Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Master Your Morning: The Decision That Shapes Your Destiny

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Each day starts with a choice that defines your path: will you embrace positivity or let doubt and negativity dictate your journey? This single decision shapes how you approach challenges and opportunities, influencing your outcomes and growth. In this episode, we uncover the power of framing your day with optimism and intention. Life’s obstacles don’t define you—your response does. The question is: how will you choose to see the day ahead? Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube 

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 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, very simple.

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 is 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. He asks his grandfather, well, which one wins?

The grandfather replies, whichever one you feed. What we sometimes forget is that we are the soul 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, 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 we'll take you. I recently came across a simple yet powerful idea. It's that when you become accustomed to doing the hard things, life becomes easy. When you become accustomed to only doing the easy things, life becomes hard. to trade off of sorts. A little example that I think epitomizes this idea. I recently just started cold plunging in the morning. So right now, I'm doing about six minutes in 38 degree water.

And I'm thinking that my body will acclimate to it over time, that it will get a little bit easier as I move forward into this. But right now it's pretty uncomfortable. But, you know, you do what you can. You breathe deep, and ultimately you get through it. And as I was in there today, I thought of three ideas that I think are worth sharing. So they all have to do with sitting in the cold plunge, which is where I was when I thought of them, and then I'll sort of pull them up, expand them out to everyday life, which I obviously love to do,

and I think is impactful. Here are the three ideas. The first one is don't give your brain room to negotiate. When you have your mind made up, and when you're set on a target, you go. First thing I was told, you know, when getting in the cold plunge, is don't stop, don't feel the water, don't get in slowly, don't give your rational brain an opportunity to do any convincing or negotiating. Go get in, right, before your body realizes how cold it is and can talk itself out of it. Because by the time you realize what's going on, you're submerged. You've already begun. And as we know, beginning.

is often the hardest part. Number two is you can do anything if you make the discomfort work for you. You don't work for the discomfort. So it's about positioning yourself to focus on the right things, which this exercise reinforces. You count the time, you play mental games, you make each of the six minutes its own thought experiment, whatever you need to do to get through it.

And, you know, this video right now, this episode, the idea for it happened between minutes three and four. You know, that's just value that was squeezed out of the process. I've started calling this 60 seconds between minute three and minute four, the bridge. In my mind, I hype it up as the most important minute. That way, the last two feel like a celebration and not the most difficult. And sure, it's silly, it's ridiculous, but that's exactly the point. It's what works for me. It's the name of the game.

It's positioning the little pieces around yourself so that you are able to do difficult things in that environment. And third, the takeaway, right? I feel amazing afterwards, which I was hesitant to call anything but a placebo for about a week or two, but definitely the inflammation in my body's noticeably lower, that soreness in my forearm. and elbow, which occurs after most workouts, is better. But not only that, everything else throughout the day in comparison is more comfortable. It's that simple. Life is relative.

Running a mile is hard, but not compared to running six miles. The work I've scheduled is challenging, but not the same kind of challenging as being submerged in 38-degree water. It creates perspective. It's as though I've built a foundation to do the hard things with less trepidation and far more enthusiasm, which is a beautiful thing. So let's take these three thoughts and bring them a bit outside of the cold plunge. Why do we not want to give our brains room to negotiate? Why jump right into the metaphorical ice water? Because when we go, we give ourselves something to react to.

We create change. The worst thing we can do is very often nothing. But that doesn't keep our brains from screaming. Stop. It's too dangerous. It's too uncertain. It's too cold or hot or different or challenging. The simple act of moving forward with conviction is so powerful.

Teach your brain that losing isn't whatever exists outside the door. Losing is doing nothing. Losing isn't the discomfort of the cold water. It's getting your hand in the cold plunge so slowly that you talk yourself out of it. pick your North Star and go there. Next, on making the discomfort work for you, this is a perspective shift. It occurs when you start seeing what's uncomfortable, not as a stop sign, but as a challenge. As the good stuff, the water that grows the plant.

It's not supposed to be easy. That's the point. No puzzle is easy, right? Again, the question is how do you arrange the pieces so that they become manageable? Your innovation and your imagination are required. Make this, we'll call the discomfort an opportunity, make this opportunity work for you. When the instinct is to stop or quit or run,

ask how you can take that feeling and make something with it. Find your value between those minutes three and four. Alter the rules to your game so that you come out on top. I've found this to make a big difference. in life's outcomes. You don't work for the discomfort. It works for you. Lastly, remember why. That little exercise every day is six minutes, at least right now. Six hard minutes that makes the rest of my day easier. Six minutes that unlocks a tremendous advantage. The little hinge that swings the big door. We do the hard things because they make the rest of life easy.

It makes me feel physically better, mentally stronger, and accomplished. And let's face it, people follow through on who they believe themselves to be. Someone who's willing to do the difficult thing is very hard to beat in other aspects of life. The moments of enduring short-term discomfort, they're not trivial or unnecessary, they set us up for those big picture victories. They become defining in the long run. So, with that said, is this an endorsement of cold plunges? It could be, if that's your thing. But it could be any exercise or action you deliberately immerse yourself into for the purpose of growth.

Anything that reminds you, enduring the discomfort of today, opens up the possibility of a new world entirely tomorrow. It's an easier life brought you by a way. willingness to do what is not easy. Even if there were a magic box with the answer to every single question imaginable inside, you'd still have to know what questions to ask it in order to take anything worthwhile away. The output is only going to be as valuable as the input. But why won't the world just give me what I want. Why can't I have something new? Why won't life grant me a fresh start? Well, the question worth reflecting upon is what are you doing to prompt the change? What are your inputs?

The jukebox only plays the song you select. What are you selecting? And I say this, well, I say this because my expectations are sometimes inclined to diversed. from the actions that I take. There can be a gap between what I want and what I'm actually spending my time doing. A gap that without the necessary time and attention widens.

But what we want to do is close that gap. We want to take the ideal on one side and the real on the other and squeeze them as close together as possible. That requires, though, that you recognize and take control of your input. A friend of mine in the medical field and I were talking about weight loss not too long ago. And something he said that stuck with me, he says, yeah, weight loss can be complex.

There's certainly variability. But there's a simple underlying truth to all of it. If you burn more calories than you take in through eating, your body will lose weight. It's inevitable. You're creating a deficit. Simple, your input controls your output. We can move to personal finance, something everyone can relate to. If you spend less than you make, you'll have money left over to save.

Again, personal finance also has its nuance. There are certainly plenty of variables. But this piece will always be true. If you want to increase your savings, you can either make more or spend less. your decisions here, your inputs here will dictate your output. And so I think it's worth calling our attention to those things we're doing day in and day out. And I'm talking about the most basic of things. Are they contributing to what you want most or not?

That's why I reference my whiteboard list so often. Incredibly simple, which I think is what we need. One column on the left is your goals, you know, the things that you want. The other column on the right is what you're doing to bring about what you want. What are your actions? And if you make that list and notice that your days wildly deviate from that list, there's a problem. Either you're wasting your time with meaningless action or you've selected the wrong goals. You can wildly change the results you get by tweaking the actions you make or inputs.

have called them here. Here's an example. This is an adversary. I've been dancing around for a decade now. I have injury problems. I'll talk about it all the time. Left ankle, right knee, left elbow, right shoulder. I'm constantly working around these things

until inevitably something happens and I have to take a step back and rest and rehab it, right? What did I do? I saw a physical therapist. Definitely a valuable input, but not enough. I'm consistently working on my diet. Valuable input, but again, not enough. Hydration, right, gallon of water a day.

Valuable input, but not enough. I decided not too long ago to take yoga seriously, like be obnoxiously serious about it. I'm going almost every day. And I think I don't want to speak too soon, but I think I'm seeing something that I haven't seen in a decade. I feel good and I'm able to do some weight training that previously I really couldn't.

You know, the output here is finally starting to look like I wanted to look. But here's the thing, right? It's been so frustrating over the years, like I get so angry with the situation that I forget that I have control over the outcome. It just seems like when you've exhausted so much time and energy, like it's beyond your time and energy, like it's beyond

you. And it's like, no, there are still your inputs creating your outputs and you can continue to change those things. Don't stop trying, testing. You know, and that's really it. And I mean, this is such a basic concept. It's so almost painfully simple. But as I like to say, you know, the wheels don't fall off the wagon when we get the minor details wrong. No, it's when we're getting the basic things wrong. That's when we lose ourselves. That's when we fall off track. And that simple input and output idea is amazing to me. Because it waters all that seemingly complex stuff down into the simple. It puts the power in our hands to do something about it. Even when it's frustrating, even when we feel like we've exhausted all our options. No, there's always more.

Why? Because you put something in, you get something out. If you don't like what's coming change what's going in you are your own experiment you are responsible for closing that gap between the real and the ideal if the people you're spending your time with don't make you feel good or bring you down adjust the input if you aren't happy with your financial situation adjust the inputs if you aren't happy with your physique or overall health adjust the input if your business or platform personal brand isn't evolving the way you'd like it to, stop blindly repeating what you're doing day in and day out and adjust the inputs. The real world results will change right in front of your

eyes, not because anything was given to you, but because your persistence, your adaptability, and your commitment to growth demanded it. The world reflects back. back at us what we currently are. Like a giant mirror projecting the movie that's playing in our heads. We lay on the horn in traffic, not when we're at peace with ourselves, but when we're in duress. We gravitate towards the negative, not when we're living in abundance, but when we're living in scarcity. We quit, retreat, contract, not when we're confident in the road ahead, but when we're doubting. in other words, we find out in the world what already lives within us.

Life in many ways is not absolute, it's evidence. It's evidence that we'll use to justify the things we already believe. Wayne Dyer used to use the metaphor of an orange. It can be squeezed and squeezed and squeezed, but there will never be grapefruit juice pouring out of an orange. No, grapefruit juice doesn't live there. You can only find on the outside what lives in the inside. You can only extract from the orange orange juice. Recently a good friend of mine said to me that they'd like to change their financial situation,

to which my response was perfect. You most certainly can, right? Like anything, yeah, it'll take work and some planning and some restructuring. that good stuff, but you most definitely can. And his response was, sure, that's what all you motivational people say. Okay, smart guy. Now you're an example on a podcast episode. Congrats. Why? Because you want the people around you to realize how much is possible for themselves. It's not sorcery or witchcraft to believe something better is possible. In fact, if one doesn't believe it's possible. They're effectively cementing their feet to the ground, at least with

regard to that particular pursuit. Let's face it, you don't begin journeys that are not possible. We don't allow ourselves to do that. And so, to not believe in an outcome and somehow still wish for that outcome, well, that's essentially our orange metaphor. Can't squeeze financial freedom out of a mindset that only sees monetary constraint. Believing it's possible starts the journey. See, there's so much pragmatism in growth. You know, people talk a lot about the law of attraction, and yeah, I get it, right?

