Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - MASTER YOUR EMOTIONS | Best Motivational Speeches of 2023 (So Far) | Start Your Day Right

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” - Maya Angelou On the latest episode, I dive into life's roller coaster, comparing it to growing a YouTube channel. It's about embracing the highs and learning from the lows. When things slow down, I pause, reflect, adjust, and stay patient. This approach isn't just for content creators – it's life advice. Tune in for a real talk on handling life's dips and coming out on top. Let's navigate the ups and downs together! Join my newsletter: yourworldwithin.com/newsletter

I'm going to share with you a general metaphor about life. This brought me a ton of value, help me maintain perspective over the years, and I think it's going to help you as well. I'm going to be using YouTube as my example here, but worry not. This applies to everything. I just happen to be immersed in the content creation space. So, to frame it, the growth of a YouTube channel is a lot like this stock market.

You certainly want it trending up over time. You want your work to reach, you know, as many people as it can. But there are and have been segments along the way where that growth slows down. There are times when the channel overall, it just gets less engagement, less views, all of it. And you look at it when that's happening, when you're in the midst of one of those dips, and you think, oh no, what have I done? Anytime something you're creating slows down, it can be jolting. And this has over the years occurred many times, and every time my instinct is the same.

It's, ugh, you know, that type of just duress. And I put a lot of time, energy, effort into this. This work is some of what I'm most proud of in my life. So it's like, sound the alarm right now. I need to figure this out. And every time things eventually correct and continue in that upward trend, sometimes it takes a little longer than others, but I get there. And here's what I've learned.

When there is a dip or a slowing down of anything that's going in the opposite direction of the way you want it to go, I do four things. One, pause and breathe. Because you have to. Re-gain, recapture that perspective. Life, as I say so often, is simply not that serious, so stop making mountains out of molehills. Two, seek to understand why. There is some sort of change.

What's different? What prompted the change? Knowing that is power. So find it. Three, once you have that information, make the necessary alteration. It's not only about how. having the answer, but it's in implementation. It's adjusting, it's testing. And four, be patient, trust the process. You can be ferocious in your day-to-day and also calm and poised with the

overall process and faith in its unfolding. And so I'm going to give you one more YouTube example, and then we'll pull it up to a level that's more broad and applicable everywhere, right? Something interesting about YouTube is that a lot of channels only have a handful of videos. We'll say four or five that generate the majority of that channel's interactions. It's a pretty common thing. And so when things slow down, you can often point to one of those four or five videos. So let's say something does. There's a dip.

You one, you take that breather. Two, you inquire. Pull back the hood. What's going on? It looks like one of these videos is not getting clicked as much as it was. was or it should. Okay, that's great to know. Now what do we do about it? Test different thumbnails. Try new ones. You try and it fails and you try and it fails and you try and it fails and you try and bam, one resonates. This new thumbnail gets clicked 3.3% of the time instead of 2.8. Everything goes

back up. Impressions go back up. We have righted the ship. And I know that's a very detailed example. Not everyone's a YouTuber, but everyone's, you know, in their own way, niche down doing their thing. Right. And so you have to look at it in the context of what you're doing. What's your metaphorical YouTube channel? When things are wrong, how can you pull back the hood, identify that piece and tweak? Right? If we step outside that box, what we'll find is that life is like that stock market. It's like a YouTube channel. It's not up and up and up. There are lows. There are metaphorical recessions. There are times where it feels like the world is collapsing around us and we think, oh no, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do? It's over. In reality,

nothing is over. This is the roller coaster ride that is life. You don't get highs without lows. And when you think about it, you wouldn't appreciate them without the lows either. The setbacks are baked into the growth. And I'll use relationships as another example, because I know in some way it's relatable to everyone. When the wheels, fall off the wagon with the relationship that meant something to you, whether it's a breakup, falling out with a friend, whatever the case may be, the tendency is to perceive it as a falling down, the walls crashing down, rather than a little blip on your S&P 500. So what do you do? Same exact plan. One, breathe. Understand that this is a process and all will be well. Two,

You understand the why. You're human. You're going to feel emotion before you can reach any level of necessary pragmatism to fix anything. So allow that to occur. Gather yourself. And then ask what prompted the break. Were you too different? Did you not align?

Why? What did you learn about yourself? About the type of people you allow into your life. Three, once you have that information, adjust. How can you be better moving forward? You'll never be perfect. Human beings are complicated and messy, and relationships are not an exact art. Too many variables.

But that doesn't mean you can't improve your approach in the future, mitigate some of the mistakes you made, target the things in people that you truly value. And as you do, and you are number four, patient in the process, you'll find things level out and ultimately begin to rise. That situation was not and never was the end of you. It was a necessary low before a future high. And so 10,000 foot view, remember that during your difficult times,

those moments aren't indicators that life isn't working for you. They are a part of every journey, factors necessary to every ascent. And if you see them as such, you will conquer them, learn from them, and climb them to that place you most need to be. What if those less than ideal things in our lives? Right. So our limitations, our constraints. The aspects of life we consider to be, you know, a bad hand.

