you do what you do. And that puts you on track to accomplish some incredible things. And so remembering this ultimately pushed me through that studio door. this morning and place me down right in front of my mic. Sure, I had to adjust some things. Definitely picked some, you know, mellower music. There's going to be no crescendos today, or my head will explode. But this is not torture. In fact, I'm really happy with the way the episode's turning out. I would have missed out on something that I think is going to be pretty

valuable in a variety of ways. But what I'm telling myself is that this is not a victory. It's certainly not defeat. It's just what I do. And so the question worth asking yourself, when facing the adversity life presents, and whatever arena you were in, is are you willing to show up for you? Can you turn that internal deliberation switch off when it comes to the necessities before you? minimize that rationalizing that I battled with this morning. We don't need or want that.

There should be no thinking, no crack doors, no metaphorical dishes in the sink. If you decide something is important and you sign that dotted line when it's time to execute, you act and then you move directly onto the next. The goal is to not even negotiate with the weekend. 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 peace by peace.