It sets targets. But the picture of, let's say, a dream house on your wall is not why you'll eventually have the dream house. The picture of the dream house on the wall reminds you. It helps you believe. that you're someone capable of someday acquiring that house, obtaining that type of success, which results in you, wait for it,

doing things that help bring that to life. It is the doing. But that doing must be connected to believe. Mid-20s. I was unhappy, wanted more, but didn't really believe myself capable of obtaining more, That was the issue. Back to the old orange expecting grapefruit juice.

Can't get results in an area not conducive to their creation, right? It wasn't until I said, you know what, maybe, not definitely, but maybe it could happen. Maybe I can take control here. The odds have to be greater than 0%, right? It's Jim Carrey and dumb and dumber, so you're saying there's a chance. Yeah, it's like starting out, that's all you need, a chance. door cracked. In the beginning, I just needed to convince myself something different was possible. The beginning of transformation and that internal change prompted how I interacted with the

external world. You do things differently when you believe differently. Or, if you want to phrase it another way, believing that you can bring something to life doesn't guarantee that you actually do. but believing you can't guarantees that you won't. And why not stack the odds in your favor? I often juggle back and forth between the philosophical and the tangible or the tactical, right? Three ways to do X. Life hack to change Y.

Yeah, of course. Life does in so many ways come down to the tactics, to the how, to the steps. But does that even matter if you don't believe in the pursuit? Does it matter what Google Maps says if you never step out your front door? You have to convince you. You have to create an environment in your world where change isn't crazy. More isn't absurd. It might be challenging.

But it's possible. And possible is enough. It is enough to be. enough to step out, enough to see the trivialities as tools and the resistance as part of a beautiful game. Remember that the world is a mirror, reflecting back at us our worldview. We find what we look for, so give yourself permission to look for things that make life beautiful. Give yourself the gift of believing change. is possible. I was talking to my friend on the phone this morning, and he's been on a very long journey.

A lot of highs, a lot of lows, but now he's doing incredibly well. He's heavily invested in real estate, has a very successful business. I mean, you talk about a turnaround. He's it. And he says, Eddie, you know what the best part of all this is? When I get up in the morning, I get up in the morning, I think yes. I don't think, oh man, I wish I could sleep just a few more minutes. I don't wish for a little longer in bed. I think yes. And I found that moving.

If that's not peak living, I don't know what is the second your eyes open to be excited about what's to come, right? And so I asked him, Tom, you know, what's the biggest mental change you made in your life that brought that about. And he said, essentially, this is a term used a lot by Dan Sullivan. He says, I learned to always be the buyer. Now, I'm just starting reading Sullivan's books, so I'm not too familiar with the idea. I said, Tom, can you explain, kind of expand upon that a little bit? Paraphrasing, he said, he started to look at life like he was worthy of it, like he was the decision maker. Right? And I don't know if you've been there, I certainly have, where it's like, man, I hope this person accepts me. I hope they hire me. I hope I can be included. Now, that's a, it's an existence of constantly selling yourself. But when you make that mental shift of instead saying, I have value to add to this person, I am the buyer here. You empower yourself, right? A buyer cannot get rid of. Instead of walking around hoping the world accepts you, it's having confidence in yourself and your ability.

As my eighth grade teacher, Mr. Bettencourt, used to say when we were kids, the worst thing you can do is hold your hands up to the sky and hope something of value falls into them. The worst thing you can do is take the power out of your hands and outsource it to fate. Because the truth is, you do have value to add. There is change you're going to make in the world. There's a beautiful mark on humanity to be created by you. And there must come a time where you see that as a valuable resource. You're on a mission.

And it's not about other people saying yes or no to you. It's do you want to allow these people to come along with you on your mission? not selling yourself, but buying the pieces that will comprise your greatness. Subtle shift, but also a powerful one. And the reality is, people respect it, right? That's the crazy thing. When you find the courage to dig deep and unlock that confidence in yourself, you get more of it from others.

And this is from experience, right? I've never been the loudest guy in the room, not an attention seeker. It's easier for me to listen, right? But I find that when you live with conviction, the world around you conforms. Respect finds you. People will never believe in someone who doesn't believe in him or herself. This is kind of an interesting note. A good friend of mine has helped do some booking on podcasts and events, right?

And part of that's trying to get speakers and personalities to participate. You have to explain to them the value. And this is what I found amazing. He says a formal, well-thought-out letter stating the ins and out, how grateful the host would be, how beneficial the experience would be. Gets ignored 99 times out of 100. But as simple, hey, X is happening, going to be incredible. Give me a shout.

We'll see how we can get you involved. Gets responded to way more often. Why? Because you're not selling, you're buying, right? People want to be around those who live with conviction. who have value to add. So make that clear, right, instead of writing up those four-paragraph emails

asking the world for answers, for assistance. You weren't put here to wait for permission. To tiptoe through life and not make any mistakes. You weren't put here to impress others or be accepted by those around you. You're here to live life on your terms. To make magic. To enjoy the passing moments

with the ones you love. spent how you choose to spend them. Never forget how much you mean and how valuable you are. Never forget that you have every right to wake up and say, yes, I get to get out of bed to him. I get to chase my dream and bring along with me the people and things that are worthy of the pursuit. That's not arrogance.

That's confidence. That's confidence. That's not existing. that's living. In a world of conformity of please take what I have to offer, in a world of concession, in a world of I don't want to,

but okay, you have to get to the yes. You have to become the buyer. Not only in each specific exchange, but the buyer of a destiny that belongs to you. If you believe the answer is within an arm's,

reach. It is. Let me explain what I mean here. This is the closest I've come to in years of getting into kind of a back and forth on social media on Instagram. But I thought, you know, let's not go down that road. Take a walk. Think about it. Play pros and cons with your point of view and see if in an hour, hour and a half, you still feel the same way. And I took my way. And I took my walk and I came back and I can tell you that I absolutely, unequivocally, still feel the same way. And I want to dive into it with you. See, anytime you talk about making the most of what you have, anytime you talk about not being a victim, anytime you talk about always blaming yourself

because no one else can fix your life, there's this sort of such. subtle, unspoken, unease. It's hard to almost articulate. You know, like, how can you tell people in adverse situations to go figure it out, right? Have faith. Go pick up the pieces along the way. You don't know what they've been through.

You have no idea, right? There are some people out there in immense pain and suffering. Who are you to advocate for internal strength? in an unfair world, which was basically the crux of that Instagram comment that prompted me to grab the mic and yap a little bit. And, you know, in its own unique way, I think it's correct. There's merit to that, right?

There's a misfortune that I just can't and don't understand. Look, I grew up and live in the West. The most difficult decision I made today was do I make my own coffee or do I go to Starbucks? I'm just being real with you. I've always had running water. I have access to food and shelter. I grew up in a middle class family in the suburbs of L.A. And then Boston.

Two parents in the home. Always had lunch in my lunchbox going to school. I'm relatively healthy, right? minus the occasional injury or headache. You know, I don't know what it's like to open my eyes and hope I feel well enough to function that day. That's suffering that I cannot relate to. But I know that regardless of one's pain, this has to be true. A choice must be made.

Perhaps the most important decision one is presented with. that we are all during those times presented with. In the frame it, I'll start with a quote from Victor Frankel. He says, to draw an analogy, a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber.

Thus, suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore, the size of human suffering is absolutely relative. What he's saying there is that even though our suffering is not, quote, unquote, equal, and it's certainly not, in our own lives, in our own world, it feels the same, right? Which is a strange thing to even entertain, right, that my suffering or your suffering feels the same as Jeff Bezos is suffering. It's like, how?

They're vastly different, different problems, different pains. So I think, you know, long story short, comparing is a fool's errand. We're not here to be judges of who's hurting more or why. No, I think the message is much simpler. When we're in those moments of pain or look, maybe it's not even moments. Maybe it's a continuation, right? For years, someone's been fighting or weren't given a great story. start, they don't have financial resources, family, friends not around, sick, you name it, right?

There are a million things we go through. Question is, do you point out with anger or do you point in with hope? Do you look to transfer your pain to others or use your internal strength to build what was once not there? And this is the message, by the way, that I've pondered and contemplated over and over and over again. It doesn't matter how I slice it and dice it. That's where I land, right?

It's never beneficial to blame. Just like it's always detrimental when others clap along with you like baby seals while you're dodging accountability. It never helps for someone to say, hey, you know, this isn't your problem. This is beyond you. You're helpless. Let's be mad together. Hey, we weren't dealt a good hand.

I'm sorry, that's the way it is. That in the short term might feel good because you don't have to fix the problem. You can remove accountability. But in the long term, you are hurting yourself. You are disempowering yourself, disarming yourself. Removing the one thing that can change your life, and that's personal agency.

Again, when you're at that rock bottom, you have two options. Own it or blame. Period. And you can hear that and think, what? It's not my fault he walked out of my life. Hey, I certainly didn't give myself this health problem. Hey, I didn't pick to be born or grow up in this neighborhood. True, true, true, check, check. This is not about blame and it has nothing to do with blame. It has everything to do with ownership. with empowering yourself. This is about saying,

I didn't put myself here, but I sure as hell can take myself there. Not enough people are comfortable with that message. From every corner of life, you get the opposite. You have politicians saying, hey, son, the deck is stacked against you. You're powerless. But, hey, vote for me in all help.

You have, you know, the media, you have TV showing you tragedy after tragedy, pointing fingers, blaming others, right? Let's make sure people live in fear so they have no control over their own destinations. So they feel small and helpless in a world that's bigger than them. You have social media algorithms, right? Positioning victimhood as currency.

Hey, look how marginalized I am. Poor me, right guys? Clicks, retweets, likes. That's the magic. This way of looking at the world is destroying us. It's destroying us personally. It's destroying our communities. It's destroying the fabric of society, right?

You can't have a functioning society with no personal agency or individual accountability. There's just no foundation to build on. Everything starts with the individual, everything. As the saying goes, no one is coming to save you. No one's coming to fix all your problems. Even the ones you didn't create. No one's going to fix a cycle of poverty or crime or obesity. You have to want that.

Now, is that complex? Yeah, absolutely. I'm not delusional enough to think that I can solve these things on a microphone. I'm not. But what I can tell you, is I see its complexity the same way I see a car is complex. I can't put a car together. There's thousands of parts.