What if they weren't just things we need to learn to accept or little tragedies? we have to live with. What if they were ultimately the aspects of our lives that create the best of us? The elements of our world that push us to our greatness. And this came to mind earlier. I was listening to a book called How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

by Donald Robertson. And he explores this point. He talks about Socrates and ancient Athens and how he lived in abject poverty, how, according to the standards of ancient Athens, was not an attractive person by any means, just seemed to have a lot working against him. And the question that's posed is whether these exact circumstances

ultimately created the man that became one of the most important thinkers in history. He implies that his reality and his surroundings shaped his worldview, so it only makes sense for one to conclude that all of it contributed to the life he lived. If Socrates was born wealthy and attractive and all these things, could he have become the man that he became? Probably not. And the reason I love this is because, to put it simply, it reframes those less than ideal circumstances in our lives.

Whether it is a personal trait we have no control over, or an occurrence we deal with. It's understanding that a lack of ability in one area helps guide us to that spot where we can thrive. A disappointment we encounter helps us regroup and make our way to the thing that is ultimately best. The less than ideal,

the things that at surface levels seem bad or problematic, they're always working for us to push us towards our contentment and our growth to our greatness. I can say on my end, it was the turbulence I experienced in my life that created that sense of curiosity for me. It was a lack of understanding

that pushed me to write about life, explore the hardships we face, and the resilience of the human spirit through it all. It's a pretty famous stoic idea. that states, we can't often control what happens, but we can always control how we respond to what happens. And there lies the power and the understanding that when one door closes as the saying goes,

you are pushed closer to the one that will open for you. You have to decide whether you will find it within yourself to open it. Or will you focus on the lack, the gap, what's not there, what you don't have, what went wrong. See, all those things, the things that most people use as their reason to stop or quit or not go, they can be the reason you lose or they can be the very reason you win.

You find a way. But that means moving forward, trusting there is good to be had, understanding that everything that goes creates space for what truly needs to be there. I understand it's common, right? But it's not just a cliche that adversity creates us, that difficult times shape us. Why?

Because we are transformed by the bad and the difficult, and that which in the moment does not seem ideal. Because they force us to move further into what we were meant to do and who we were meant to be. Just like Socrates was critical. created from his adverse situation, his brilliance derived from his circumstance. Your greatness will be derived from yours. So remember that next time you feel as though you've been slighted by life,

or something's been taken away from you. While it may feel negative, and I get it, from time to time it does, it ultimately becomes the wind at your back, bringing you where you most need. Feeling stuck is a feature, not a bug. Having moments of doubt is a feature, not a bug. Losing perspective from time to time is a feature, not a bug. There's no way to step out into the world and avoid these things.

Therefore, the question is not, will these moments arise? The question is, when they inevitably do, what will you make of them? And I think that fork in the road is often very misunderstood. How you look at the world around you is everything. Not because, as the great Tony Robbins says, you close your eyes and chant. There's no weeds, there's no weeds, and they're suddenly gone from your garden, but because it's indicative of the choice we have. That when something happens, we don't always get to control how it unfolds before us,

but we do get to choose what it means. And that's it. A simple decision. And you can see how it's just as easy to go one way as it is to go another. Citing another brilliant voice in this space, Jim Rohn used to say something along the lines of success is easy. It's nothing more than a few simple decisions every day. Well, when asked, why isn't everyone successful, he'd say,

because being unsuccessful is easy too. Choosing not to do those things is easy too. Everything is about your decoder. The world provides the pieces, but it makes you the architect. And so, what are you building? The ones who have had the greatest impact, designed beautiful change, added value to the world, they did it through chaos. Yet those who are the angriest who've done very little with the GIFS a lot of to them,

they'll cite some variation of chaos for the reason they haven't succeeded. It's the lens, it's the decoder, it's the fork in the road, and you choosing which direction you will take. If you're feeling trapped in a routine, you have in some capacity taken the pieces around you and created a story of limitation. You're forgetting that nothing is stopping you from trying something new today, taking a risk today. When you're feeling insufficient or like everyone around you has it all figured out, you've taken the pieces and created a story of imaginary adversaries. This is not you versus the world, it is you versus you. This moment has given you a fresh start, a chance to find alignment with that which is meaningful to me.

One of my favorite metaphors, life is a staircase, where the chaos and the turbulence are ultimately there for you to tame and then move on to the next step. In fact, that's the only way we climb. The world will consist of challenges, and one of the most important gifts we can give to ourselves is to remove the notion that we can just waltz on through with zero problems. Having that as the benchmark sets us up for failure. There is no perfect path or pursuit. Instead, ask, where is the value? When we fall, ask, where is the value?

How can I rise, grow, adjust? That's why perspective is everything. One man or woman's business failure is the reason he says, I tried and talks about what could have been over beer with his buddies for the next decade. Another man or woman's failure is the reason she's able to pinpoint where the problems existed and come back stronger, wiser, armed with solutions. See, these aren't wildly different circumstances or initial occurrences. What has occurred are wildly different interpretations, wildly different reactions.