But I can tell you with conviction that car is not going anywhere without the engine or motor. Just like your willingness to own the situation, your personal situation, your agency is the engine or motor in your life. You go nowhere without it. There is no vehicle without that ownership. In other words, everything revolves around that phrase,

what can I personally do about it? So when you're frustrated with the current moment or the pieces you were given, and trust me, I can empathize, man. Life is unfair. It's brutally unfair. Remember those two options. I mean, point out, blame, and beg to be said,

saved or you can point in and find a way to capture light in darkness. Anytime you want to transfer accountability, you are a thief robbing yourself of your own strength. Anytime someone tells you that the world is the problem and not you, they are a distraction pointing you away from the North Star you need to follow. If you believe the answer is within an arm's reach, you are a Because you are that answer. If there's time, then there's time to turn things around. If there is a tomorrow, then there is hope today.

The only half to bes in life are the ones we prop up and adhere to. And how interesting that oftentimes is we don't even realize we're the ones holding them up. There's a simple question that I like to ask as the sun comes up in the coffee brews. Am I living today like it's an obligation or something more? Is it an automatic continuation of the past or a methodical move towards a future that lights me up? And these aren't small distinctions. Right? I've lived both ways.

I've felt what it's like to feel both. I remember going to work and joking around that a flat tire would be a real treat. That's not accountability. That's not control. That's essentially living life as a jellyfish floating along with the tide. And while the lack of required output,

innovation and planning may have felt like a win in the moment or a burden lifted off my shoulders at the time deprived me of that which resides in the soul of every human being a lot. Purpose. Personal agency. See, you can only go so far, so long being the spectator of your own journey.

You can only go so long looking out the window before you wonder just what it'd be like. be behind the wheel. When we put our actions up against the question why, it astounds me how many things are done because it's what we've always done. We act like we're expected to act, think like we're expected to think, see who we're expected to see, but expected by whom? Some of my greatest breakthroughs in life emerged after being asked why by people I look up to or respect.

Why have you accepted that? That's your income? Okay, great, but why? That's how you spend your day? I see how calm. And when one is tasked with looking at their own life through a magnifying glass, some hidden truths always emerge. It shines a spotlight in the corner of the room,

illuminating those shadows where one can, if they look hard enough, make out the wolf in sheep's clothing that is the phrase, because that's how I've always done it. We get in life what we accept. We are what we allow ourselves to be, and if we don't ask ourselves which mountain is worth climbing,

Which ocean is worth crossing. We simply float with the tide. We're at the mercy of the winds. We forfeit the mastery over our own lives that awaits if we're willing to take that wheel and navigate. So here are a few things to take with you. First is you are bound by nothing. The parameters you exist between are of your making.

you can get in that car and drive. You can walk away and begin something new. You can entertain that vision that's been conveniently tucked away in the back of your mind. Understand that to not go is fine, but it's a decision. And perhaps a decision

you'll wish you made differently. And second, difficult today liberate you tomorrow. It's easier to observe. It's easier to say how you wish things were. After all, stepping out into the fast-paced chaotic world is tough. It's scary, it's unpredictable, but it's where you find yourself and the path that's calling your name. It's beyond the pins and needles emerging as one jumps into the cold water that they're able to find that evolution. If there's time, then there's time to turn things around.

If there is a tomorrow, then there is hope today. In 1519, Ernan Cortez arrived on the shores of Mexico with roughly 600 Spaniards, all of whom quickly realized that a mighty empire waited for them not too far inland. In Cortez, inspired by Spain's current golden age and the encompassing sense of ambition, an adventure that gave life to the whole journey to the new world, he pushed his men forward into the unknown, ordering them, as Winston Reynolds writes in his spania, to destroy the ships behind them.

Symbolizing the valiant push forward with no return, everything would be on the line. And over the years, this act has become folklore, evolved into the famous phrase we all know, burn the boat. The boat. Why is this an important idea? Well, I look at it in very simple terms. Doing anything meaningful is hard.

Not planning on it or hoping to do it, but actually doing it. And when you're in the heat of metaphorical battle, right, when you're on your way facing the adversity and the challenges and the hardships, whether it's social, physical or mental, that growth comes with discomfort. Our instinct is to want out. When we are in pain, our brain's default is, how do I stop the pain? And what I've learned is that if you give yourself off ramps, you'll take them. If you allow for a plan B, it will become more and more appealing. If the mentality is give it your all until it's inconvenient, well, we all know what happens, since excellence doesn't allow for skipping the inconvenient.

When you can't turn around and get back on those boats, you're forced to create outcomes. Because suddenly everything depends on it. Does this mindset come easy? No, I don't believe it does. Took me into my mid-20s to realize, hey, I'd never done anything without a life-wrapped or a safety net. I always carried option B, C, and D around with me in my pocket. And the result was above average. average at plenty of things was great at none.

But when your back is to the wall, and those demons are closing in, it's incredible what you can do, which you can create. You will shock yourself with your competence and your ability, waiting to be unlocked. Now, I'm not saying keep jamming this square peg in the round hole if you know something's not for you.

I'm simply saying if there is something you want, something that you know in your soul is pulling you in, and you really want to see that thing come to fruition, you can't have pre-made off-ramps for yourself when the inevitable difficulty comes in, because it will. It always does. I refer to those moments as checkpoints, areas of internal deliberation,

high security, guarded gates, where many arrive, but few get to pass through. Not because they couldn't, but because the cost of access was expensive, too expensive, mentally, physically, and socially expensive, taxing. Most simply say no thanks. They get back on that boat, waiting for them by the shore they arrived on and return to the world they've always known. The way I see it, this is not about right or wrong. No, that's missing the point entirely. I see the question being, how bad do you want it? A little? A lot? How about enough to go all in? Because if you want to see levels of yourself, you never thought possible.

You need to kick the ladder down behind you. Force yourself to. rise to the occasion amidst the chaos. Map your path straight into the darkness of night. Not because it's the most convenient, but because you gave yourself no other choice. You burned the boats and are content to watch their flames slowly disappear behind you as you go where few are you. where few have gone.

At night, the sky becomes visible. The darkness, the muting out of everything else allows the stars to finally shine through, to make their presence known. And during the day, conversely, one cannot see those stars, but the world around him on the ground becomes illuminated. It's a push and pull that seems to work perfectly, and I think there's something poetic about the partnership existing between the big picture goal and the small steps required to bring it to life.

As one of my favorite sayings goes, keeping your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground. Because here's what's interesting. If one were to only look up at the goal, she'd be consistently reminding herself of the ideal without taking the necessary steps to get there. And if one were to only look down at her feet, well, her steps would eventually become aimless.

And it's that duality, right? The need to both reassure yourself you can see the stars, as well as use the world around you to pull yourself closer to them that changes things. It's that beautiful dance that has to be maintained. And this is a balancing act that, uh, has certainly been challenging. Sometimes the pendulum swings way too far one way, sometimes way too far the other.

But in a perfect world, you know, you want it gravitating towards the center. I remember just starting the YouTube channel almost a decade ago, having, you know, big multi-million subscriber goals, but completely lacking the systems and everyday practices in place that would walk me towards that finish line.

I mean, sure, something's better than nothing. I was working and learning, but the actions simply didn't align with the objective. I had to correct them. And then I've been on the other end as well. But I'd be doing things every day without knowing why. All steps, no goal. That sort of thing occurs when routine takes on a life of its own. You start doing things because, well, it's what I do.

It's what I've always done. You know, this is when one has to look in the mirror. and ask the difficult questions. And look, anytime I can squeeze the complexities down into this simple, I try and do that. So with that in mind, my questioning goes like this. What do you want? Know the answer? Okay, good.

Next question. Is what you're doing taking you closer every day to what you want? Asking that question in a serious way takes a spotlight to one's world. Using my previous metaphor, it shuts the lights off so the north star becomes visible. And then, right, turns them back on to ask yourself if you're using your resources to move there. And I've become pretty good at asking myself this question consistently,

and still I find things that don't belong. That sort of, you know, they hide in plain view. I have faith that I'll end up exactly where I need to be. But that faith is rooted in my commitment to continually assess, to scrutinize, and adjust. There's very little hope

and a substantial amount of trust in my ability to continue forward. There's an idea referred to as the Stockdale Paradox, which states, and this is the first definition I grabbed from Google here, you must never confuse faith that you'll prevail in the end, which you can never afford to lose, with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality,

whatever they might be. That's where the tough love thing comes in. Be your biggest fan because no one will believe in you unless you do. It all starts with your trust in yourself to navigate the process and arrive where you must arrive. But it also requires you are your biggest critic. It means the reason you trust yourself to get there is because you know you won't just sit back and say,

I'll win because I believe I'll win. No, you'll win because you will, while having your head in the clouds, be brutally pragmatic with the steps you're taking on the ground. You'll win because you're committed to learning and adjusting. One of my favorite epiphanies when I started doing this full time was the realization at a very small scale at first that, whoa, someone can't fail unless they quit.

You can't lose unless you stop. Impossible, someone might think. Well, no, because when you miss the mark or you fall short, you take a second to understand why and then you come back to the problem or challenge again. Right? This means life is a game of tenacity, of persistence, of commitment. The one who keeps adjusting and coming back is bound to connect the dots eventually, which makes failure the simple decision that, eh, this isn't worth it for me.

I don't want to continue adjusting and re-engaging with this. And look, hey, depending on the situation, that may be the move, right? There have been things in my life where after sufficient trial and error, sufficient data, I've said, this doesn't align with who I am or what I want. I'm going to walk away and pivot to something that does, right? But the key is knowing that it is a decision. To not reach a particular goal is a choice to no longer attack it relentlessly. And so when you feel lost or defeated or even frustrated with the process,

try that line of questioning. What do I want? And is what I'm doing today bringing me there? This allows you to start taking a sledge hammer to the things that don't belong, refining the process. And yeah, sometimes walking away from the things that are no longer in the scope of who you want to be and where you're going. But the power is in knowing, it's in understanding that your footsteps, the little actions of your day to day, they are incredibly powerful.

but most of all, when you are methodical with them, when they're pointed in the right direction. So pick your stars carefully and own those steps that take you towards them. Failure is not a sickness you catch. It doesn't fall on your head like a piano in those old cartoons. It's a choice. Meaning, in positive terms, as long as you are committed to learn, re-approach, and repeat.

you will find yourself atop the mountain. As long as you're willing to evolve, you will ultimately arrive. The inspiration is not a luxury. What do I mean? Well, I mean the pragmatic requires imagination, like plants require water, like lungs require oxygen.

they need one another. It means if you save or put off or suspend the things that make you feel alive, you'll have an empty cup, unable to pour yourself into the world. There's certainly a theme in this chapter of my life, right? I'm noticing the internal struggle that exists between slowing down and speeding up. enjoying life while simultaneously building one. So how do we make these two seemingly contradictory things exist together? Well, maybe they're not so contradictory at all.

Maybe the work is just a manifestation of the inspiration. The building is a direct consequence of the doing. What one puts out into the world is a direct consequence of what one takes in from the world. And so recently I went to Sedona and this is going to be an incredibly anti-climactic chain of events

except for the fact that I had very little reason to go. It cost me time, it cost me money, pulled me away from my studio, but I felt called to head that way. I needed a change of scenery, I needed something breathtaking, something bigger than my notebook and in my patio,

as beautiful as they are and as grateful as I am to have them. Perhaps you've been there too, right? That sudden call for new stimuli to wake up this sleeping giant that is the imagination. And so I went. Two hours to a landscape so stunning, it's hard to even comprehend, right? Paths through winding pine trees, flowing creeks, singing birds. Sunrises, illuminating a new world and sunsets, pulling back the curtain on an endless sea of stars.

It was quick. Less than 48 hours. But what does that experience become? Well, it becomes upon my return home, a spotlight on my reason why was what I needed at that point in time. Sometimes we do and do and do and forget why we're doing. It was a reminder that life is not a cyclical routine, not a process, but an experience, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'll never forget, you know, Wayne Dyer talking about it. orange and how, you know, it doesn't matter how many times you squeeze an orange, grapefruit

juice is never going to come out, right? It can only give what lives inside it. You'll only ever get orange juice from an orange. And so, you know, upon recalibrating how I look at and feel about the world, even momentarily, I have more beauty to give, more strength, more inspiration, more power inside to share with the world, more light to pass on. Why? Because of what seemingly trivial 48-hour experience reminded me. And by the way, this is not a me story, right?

This is an everyone story. It doesn't have to be Sedona. It doesn't have to be anywhere. Those things that light you up, they matter. And that is the point. The instances of inspiration are just as important, if not more important, than everything else you're doing. Because it's through the inspiration

that we come to embrace the best version of ourselves. It's through inspiration that you're able to pour beauty back into your own life, the lives of those around you, and into the world in totality. The inspiration around you is the oxygen necessary to fuel any flame worth burning. And so yes, it matters. Try it. Do it. See it.

Chase your curiosity. Say yes to the spontaneous impulses to dive deeper into life. The inspiration is not a luxury. It's what keeps our hearts beating and our eyes truly open. The inspiration is why we're here. How do you visualize the road you're on? With its twists and turns, smooth terrain, rough terrain, straightaways, hills. What is it all mean?

Do you find it odd that it gets more challenging as you get closer to your destination? Right? The further along you get, the more tension life puts between you and the finish line. Almost like the universe is adamant about weeding out those who think they can skate by. What is the difference between saying you want it and really wanting it? Perhaps it's a willingness to fight through a storm, just for the opportunity to find calm and serenity in its center. This morning, as the sun was coming up, I went for a run.

A nice five-mile run down the coast, and the way I planned it out was simple. 2.5 or halfway up in soft sand, and then I'd stop, and I'd turn around, and I'd run 2.5 back, but on the harder surface, right? Easier to handle, almost like a reward for pushing myself on the way up. And things were going perfectly. I made the 2.5 mile run up. And when it came to stop and turn around, I realized what should have been obvious from the beginning

was high tide, which means I didn't get that hard surface to run back on instead. Not only was it softer than the way up, but I was running on a slope. And that just threw my mind for a loop, right? I'm embarrassed to admit I was actually angry about it. You know, I pushed myself hard going up and wanted that breather.

Almost felt like life pushed the finish line back 2.5 miles. And trust me, as I'm writing this, it seems ridiculous to talk about. But in the moment, just irrationally annoyed. That was the carrot that had been chasing the whole time. So I begrudgingly, you know, moved forward, kind of trying to figure out what to do. And ultimately just continued forward. And, you know, the emotion subsided. And as usually happens, you pull yourself out of the...

weeds a little bit, the big picture tells a different story. Different story means different perspective. And that's what I came across, right? This idea or this question, well, why do we expect life to be flat ground? Why was that my assumption to begin with? The easy to navigate path. Why is that the standard? And the more I thought about it, right? The more I wondered if that's the very reason why we underperform. It's the little spark that ultimately lights this wildfire of regret. Because when convenience is the standard, everything else becomes unfair.

Everything else is a burden. When the road should be flat, what are we to make of the hills in our path? Thinking life should be easy. It provides oxygen to a victim mentality. And sometimes it takes, these little experiences for me to refocus on these subtle realities. The flat ground is not the standard.

It is earned. It's a gift. It should be cherished and appreciated because guess what? Life wasn't easy. It isn't easy and it never will be. But I believe the differentiator is knowing that. So I kept running on the slope, feet sinking into the sand. I got my teeth kicked in just a little bit longer and life didn't.

an end. In fact, I think the mental aspect was tougher than the physical. We're only talking five miles here, but when the standard changes, so does the performance. It's about just moving forward. And like poetry, with about three quarters of a mile left, right? The beach widened. It leveled out. The ground became harder. Each step became easier. And yeah, I was running. But in my head, it felt like I was lying on a bed of feathers. Because when you prepare to face life's demons, when you're ready for battle, when you anticipate you'll have to give everything. Any adversary that falls short of that feels like wind behind your back. We can endure anything.

The question is whether or not we put ourselves in position to it. Mistakes, they don't define us. Heartbreak, it doesn't. kill us. And criticism, it doesn't shape us. But I'll tell you what. The fear that they do stops a lot of people from becoming who they're capable of becoming. Panicking at the slightest sign of discomfort, moving away from anything but the convenient when in reality inconveniences are the path. Is Drayton Holiday fame is The obstacle is the way.

See, satisfaction, it doesn't even exist without a will to overcome. What meaning does the finish line have without miles of self-doubt and questions and fear and dragons being slayed while you prove to yourself over and over again that you know what? I am more. And I can be more. And the crazy thing is that there's not even a stopping point here. This rocket will propel as high into the ether as you choose to take it.

And look, it's not about running on slight inclines or sinking a few inches into the sand. It's not about being rejected, losing or castigated by seven billion self-interested souls. No. It's about not being scared to take the bridge that connects current to future. Complacency to recreation. The known to the seemingly impossible. You're made of so much more than you give yourself credit for. You are so much stronger than you think you are.

So for yourself and for the world, capture that. Own it. and redefine what it means not to simply exist, but to your core with every ounce of your being, your soul, every fiber in your body to truly live. Here's to going, even when you don't want to go. To moving forward when you're uncomfortable, to stepping up when you're fearful. Here's to courage. I was talking to a friend of mine earlier.

today about understanding the difference between two things. On one hand, the fear that presents itself when we're growing, leveling up, right? Like we've all felt nerves before a big event or an important life change, things like that. Then on the other hand, the emotions that arise when we start to feel like something isn't right for us, similar discomfort, but not quite the same. We feel nervous or uneasy because we know we're misaligned. And where we landed in our conversation was that when you were on the edge of that metaphorical clip, and your body's pushing back, your heart's pounding, your mind is racing, you're nervous, you're fearful.

The question worth asking is, will I be disappointed in myself if I don't go through with this? Will I be letting myself down here by turning back? You have to jump into the future and imagine, you know, future you sitting at the table reflecting on this. If you see yourself as regretful, wishing you pushed through, then it's not an alignment issue. It's a matter of courage. And when you think about it, it usually feels obvious looking back. Like I can easily recognize in hindsight the things I stopped doing because they weren't aligned with who I wanted to be. When you stop doing the wrong thing, it feels like a breath of fresh air, like a step back to leap forward.

Those decisions create a more fulfilled life. But those times I stopped because, you know, I let the moment get bigger than my end goal. Those times I caved and decided I didn't want to pay the price solely because of the temporary discomfort. I remember those two. That's a different feeling altogether, a not-so-good feeling as we've. all know. Jim Rohn says it like this. There's a pain of discipline or a pain of regret. Choose your pain. One of the things that makes life challenging is that we have to be open to some level of discomfort in our lives. That's just what it is to be human. Now our power is that we get to

choose where we let that pain in and what it means, what it will do for us. Will it be the type of pain that grows us or the type of pain that reminds us what could have been? And I really think most of the time we stop, not because the path was wrong for us, but because we somewhere along the way forgot that most of life's best experiences and circumstances and opportunities come with a hefty price tag. They demand a lot of us. And in those moments, when the lights shine the brightest, when we feel the weight of the world coming down on us, it's easy to make.

misdiagnose that discomfort as a stop sign. It's like, oh, I feel alone, I feel unsure, I don't have any validation, my pride hurts, my confidence is shaken, whatever it may be. These things just, you know, even as I'm saying them out loud now seem awful. When in reality, they're just the cost of admission. It's like you have to not know before you can ever know. But try telling yourself that as your... you're wandering around feeling nothing but pressure, right?

It's a different story altogether. It's a challenge. But here's the good news. It's a challenge you're capable of handling, of overcoming. Life is about stepping into things we don't feel ready for. And then, learning repeatedly that we can piece together the knowledge along the way. It reminds us that fear is going to show up regardless of what we do in life. But to grow into the people we are capable of becoming,

we have to understand that fear is in its own unique way an invitation. The discomfort doesn't mean something's wrong, often the opposite. It's letting you know that more is available, that you are right where you need to be, but you have to change in order to become worthy of what's on the other side. Life is not saying no It's merely demanding of you courage And courage

You have Reality is the existence of two entities Those who create change And those who merely react to it And so I've wondered what separates The one from the many What differentiates a fleeting moment from a chapter and a history book.