Trust me, I'm human. I get the instinct to point out at the world. To shake your fist at the sky, turn your back on the opportunity. But in truth, that's the only way to ensure values not obtained. There's a stoic anecdote about a teacher on a boat out at sea during a storm and it's enormous, right? The waves are crashing over the side of the boat, rocking the boat back and forth. And that teacher turns pale just like everyone else. He freezes in fear just like everyone else.

The only difference is the teacher is not crying out or screaming. And the message here is that the initial reaction, that's human. It's human to feel anger, it's human to feel frustration, fear, doubt. The difference comes down to can you pause? Can you collect yourself and instead of immersing yourself in the emotion, ask, what can I become from this? That is power. relationship ended. Okay. How can I now plan to seed to greater fulfillment? The plan

didn't work. Okay. Why? What can I learn that will be advantageous on the next approach? I'm lost. I don't know what to do. Okay? Instead of thinking less of yourself or the lack of knowledge, how about appreciating the fact that you've established a foundation upon which a solution can now be sought. Losses do not exist so long as adversity is pointed out and transformed into value. And whether or not that happens is entirely up to you. When it hurts, there is value. When you're down, there is value.

There's always something so long as we learn to find it. And that's what will make all the difference. Adversity is not avoided. But living right means knowing it can't be avoided because it's a requirement. It's from the chaos that calm and order and meaning and growth and momentum are obtained. So even though you may be tempted to turn your back to run or cry out when the winds are strong and the waves come crashing down on your reality, remember that you can not only with strength,

not only withstand the disarray, but you can come out on the other side stronger. Every step you take is an investment. Every decision to do the difficult thing is a gift to your future self. Think about this for a second. One of the many things that makes being human so incredible is our ability to engage and delayed gratification. To do things now that will elevate us at a future time. And at a fundamental level, we understand that.

We've heard the famous marshmallow study where kids were left alone in a room with the marshmallow placed in front of them and the ones who showed restraint and could resist eating it ended up. In many regards, being more successful as adults. We've all heard the mantras working hard pays off. That's valuable. But I'd like to take it a step further. Because when you say yes in the face of adversity, when you move forward when tired, seek out a way amidst the chaos of life, you are contributing to a foundation so powerful that it will elevate you in ways outside your current level of awareness.

By simply saying yes when I was unsure and often fearful by continuing to write and speak, I was unknowingly building these opportunities that would manifest years later, many of which were not planned. They were not methodical. My dedication and my North Star never changed. I held on tightly to those, but the surrounding components were always moving and transforming. People are in my life today because of steps I took five years ago. I know things about myself and my hopes and my dreams. because of risks I took when I was, let's face it, too ignorant to understand their repercussions.

But I knew it felt right. See, here's what I did understand. If I, as Emerson put it, hitched my wagon to a star and moved towards it, when I felt great and when I didn't, when I was confident and when I wasn't, when I was winning and when I was not, I knew the other stuff would take care of itself. I trusted the process.

And here's why that matters. Here's why I'm taking you all on a little trip down memory lane. Because writing, speaking, inspiring, storytelling, they are my world within. What is yours? What is it that moves you, that lights up your soul? I want you to know that. I want you to know that because its pursuit requires not only a delayed gratification, but an acceptance that your dedication will evolve.

in ways so incredible that you can't even imagine, that all those little decisions become emergent and together represent something more powerful than the sum of its part. I love the example or idea of the human brain, right? So complex and powerful that it appears almost divine. It's essentially a universe behind our eyes. Even our understanding, our comprehension is minimal.

We are awed by its capability. Yet it's not about one single piece of the brain, the tissues or the neurons individually. It's the network all these microscopic occurrences create together. Something bigger than everything combined, creating a consciousness we can't even find or point to when looking at the evidence. But we know it exists,

and we know it's somehow derived from this ball of nervous. tissue. This is not unlike one's pursuit of excellence. The level of achievement or consciousness we are searching for. It can't be singularly identified. It's emergent. It materializes after the discipline, after the consistent work, after the self-belief, after the will to do what is required whether we wanted to in the moment or we didn't. Then we get our quote unquote consciousness. You can't and won't always see the value in your dedication, in your sacrifice. And let me level with you. I get how crazy it feels to think, yeah, but someday it will mean something. Someday that work will put people in my life that will

change my world, elevate my existence. It will create opportunities that expedite my evolution, lessons and occurrences that will amplify my wisdom and worldview. But that's the name of the game. If you know in your heart you are pointed to the right star, then it's just about stepping, adjusting, and repeating. Move, adjust, move, adjust, move, adjust. There will be a time when you look over your shoulder and are stunned by what you've created,

by the distance you've traveled. Look, you can't see the future. You can't know what everything will mean and what will occur, but you can continue forward into the darkness so that when the long-awaited light inevitably presents itself, you are in position to receive it. To stand on the foundation you have been building all. along.