See, I think we all come to a point where we look up and we see no top to the wall we seek to climb. We look down and see the water rising at our feet with every breath. We look to our left and see those who are where we want to be tomorrow. And we look to our right and see the trail of decisions we love to take back from yesterday. This is where most create their limiting narrative, where most succumbed to the world around them, but most is not all. And every soul eventually comes to find that it was shaped not by sunny days or easy roads,

but by walking to the edge of the only world it's ever known and daring to risk the normalcy to which it's accustomed. Because our appearance in the light is the manifestation of what, we do in the shadows when we're alone fighting the little battles. Greatness isn't just a different level of results. It's a whole new set of rules. And the monumental task in front of you is the culmination of a battle that's already been fought thousands and thousands of times. It's been won or lost over and over again. Every time you decide to stand apart instead of follow the crowd, decide to flourish instead of just survive, decide to lead instead of follow, build instead of conform. When you endure, it's because you've decided that you are different,

not in that moment, but every single day leading up to that point, this is not a reinvention. It's living out who you already chose to be. So the wall is high, you will climb because it's what you do. So the water rises, you will swim because it's who you are. So the people to your left have succeeded. There is always room at the top and you will claim yours. So you failed in the past, good, because falling then means you endure now and so you will. There's a quote attributed Heracletus on the realities of soldiers in battle. He says, look, out of every 100 men, 10, Shouldn't even be there. Eighty are just targets.

Nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. But the one, one is a warrior. And he will bring the others. Sure, things will feel strange at first. Abstract at first, wrong at first. It's incredibly difficult to. separate from the past. It's hard to detach from the deeply rooted biological

whispering of hey, at least you knew what to expect back then. But that whispering has preservation in mind, not happiness. And at some point we need to stop preserving that which is not ideal. So go. The walls that once existed, they'll crumble. And this will be startling at first. Shocking at first, intimidating at first. It's incredibly difficult to watch foundational structures crumble around us, especially when you know you are the one that lit the feet. It's hard to walk away from the faint murmur,

stating, hey, this was your home. How dare you leave it? But those words, they have status quo in mind, not growth. And home is an idea you take with you. It's no set of parameters. Just go. The stories you told yourself, the narratives you thought were forever, will prove to be nothing more than the end of an underwhelming chapter.

This will feel abrupt at first. Unfair at first will leave you. deeply unsatisfied at first. It's incredibly difficult to realize that happily ever-afters aren't linear, they're cyclical. It's hard to walk away from the voices pleading with you not to turn the page, stating that because their realities will remain the same, so must yours. But those aren't the characters with whom you'll emerge victorious. Some movies must be recast, the setting, reimagined, the hero reinvented.

And so it should be known that your greatest strength is the little steps that you are capable of taking. The little decisions you are capable of making. And remember, safety is not safe when it is. It keeps you from what you need, and the wrong nows have a tendency to evolve into the wrong forever's. The small concessions, well, they become the big mistakes. So if it's a sign you're hoping for, let this be it. If there's a time you're waiting for, let now be that time.

If it's someday you are dependent upon, let today be that day, as doing nothing is in fact a decision, but only one of many. One path laid out before you, one single grain of sand, where the edge of today's world touches the shores of tomorrow's. Sometimes it's about the ability to stand up, face the horizon, and just go. Go, because it's only upon going, that you realize you're capable of the journey. You finally see in yourself the strength you've longed for. It's in going that you realize yesterday's situation wasn't even really the problem. It was your fear of the unknown, of leaving that situation. It was living with the devil you knew.

Instead of potentially having to face the devil, you didn't. That's what happened to your wings. They just felt safer tucked away. But it's ingoing that we acquire perspective. The tragedies, the devastation, the things that kept us awake at night, they really weren't that bad. But how are we to know? When you build walls around yourself, what's within them becomes your entire world.

It's in going that you create yourself. And while everything you need is already beating in your chest, the great unknown before you is the water to that seed, the key to that door, what you fear is exactly what you need. And so the beautiful. beautiful dance through life goes on. Not beautiful because of its elegance, it's rarely that. But beautiful because of its promise, its malleability.

Beautiful because we get to move without answers in order to find answers. Beautiful because what we become is directly proportional to what we're willing to endure. And that means that the universe doesn't just doesn't judge. It doesn't know us by our failures or our mistakes, but by our courage. Our courage to face all of these things and move forward anyway. To relentlessly explore the resilience of the human spirit, an infinite light in an otherwise finite world, a bridge

that is built beneath our feet in real time. And what a weight off of our shoulders to know this. We don't have to get it right. We just have to step out the door trusting that we will pick up enough pieces to put together something meaningful. We just have to go. And in the world, it opens up.

Just like that. Leave the old, embrace the new, simple, you think to yourself. Well, yeah, of course, the best things in life for always simple, always have been, always will be. We just imagine them to be difficult. We have a knack for making simple decisions into complex matrices of cause and effect. Pros and cons, wins and losses,

we learn to think for years until we finally come to the brilliant realization that happiness, that meaning that a life well lived comes when we think less, We think less. Ready, fire, aim. There is no perfect path. Just an adjusted course, an endless series of change.

Of learning that falling is just a road sign indicating where we need to go next. You can't plan for that. You can't chart a course that doesn't exist. No, you leave who you were yesterday behind, and you set sail. They'll ask you, where do you see yourself in five years, and you'll think who knows? But not here. It couldn't be here. It must be somewhere evolved, where pieces of the world shaped your outlook and became the armor that you now wear.

New game, new rules, new expectations, new people, new places. And what really changed? changed. Well, how you view yourself. It's funny how it all works, how things come together when we look over our shoulders, like it was meant to be, as if this had to be the way things are. No, you could very easily have stayed dreaming, looking out that window, wishing you could leave, hoping for answers that didn't exist. And so the complex now feels as simple. as we meant it to. We move forward, not knowing, but trusting, and we look back with the sense of understanding and a confidence that was built over time. In the game of life, there are people who go and people who stay,

people who build and people who don't. And I'm not saying everything will be perfect or everything will immediately snap into place. How could I? But what I am sad is that in moving forward, we pull back the curtain on the opportunity that is available to us. We move from the physical limitations of the bodies we walk around in and towards the infinite power of the mind, that powers them.

We become who we were always meant to be. How do we know what that is? Well, not until we look over our shoulders, of course. So go. Go make your mistake. your mistakes, go learn your lessons, feel your moments of pain and your moments of bliss, your times of doubt, and your times of certainty. Because in doing so, you will have done the very thing so few people get to do with their limited time on this planet. Truly live. So go.

Why is it that when we look back on our lives, it's never the easy days or the simplicity? It's not the calm that changes our reality or makes us who we are. Don't get me wrong, calm and simplicity, they're wonderful, but they're not transformative. And why would they be? Why would we change or seek to obtain more without a reason or incentive? It's times of struggle, of turbulence. It's when life was hard that we had to rethink who we are. reshape the way we look at the world.

Because without chaos, you don't get calm. Without the storm, you don't get those crazy neon colors and golden rays it leaves as it passes by. In order to triumph in any capacity or any area of life, there's always a sacrifice that must be made. The adversity is the fire that forges the iron. There's a saying hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men and weak men create hard times. It's a cycle.

This is generally used in a sociopolitical sense and I think in a lot of ways it applies today, but where I've really found it useful, where I've found value in it is at the personal level. Because what I've noticed is that growth also appears to have a cyclical nature. And when we're in a rough situation or overcome coming an obstacle, we have to push, we fight, we grow.

Sometimes without even realizing it, we achieve a result. And by default, this transformation that in one way or another makes us something new. But then it becomes easy to level out, right? And that's the challenge. It creates this period of stagnation. It's like we made the jump and it becomes real easy to stay there. And that's why I have found value. in when life is not providing resistance to manufacture some.

Because that's the only way to grow. Progress is happiness. Victor Frankel and Man Search for Meaning, you know, he says purpose is to find from struggle. If things are too calm or simple or quiet, life begins to lack meaning, and that's never a spot we want to be. Life is about the pursuit of something.

You just have to figure out what that blank will be. You get to decide which mountain to climb. There's a story about a butterfly, making its way out of a cocoon. And it makes a little hole. It starts attempting to push its way out. Someone walks by, they see it struggling and open the cocoon up to help the butterfly out,

thinking that they did this great deed. But in doing so, that butterfly has now lost its ability to use its wings to fly. Why? Because the strength that was necessary to fly would have been forged when he fought his way out. The butterfly was deprived of the very thing it needed to become something more, and that's the point. It's easy to get lost in the now and seek to eliminate everything that doesn't make the moment more comfortable.

To remove that, which doesn't make things easier. But whether we're talking about collectively or the complacency in our individual lives, we have to remember that avoiding discomfort isn't the answer. When your biggest problem is Amazon taking five days to deliver or that your feelings are hurt by someone's comments or opinions on social media, you've lost track of yourself. You may be living in a world lacking the resistance necessary for growth.

Maybe it's time to ask what matters. And I remember when I lived in Boston, I'd walk around listening to podcast downtown, and I'll never forget hearing Ryan Holiday differentiating between passion and purpose. He called passion temporary, a dopamine hit. It's the excitement before the project begins, the beginning of a journey, the honeymoon phase. But passion alone falls short.

And it falls short because anything worthwhile is hard. It tests us. It repeatedly presents us with those metaphorical cocoons we have to fight. we have to earn our stripes, grow our wings, and if we stop at passion, there's no reason to battle on, to take the punches, knowing that they will create for us a tomorrow full of infinite possibility, and that's where we need purpose. That's why it matters. We need something bigger to march towards. a destination that's meaningful. To remind us that those challenging times,

they're not a burden. There is no poor me here. They are the fire that sharpens us. That whispers to us, not only the importance of carrying on, but the power contained within ourselves to do so. This world, it is not stacked against us. It's never the problem or the obstacle.

No, it's the opportunity laid out at your feet. And it's in those very times when we're uncomfortable, when we're unsure, when we don't know where to draw our strength. That we need to remember it comes within. It's an idea that is brought to life through courage, Through courage, through understanding, through the trials and tribulations of life that didn't intimidate or hold you back. Knowing that life has given you everything you need to blaze your trail. So don't be afraid to let it take you somewhere new.

It's when we most want to turn around that we must keep going. When all we see is darkness, that we must have faith in the light. It's when we feel most vulnerable, that we must become unshakable. See, there's a misconception that strength implies a total absence of weakness or doubt, that courage means never feeling fear or uncertainty. When in reality, these things are human. They've been wired into us. As Ernest Becker has said, we are simultaneously worms and gods.

Worms in that, sure, we're animals, flesh and bone unable to avoid death or misfortune or tragedy in life. But most importantly, God's, in that we have the divine ability to transcend these inevitable circumstances, to find hope in this seemingly hopeless, to see opportunity in life's obstacles and growth when we fall, to take the meaningless and give it meaning. And one of the most important things I've learned is that when life knocks me down, pushes me to my limits,

it's not some indication that I walked the wrong path. It's no referendum on who I am. No, it's a hand-extended offering the chance for me to be more than I've ever been. And in a world of delusion and distraction, it's a reminder that we have the capacity to turn life's hardship into a better tomorrow. The difference between facts or fiction, possible or impossible success or failure, is the decision

to get up when life knocks us down. This world, it's not easy. It tests us, challenges us. makes us think we are but a cog in the wheel of life. It can be tough. But your weapon, your strength is knowing that you are tougher. And look, I know that adversity hurts, but I also know that you're capable. You are strong enough to turn that struggle into something meaningful. Where most would turn back, you have it in you to take one step forward. Let the walls crash down.

The skies open up and the ground shake. See, this is minor detail in your world. Transcend. Transcend the average, the earthly constraints and the mental limitation. Remember who you are. Why you started. Remember that when your surroundings attempt to pull you back down to earth, you have no interest.

interest in the narratives they offer to you. You are unshakable. Sometimes it's what we don't say that echoes the loudest. What we don't do that has the greatest consequences, where we don't go, that ultimately gets us lost. I remember as a teenager applying to college, I was working on the admissions essay. I was brainstorming with my grandmother, talking over possible topics and approaches. And she read me this quote that's sometimes attributed to Mark Twain, but that's beside the point. The quote states, 20 years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sales, explore, dream, discover.

I thought this was the perfect bridge to the next chapter of my life. The latest horizon, the newest adventure. I thought it was incredible, and it was. It was exactly what I needed, and so on to that next adventure I went. And here's the thing. As life unfolded this equation, somehow transformed from exploration and dreaming and discovery, into the question, well, what am I supposed to do? Somehow without my paying attention, life turned into a checklist.

A question I couldn't get wrong. A test I needed to make sure I didn't fail. It's amazing how quickly we forget the infinite. breadth of life because we're focusing on the dotted line before us, the one we're supposed to walk. Sometimes we're so fixated on what the expectation is that we don't ask ourselves where these expectations are coming from. Who is so significant and wise that they know what's best for you to a greater extent than you do? See how that's an important question. And also one you can lose in your periphery as you follow that dotted line before you.

When you have a destination in mind, hopes, dreams, ambitions, well, that's an adventure. When someone else has a destination in mind for you, whether this authority is imaginary or not, that's obedience. And sometimes the greatest disservice we can do to ourselves is to not stop in place. to not stop and ask ourselves where we're going and why. Do you remember when you were a child and you got into trouble, right? Sometimes you'd get sent to your room. And for me, this was agony. When it was punishment, I wanted to be anywhere but confined within those walls.

I hated being sent to my room. And then finally, the door would open. My parents would say, Eddie, you can come out now. I'd go outside, play basketball for a little bit, and then oftentimes I'd find myself right back in my room. Happy, you know, playing with my toys, whatever I was doing, not a care in the world, and it's like, what changed? Nothing but the context.

Same me, same room, same toys, same whatever I was doing. It was, however, no longer a punishment. And I think this realization is worth exploring. We may not realize, we may not even be able to articulate it, but I think we long for control over our lives. We long to walk our own path. And in this situation, the path led me right back to where I was. Sometimes, though, the path leads us in the opposite direction, far away to distant world. The end destination is not as important as the fact that we chose.

it, that we asked ourselves why and that we believe in the answer and immerse ourselves in its execution. So when Mark Twain talks about the things that we don't do holding more weight in our hearts, it's because those things we tend to skip over are often the very things that breathe life into our souls. We'll go to school to get good grades, to get a 9 to 5, to get a promotion, to get a mortgage on a home. But the audacity to open that photography studio. The nerve to think you could rent a van and travel the country. The delusion to think you could start that routine

that will get you in the physical shape you've always dreamed of. See, we're lucky and fortunate to have the things that we have. The quality of life we lead now far exceeds those that came before us. life is convenient, incredibly convenient. But what is convenience if it comes at the expense of purpose, of meaning in life, because that's what steers the ship? A crisis of meaning ultimately mitigates everything else. There is no exploration without meaning.

And without exploration tomorrow becomes a repetition of today. Not an evolution. of today. And what's incredible, truly incredible, is that our purpose can be rediscovered, our paths redefined. How, by having a long conversation with, you guessed it yourself, by putting the phone in another room, by disconnecting the Wi-Fi and spending time with you, something along the lines of dear self, what matters to me in this world? Where am I going right now? Is where I'm going right now aligned with what matters to me in this world. And sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes no great, but what we have now is a foundation to work off of. An awareness that should be

celebrated, that you created. It's so easy to walk through life and never have that conversation. It's so easy to sleepwalk to the tune of someone else's song, the beat of other people's drums, but when you open your eyes, you see the correlation between your thoughts and your actions, your actions and your reality. You realize that when you wake up that tendency to ask yourself what you have to do today, to reflect on your problems, those questions you assumed were normal, that you never gave much thought to, well, now you'll see you can dismantle that notion. Now you'll see that if you can ask yourself what you have to do,

you can just as easily ask yourself what you want to do, what you get to do, what life is inviting you to do. If you can reflect on your problems, you are just as capable of reflecting on the opportunity at your fingertips. If you can spend time dwelling on whether you're walking the obligatory dotted line that's been laid out in front of you, You're just as capable of redrawing that line and allowing it to pull you into a new dimension. Listen again, 20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails, explore, dream, Discover. Explore, but for you. Wander down those paths that have for so long peaked your curiosity. Try things you once felt like other people were entitled to, but you'd never given yourself permission. Be that for yourself, because no one will come up to you and randomly give you that green light. Dream, because without building your castles in the air, as Thoreau calls them, you live your entire. life on the ground. You'll never hit targets that you don't create. And sure, there'll be a time that

only you see the destination. Great, that's life, but with each step forward as it becomes more real for you, it will make sense to others as well. Trust each step like it is in and of itself a miracle. And you'll find in time that that's exactly what each step was. And last Lastly, discover. Discover who you are, what you're capable of becoming. As Emerson said, to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. To forge your own path, build your own life, stay true to your own heart is courage. So sail away because you have the ability.

because you are strong enough and because the story you're about to write doesn't continue on until you turn the page on today's chapter. There's a quote attributed to Seneca that states no man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself. Meaning it's in pursuing the difficulty.

thing that we obtain meaning, recognition, that we prove ourselves. But prove ourselves to whom? This is the same Seneca who famously stated that we suffer more in imagination than we do in reality, that he is most powerful who has power over himself. And that's one of the beautiful things about stoicism. It makes us ask a very simple, that often overlooked question, who's Who's really the adversary here? Who's the opposition we're dealing with as we fight our battles? What is it that must be transformed? Is it the outside world?

Or the way our eyes view the outside world? What's really holding us back? The circumstances? Or our own personal thoughts about the circumstances? And I think this is where we misunderstand the challenges before us. I want to delve into this power of perspective to explain that we are the gatekeepers between ourselves and our ideal lives. And very often we do a good job of ensuring that gate stays closed.

We sabotage our own goals, our own dreams, our own happiness, while simultaneously pointing the finger at a million external. See, when we look at the difficulties of life, and there's no doubt that life can be a very difficult thing, it's easy to look at the world as this binary playing field, me versus the world. And in fact, we often visualize the world as the enemy pushing back against us, as if its motives were counter to ours. So many of these narratives, these stories, they actually say nothing, about the outside world. And when we look deeper, it becomes apparent

that they actually say a whole lot more about us. It's the one viewing that gets to decipher what the circumstance means. And so all narratives are reflections of the observers. Jim Rohn used to tell a story about two brothers who had an alcoholic father. He'd come home drunk, he'd abuse his son. sons, they had a terrible childhood. And as they each grew up and had families of their own, their paths kind of diverged. One became abusive, and the other was kind and loving and caring.

And when confronted, the now abusive brother stated, well, look, how can you blame me? Don't you see how I was raised? But the kind, loving and caring brother stated, of course I'm like this. I could never put my family through what I went through as a child. Same circumstances. Different lenses, interpretations, which means different real world result. And the idea here is to emphasize how one of the most important abilities a human being possesses is the ability to interpret the world around him. I think of us as subjects navigating a world.

world of objects, as though the things around us don't have meaning until we place meaning upon them. That's what humans do. Create narratives out of objects. And that often overlooked, seemingly insignificant ability, places a lot of power in our hands. Very rarely is it what we see, It's what we think and what we do about what we see. You ever hang out with people that just tend to be happy, upbeat, positive energy? I have a very good friend like that where his first inclination is always to find the positive. In moments where I've sort of trained myself to pause, take a second, sift through the emotion, uncover the value in a tough situation, refocus, and take a strategic,

step forward, I look over at him and he's already arrived there, right? He's been there for three minutes, right? Eliminated the negativity. It's his first instinct. He's the metaphorical kid hopping around in puddles, whistling at the top of his lungs, while everyone else is hiding out from the rain, or at least trying to find the courage to run out onto the street with. Then there are people who seem to always find the negative. It doesn't really matter what this situation is, happiness is fleeting, only to reveal the negativity that never seems to go away, right? The kind of person that if they won the lottery, their first thought might be, oh no, but what if I lose it all? Both examples are people projecting themselves onto the world around them.

The same way that smoke covers and consumes an entire room. It's not the room that's the culprit. Here's another example from Jim Rohn since we're on a Jim Rone kick. He was making a similar point and this is all from a collection of speeches he has on Audible comparing humans to oranges which is probably not a comparison you've made recently but he said there's consistency to an orange and that it can be filled with one thing when you squeeze an orange orange juice is coming out period it will never be apple juice or grape food juice It will only emit what it has inside, which is orange shoes.

And while here's the connection. When life pressures us, challenges us, or metaphorically squeezes us, we only emit the emotions that are contained and available, that are alive and well within us. If there is no jealousy contained in our thinking, we're not going to project jealousy out into the world. If there is no hatred within us, we will not project hatred onto others. Why is that powerful? It's powerful. Because again, it's one of the most important things you can do.

Certainly one of the most important things I've learned to do is take that finger pointing blame at the outside world. Slowly turn it around and point it back at myself and ask what thoughts, what emotion, what emotion What ideas am I letting live inside my head? That's altering the narrative, the story I'm telling about myself, and the world that I live in. And while one might think, well, that's uncomfortable, that's unfair, a little extreme, why should I point at myself? It's not my fault.

I would challenge you, at least for the sake of the next few minutes, to see such a change as empowering, as your advantage, As the bridge from where you are to where you want to be. See, if you always have feelings of, let's say, jealousy around a particular person, that feeling in your stomach, like, oh, they have it all. They're ahead. They live how I want to live. They're this and that, and I kind of hate them for it. You're naively giving the external world the power.

You're saying, I feel the way I do because of that out there. Some cosmic injustice. you are powerless because you're neglecting your personal agency as a factor but when you turn that finger around and say i only feel this way because i'm allowing myself to then you can ask the question so many never think to ask why why do i feel this way which lights a path to how can i fix it. See, the key to a better life is realizing you don't have to be in the passenger seat pointing at and blaming the driver, complaining about the road being taken, no, you can get into the driver's seat. You can take the wheel. You can take control. Inherit responsibility.

And there's more at stake. There's greater vulnerability. But the upside is unfathomable. And I find myself thinking all the time, man, people are blaming the wrong things. They're shifting blame to the wrong adversaries. The real villain here is not the driver or the road or the weather. The real villain is the voice in your head pleading with you not to take the wheel. Pleading with you to ride shotgun and complain as the world passes you by. And of course it make sense to qualify that, with the inevitability that there are some things placed upon us that are just bigger than us, that we can't control. And you can make a list however long you want to, natural disasters, decisions, and actions of others, health problems. We don't often get

to choose the landscape. So as the Stoics would say, understand that. Understand what you can't control and what you can. Because the beauty is that you can control how you navigate that landscape, and that is power. That is what makes the difference. See, the two brothers, I mentioned a few moments earlier, same landscape. Different navigational tactics, different view of what it all meant. One took the wheel and one did not. So that's Seneca quote. That states, no man is more unhappy than he who never faces adversity. For he is not permitted to prove himself.

Well, it's perfectly clear as far as I'm concerned. The question is not whether or not to face adversity. I think we all understand that. What I hope we take from today, is a better understanding of what the true adversity is. A better understanding of the fact that in front of us there is always an answer, a key to every lock. Some people just don't think to look.

They're so busy peering around every corner for external enemies and scapegoats that they don't give themselves permission to succeed. Maybe unfortunate, but it's true. You can hit the bull's eye over and over again. But if it's the wrong target, it won't do much for you. You might as well have missed by 50 feet. And I think that is what we overlook. You can't always fix the outside world.

You can't change the unchangeable, but you can always change yourself. You can always fix you. As Tolstoy said, everyone wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. You're capable of being both your greatest adversary and ally. So choose wisely. Because the world around you will do nothing more than respond accordingly to your decision. A cheat code in life is understanding the significance of getting to one. Because if you can get one, you can absolutely get two.

And if you can get two, you can get three, four, five, five thousand, five hundred thousand, or five million. Once you realize that something is possible, you're no longer the same person you once were. Your hands need not be held to the sky as though the universe is going to drop something into them. No, you've cracked the code. You have the info. And the burden has now been placed directly onto your shoulders. That little question, is this possible, dissipates. Getting to one was your proof of that.

And then the obvious accompanying question, now what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do? Because the race isn't to one million, it's to one. One is the power. One is the reassurance. It's one is everything you need. If you can sell one painting, you can sell 50,000 paintings.

If you can make one three-pointer, you can make thousands of three-pointers. If you can create one genius marketing video that goes viral, you can create hundreds, thousands, millions. Again, the evidence, you got one. Anything beyond one is procedural. It's a testing of methods. It's becoming relentless in your pursuit to repeat the process with the pieces at your disposal. But make no mistake, those pieces are there, everything you need is there, so long as you get to one. I had to recently break through to this realization.

Like so many of us, I'm an ambitious person. I love the game. I want to add value to more people. reach more listeners, generate more revenues, scale impact, all that stuff, of course. But for a while I just couldn't figure out how. I became almost disillusioned. What am I doing wrong? Maybe, what if maybe, do I dare say, do I dare even think for a second that I've gone as far as I can go?

But was ultimately rescued. Rescued by the realization that I was asking the world for things I didn't have instead of leveraging what I did. I needed to separate the value I possessed from the logistics that would transport it. Because, and this is what we forget, I've already performed my miracle. I've added value to one person, and if you can add value to one, why not 10? Why not 10 million? It's not a product issue. It's a scaling question. The car works. Figure out how to get it to the racetrack. The tool is effective. Now get it into the hands of the builders. You see the difference, the confidence that comes with that? Instead of doubting all that you bring to the world, asking yourself

if more is possible, you say, yeah, of course it is because I've already done it. Here is my proof. Now what's around me that I can use to deliver it? How can I try things? Reposition things. figure out how to scale and get further, but I know it's possible. So many of us have already gotten to one. We're adding value. We're doing what we believe in. But we're asking the wrong question. We're still asking whether more is possible.

It is. The burden is just on you to bring it to fruition. The burden is on you to find a way. To scale the value contained in your way. one thing. And by the way, if you haven't arrived at one yet, buckle up. Getting to one was one of the best periods of my life. Finding your value proposition, enjoying the process, exploring, finding that intersection of value and personal contentment. You'll eventually arrive there. But remember, for you, the goal is not one million, it's one, one idea that works, one approach that lights you

up, one action that opens your eyes to the upside, that makes the world better to those around you. When you've found your one thing, when you know what makes a difference, then you move on to the scaling chapter, right? Then how do we turn one into one million? But there are two different questions. So remember that moving forward. No matter how stuck you feel, if you have one, you simultaneously have a little seed capable of producing infinity. It just needs attention. Trust yourself to work through the logistics because that's all it is. Transform the if into how and start building that staircase straight to the moon.

The first step towards creating the life you want is taking responsibility for the light. you have. What does this mean? Well, it's easy to accept the good things. The things you're proud of. It's easy to move forward under the banner of victory. But what about the things that may not be under your control? The things that happened unjustly? Or what about the things you did in your past that you're not proud of? See, if you're going to own the good, you have to own the bad too. Because you can't change anything. You can't alter the reality on the ground until you own it. You can't make something better that you have not acknowledged and claimed to be yours. See, our inclination when we feel like we've been wronged by life, is to shake our fists at the sky,

innately aware of the cosmic injustice that has occurred. And I get it. We want to point out that injustice. Label it as an adversary. Maybe even an excuse. It feels good in the short term. But ultimately, it's depriving you of your strength, the ultimate advantage.

Which is substituting the word fault for responsibility. When you're fixated on the word, fault, the emphasis is placed on finding the blame. It's replaying yesterday's movie. The responsibility, on the other hand, says regardless of how or why this came to fruition, it's mine to fix. Maybe it was brought forth by your doing, maybe it wasn't, but you'll learn and adjust in the present. That attitude will place you in position to succeed in ways most couldn't even dream of. When others project out, it leaves you to find the solution. Where others assert blame, it pushes you to begin the process of building again.

See, there's nothing so detrimental as one who, feeling slighted by life, doesn't start where they are to make the most of what they have. Feeling so angry and disparaged by the path that brought them to the present moment that they forget it's not the same path that will lead them forward from here. This moment is yours. And there's a lot packed into that statement. It means looking in the mirror, accepting the face staring back in you,

letting go of what you cannot control, forgiving yourself and the world around you for what may or may not have happened yesterday. Look, you're here now. With all the opportunity in the world, everything in front of you, the question is, will you take it? Will you leave fault behind so that you can accept responsibility for the greatest gift one can be given? The chance to begin again. 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, 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 is 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, right? Like I mentioned above, the cost of ambition is sometimes the inability to be in the moment. Always reaching 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 half-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. 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. A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.

That's from George Patton, General in the United States Army, integral to the Allies victory in World War II. So why? What makes this statement so powerful? Well, it rings true because we have to move beyond the idea that we can manufacture great. with one swing of the bat, one stroke of the pen. That if we wait for the right moment, perfection will come. The light will turn green. The stars will align and the path will emerge. I feel like I could scream this from every mountain top, and it wouldn't be enough.

Life is not a perfection game. Life is an adjustment game. And I'll speak anecdotally here. In my experience, looking over my shoulder, reflecting, you know, those times that I'd clung to perfection, rationalizing my immobility by saying, hey, you're not ready, this isn't good enough. I'd only have to dig a few layers down to see that my not moving wasn't out of some loyalty to excellence. No, I was standing still because of fear, a fear of going, of starting, a fear of the unlawful. unknown. Perfection is the biggest con there is. It's a scam. It says, wait here, your perfect moment will arrive. Hang tight. The right time is coming. No, there are no perfect beginnings. There's

merely the courage to move into something new or the regret that will ultimately come from wishing that you did. And sure, a part of it's almost counterintuitive. It's like, why isn't it beneficial to wait. Why would you want to take the leap before you're ready? Here's how I see it. One of the most important distinctions to understand is that between the thinker and the doer. The thinker who ponderes, who reflects, who studies and studies and studies thinking he or she can create for him or herself a perfect jump-off point, thinking they can obtain for themselves all the necessary information, all the answers before they begin the journey. The truth is greatness is forged through repetition via wheels on the road,

and yes, you are terrible at first, completely unsure at first. You get lost at first. But this becomes the knowledge that shapes the journey. When you go before you're ready, two important things happen. First, after falling down and feeling embarrassed and insecure, you get back up, you look around and you go, wow, okay, I'm still here. That sucked, sure, but it wasn't as bad as my brain told me it would be. Next, you learn from the exchange.

You can start doubling down on what works, eliminating what doesn't. And eventually, as you take this confidence and wisdom onto the next step, repeatedly, the curve becomes exponential. In doing, you begin stacking bricks, creating a foundation. Those experiences that humbled you become what you lean on. They're what turn into the experience, the knowledge, the credibility. And see, thinking you can skip all that ugly stuff by waiting on the ledge, for perfection to arrive in your hands, that will be your undoing. That's just as crazy as a sailboat waiting for the wind to stop. It's like, no, you need that friction, that resistance to reach your destination.

And no, we cannot control everything. Yes, there are powers beyond us. But if you go now, you learn to use and navigate them. The greatest gift we can give ourselves is permission to go. It's looking a year ahead and dreaming of the moment. We pause and say, wow, what a year. The twists and turns, the lessons, the highs, the lows, the peak moments all brought me here. And how different here is from back there.

How far I've come. Knowing, by the way, that life was never asking me for perfection, but rather a willingness to start, to dive in, to adapt along the way. I know a lot of people with businesses that exist in their minds, but not in reality. A lot of people in shape when they close their eyes, but not when they look in the mirror. A lot of people living their best lives when talking about the future, but not when they pull up to work on a Monday morning. We shorten the gap between our ideal existence and the present moment by going, by stepping now. even when we can't imagine how the process will unfold. Because let me tell you, life will bend and twist in ways you can't even fathom.

It'll take you places that ignite your soul, show you things you never dreamt of seeing. But you have to put yourself in position to receive that from life. The world wants to help people who help themselves. So give yourself the gift of progress. Of momentum, if a dream is only worth the action one is willing to take to bring it to life, let that action start now. Move beyond the illusion of perfection and towards the opportunity

to take the imperfect every single day and transform it into greatness. Every time your mind says you're not ready, let that be your invitation to step forward. See, life may not be a race, but that doesn't mean time will politely wait for you. We must say goodbye to perfection as we evolve, as we grow. I can guarantee you it won't be missed. Today is not an obligation. today is a gift. Why is it important that this distinction comes through loud and clear?

Because the same action can differ wildly, depending on what brought it about. Was it an order or a choice? Were we told or did we arrive there ourselves? And we know this innately from a child being told to go to his or her room for punishment, That place where they'd gladly be, if it wasn't being mandated by angry parents. When we're instructed, being told to, mandated, when we're doing something because we have to,

we process this differently than a choice or a conclusion we came to on our own. We think about it differently when it's something we get to do. When I talk about transformative perspective shifts, this was one for. me going from what's expected of me. How do I not mess this up? What would make me look like the person I'm supposed to look like? To instead understanding that, listen, today is a gift and I'll never get it back, a series of opportunities and decisions, a choose your own ending story waiting for me every day as the sun comes up in my eyes open. To me, the difference is more than semantics.

The difference is between feeling free and going into autopilot so that I mitigate mistakes and blend in. That's not freedom. That's becoming a prisoner of your own making. You can walk the same road and see it differently every time. You can take in the same event and come away with very different interpretations of it.

All depending on the role chose to give yourself as you walked down the path or peered in at the event. Were you the hero in the story or an extra? Someone who capitalizes on all to be gained or someone who hides from the fear that they might misstep. Obligations are about minimizing risk and doing what is merely required. An opportunity on the other hand asks what more could you do with what you have. How could you take what you love and multiply it? How could you capture your inspiration and delve further into it? The one living out of obligation will always find the problems and the negative. But the one who knows they have in their midst the greatest winning

lottery ticket of all time, well, they'd be foolish not to cash it in. And so look, you might be going through some problems as we all do. You might have your challenges and your struggles. They're unavoidable. But these are part of a greater narrative. They're what will build you up and push you forward as you move deeper into the miracle that is your life. And that's the difference.

The first step in being able to capture the opportunity is understanding that you are living in one. Life is not obligatory. It is a giant get to. And when you realize that, you are truly...

So not too long ago, Jordan Peterson was doing a tour and he made a stop in Phoenix, Arizona. And he was talking about the role of God in our lives. And I really enjoy that type of philosophizing

that conversation. And I went and it was a blast to just have that discussion, be in a room, an auditorium with so many different people from all walks of life with different beliefs and backgrounds. And one of the things he mentioned was that perhaps there is a too rigid view of God in some circumstances. And maybe that turns people away. His question that he posed is, what if God is simply one's willingness to pursue what they were meant to do? The courage to accept life's challenge,

face adversity, and find that level of meaning, embrace that calling that each of us individually have available to us. stepping into that greater version of yourself. And I won't get too far into it, but just for some context, he specifically referenced a story about Abraham and the Old Testament

and how he was a really old man before he stepped out and basically became that person he was meant to be. And so I'm going to quote Jordan Peterson here. He said, as long as there is breath in you, there is room for another adventure. Think about how powerful that is.

Not something we hear every day, right? For me, it's profound for two reasons. One, it's the reminder that there must be adventure in life to begin with. That's a prerequisite. And that decision to step out the front door and become the person you were meant to be, it's not a luxury. It is life. And second, in sort of the corresponding piece,

is that it's never too old to do that. It's not like when you're 18 or 25 or 35, that ship sails and heads to a distant horizon, and you missed it. No, there's always the ability to step out your front door and take that path you've never taken. Become who you were most meant to be. And that calling, refer to it as whatever you want.

You know, nodding your head and finding the courage to embark upon that journey is where you get to see who you really are. You get to unveil a version of yourself that's been caged in waiting to come out, that potential that's been hiding away in your soul and waiting to be released, the chance to give to the world which you were meant to give, to both ignite your soul and simultaneously be a light in darkness for others. You know, another quote that night, he said, people are capable of carrying an immense burden and still struggling uphill.

If you're willing to grit your teeth and go, the sky's clear. The path emerges. that I promise you will amaze you how much you can endure, how far you can go. And you might look around and wonder, me,

surely this is for someone else. But no, this message is for you. That reminder that time is finite. And those hypotheticals, you know, entangled in your curiosity, those what ifs, those if-onlies, they're waiting for you. They matter.

And they're calling you now. You know, in a way less formal setting, my friend Steve, and I'll never forget this. Something's just hit you. You know, we're sitting there, random Tuesday, having lunch at Panera. And he said, you know, Eddie, we are sacks of meat on a rock floating through the infinite. Nothing matters.

And I thought that was such a beautiful sentiment. You can take that as two ways. Nothing matters, so why leave? Or you can take it as nothing matters. So why wouldn't I try? Why wouldn't I cash in this once in a lifetime lottery ticket? Why wouldn't I do what I'm called to do? Those worst case scenarios, the playing small, none of that matters.

How could you not step into life when you're only here for such a short amount of time? How could you not want to see how far you can go and what you're capable of when that clock is ticking? clock is ticking in the background. It's an irrefutable fact that there is more for you should you choose to pursue it. That curiosity, that voice calling your name, that's not a coincidence, that's not a fluke, that's a hand reaching out and asking you to accept that next version of you. And you can call it anything from divine to a pragmatic why not, but the truth is, There's more for you.

There's more beyond that door. So I ask, why not walk through it? Every next level of your life will demand a different version of you. Why? Because life is about reaching outside of your comfort zone. Acclimating until you are comfortable and then repeating the process. Every time you leave the familiar you are granted. granted a new set of armor.

As Jim Rohn said, if you want to have more, you have to become more. For things to change, you have to change. For things to get better, you have to become better. If you improve, everything will improve for you. And every time we expand ourselves, we are forced to change in some way, evolve. So many of us fall into the trap of waiting for the perfect moment to jump. There is no perfect moment. How could there be?

There's no perfect time to step out into a world you're not prepared for. But that's life. We jump and we grow wings on the way down. We step into the chaos and acclimate. By walking into the dark, we are forced to become the light. This makes staying where you are the most dangerous thing you can do. Let's use our imagination for a second. Let's say you reach for the next thing.

You stretch yourself. Move towards something you really want and you fall short. Okay? Time to breathe. Reassess, step back for a second and re-approach a little better this time, a little wiser this time. As long as one remains engaged in this cycle, growth is inevitable. But now, let's say you never step in.

Let's pretend the idea of moving into the unknown is too much. rather stay with the familiar, pain-free, you think to yourself, but you would, in fact, be wrong. See, that discomfort, one step up, it would force you to evolve, to see yourself as someone who steps into hostile territory and survives. And maybe it's not pretty, maybe it's not perfect, but you attack and you survive. And sure, the difference between where you are now and only one step up isn't much. But what about that second step or evolution? Because you'd miss out on that too. And the third and the fourth and the compounding that would completely redefine who you are. From yourself identity to your skill set, from the mental to the physical, you put the whole

chain reaction on hold because why? You didn't want to take one step. You didn't want to be uncomfortable in the short term. But discomfort is not a punishment. It is a punishment. It is a is a ticket to everything you could ever imagine. So when the crowd runs out, I challenge you to run in. And when the world goes left, I dare you to go right. Not because the masses are evil,

but because human beings are wired to take the path of least resistance. But you, no, not you. You're here to rise above the mental constraints that holds so many many down because there is always another level. When you feel good, there is another level and when you don't, there is another level. And see, our world has been defined, not by the best or the brightest, but the ones willing

to throw themselves into foreign arenas and compete. To see adversity as the answer, not the problem. You want to change your world, then change yourself. You want to change yourself, then go where you are scared to guard. where your heart beats and your hands sweats, turn and face the direction you know you should have been facing. This is about you. This is about what you can become by simply saying yes

when most would say no. Today is yours. Not because it was given to you, but because you looked through the haze and you decided it's so. Courage changes, but so do I. See, the goal is for us to remain inseparable. Dancing partners as life's song ebbs and flows.

Co-stars in the great play of life. See, I can't be perfect, but I can be courageous. And that, as it turns out, is enough. Now, courage can be so small that it fits in my pocket, or it can be so big, so monumental, so grandiose that it takes me out my front door and drops me in a world I've never been before. Over the years, courage and I have seen everything. When I was scared to step out of one chapter and into the next, courage helped me turn the page.

It said, you are bigger than you. than what's in front of you. Said life is not that serious. When I looked in the mirror and didn't like who was staring back, courage helped me ask why, which unbeknownst to me would be one of the more courageous things I've ever had to do. When I was low, defeated, and overwhelmed,

courage whispered in my ear that I was strong enough to get back up. When I was tired, run down, courage explained to me, hey, it's okay to pump the brakes, to put your feet up, to escape and let life in for a little while. And that was an interesting waltz we did there,

but sometimes courage pushes and sometimes it pulls. When I was shying away from deeper relationships, vulnerability, Courage reminded me that the possibility of rejection and loss and disappointment is worth the upside. That never opening up is what we come to regret. And, you know, sure, everything you want lives on the other side of fear. But I think love also lives on the other side of pain, and you can't have one while trying to shy away from the other.

When I couldn't walk or run, courage stated that it was okay to crawl. As the saying goes, on the days you only have 40%, 40% becomes 100%. 40% is courage. When my pride kicked and screamed my ego built walls, courage reminded me to reach out, to be a fixer, that, yeah, it's easy to be mad. But being mad has never fixed.

a problem. When hiding behind perfection, courage reminded me an important truth. There's nothing noble about perfection. Perfection is a lie. It's fear in disguise, antithetical to courage. You can be perfect, scared, and live life as a shell of yourself, or be imperfect, flawed, but authentic and powerful. When my knees would shake and my palms would sweat, courage said, grab the mic, step onto the stage, create the video, set up the meeting, make the call. There is a bridge to a more powerful, more evolved version of you.

You just can't see it because you're currently walking it. When I become too accustomed to routine, to normalcy, to how things are, shying away from risk and opportunity and all the good stuff, courage flashes that vision in front of me of what life can be. It says, hey, that dream, that future you think of, it's not going to come to you. You have to go to it. See, over the years, courage has changed, but so have I.

And the goal has been and will always be for us to remain separable, dancing partners as life's song ebbs and flows, co-stars in the great play of life. See, I cannot be perfect, but I can be courageous. And that, as it turns out, is enough.