Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - PUSH YOURSELF EVERYDAY - Motivational Speech

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

“One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” - Abraham Maslow Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube  Join Eddie Pinero in this insightful podcast episode as he explores the journey of setting goals and navigating the unpredictability of growth. Discover the importance of making adjustments in pursuit of meaning and granting yourself the freedom to evolve. Learn to immerse yourself in the journey, say no to distractions, and surround yourself with uplifting individuals. Get ready to embrace life as an experiment and move towards what truly matters.

The other day was on a podcast with Evan Carmichael, who was a YouTuber and entrepreneur. And we were talking with Shaquille, who was the host, about the mental side of the entrepreneurial journey, how we set goals, but also prepare ourselves for the inevitable adversity associated with growth. And one question, Shaquille asked us was, where do we see ourselves in five years? Okay, so side note, I have a unique relationship with this question. As someone who was unsure in experimenting with their career, right, for much of their adult life, I never quite knew how to answer it. You know, it's like two things can be true at once.

It's a very reasonable question. But I also didn't like answering it, right? Hated it to my core, you could even say. I could never really articulate why. It just made me uneasy, right? Like five years of lifetime. How am I supposed to know? And again, no knock on the host at all.

It's a very common and practical question. I'm glad he asked it because it opened the door to a pretty cool conversation. So anyway, he asked the question, and I'm thinking, oh, man, like, how am I going to approach this? And before I said a word, Evan blurts out, look, if you know exactly what you're going to be doing in five years, you're thinking too small. In that comment, to say it made me happy was an understatement. It was like, thank you for saying what my mind has been trying to piece together for a decade and a half.

If you know exactly where you're going to be, of course you're limiting yourself. There's just too much predictability, too much routine, process and not enough experimentation, not enough life. Why? Because growth is unpredictable. It takes us places we didn't expect, shows us things we didn't anticipate, it unveils truths and minor miracles about ourselves, that we, let's face it, never would have seen had we been dismissive of all life's variability in opportunity. Now, does this mean we don't move with conviction in a general direction?

Does it mean we don't have goals or ambitions? No, I certainly don't think it does. You can't hit targets you don't aim for. That will always be true. It merely means life is not about being perfect in bringing about a particular result. It's about making adjustments throughout your pursuit of meaning. If you feel closer to your purpose

when you change the medium, then change the medium. If it means your heart tells you left is where the value lies and not right, then go left. Right? To me, it's essentially reminding us that life is not a black and white, yes or no, checklist or test. It's a game, and you have to grant yourself the freedom to play. You have to give yourself permission to grow.

I think about how much time five years is. And how five years ago, I wasn't even thinking about creating media the way I do now with the amazing team of people that helped me. I wasn't speaking on stages. I hadn't crafted my creative style. I didn't know the people I know now who introduced me to not only new people, but new ideas. These are characters, their stories,

their opportunities that present themselves only as you immerse yourself in the journey. And I was okay not knowing exactly, but merely moving towards a general direction. The most important decisions were, you know, looking back, not what I said yes to, but what I said no to is I moved through life experimenting, learning, growing. I was able to craft something that worked for me.

Not other people. Not what's in books. There's no roadmap. No, it's an experiment. And this is more of the reassurance I would have wanted during those years from an older version of myself. Like, it's okay to not know exactly where you'll you'll be. Just promise yourself this. If it matters to you, you'll find a way to move to it,

with it, towards it. And if it doesn't, then let it go. Surround yourself with people that lift you up, and if they don't let them go. You'll hear a lot of talk about the right way to do things, especially in this information age. Those ideas and decisions may have in fact been right, but they also may be wrong for you. Try, test it out, and if not, let it go. The experiment that is your life is the reward. It's a luxury.

It's such a beautiful ride. Don't box yourself in because of some made-up theoretical plan. Don't avoid the path to a new world because I checked my list and this doesn't line up with where I said I'll be February 23rd, 2008. Now go live your life. Do your best to exist in that place, the intersection of what you love and what adds value. Let it bend. Let it transform. Let it teach you things about yourself and the world. There aren't correct ways to live, but I think there certainly are some wrong ways. And that's time spent out of obligation, adhering to a story that means nothing to you.

Push. See what life gives back. Your footsteps in the aggregate will reveal truths and tell stories you could never have even dreamed up. It's in going that your book is written. And just a friendly reminder, people don't read books for the last page, the ending. No, they read them for that stuff in the middle. Right? The journey.

So next time I'm asked what my five-year plan is, I'll probably say same as my 10, 20, and 30-year plan. I don't know. But I can tell you, I won't lose. sight of that North Star, the one that calls my name. But at the same time, I won't be afraid to wander into the night. Dance in the moonlight, even get lost in the shadows from time to time. Growth is directly correlated to one's willingness to push forward into the dark. And well, into that darkness, we should.

shall go. I was in Arizona last week. Got a chance to interview Joe Polish, best-selling author and founder of the Genius Network. As I was sort of making my way around the Genius Network office with my coffee that morning, I noticed in one of the meeting rooms there were some quotes hanging on the wall. One of them was Joe's. It said, be willing to destroy anything in your life that isn't excellent. That's certainly a big state. I started thinking about my little corner of the universe, running through all the things that might not meet that standard of excellence in my life.

And a few certainly came to mind. It was freeing to think about. But could excellence really be a standard for everything? I mean, that's a high bar. And so I wrote it down, a little reminder to bring it up later during the interview. A few hours go by, mics are rolling, and I asked the question. So be willing to destroy anything in your life that isn't excellent. Beautiful quote.

But how? And Joe smiled, kind of paused for a second. It says, willing. The key word there is willing. And I'm paraphrasing. But his point was essentially it's an acceptance of what is and a willingness to be rigorously honest with yourself. Because look, there's not an athlete, entrepreneur, parent, or student who didn't have to at some point play broken. We all do.

But to live like that, that's not a life well lived. That's learned helplessness. And that quote on the wall is about taking a stand. It's the moment you say, I want a new standard for my life. I'm going to be more assert, more caring, more aware. Excellence is not a requirement per se because human beings can't be excellent all the time. We are flawed. We are trying.

We are growing. But what you can do is look around you and start moving towards that voice. version of yourself. Start cutting away the metaphorical chains around your angles. In his book, What's in It For Them? Joe highlights British Olympic rower Ben Hunt Davis, who had one standard for the men in his boat, one question that would be asked every time they were confronted with the decision. The question was, will this make the boat go faster? If no, then it's not for them. And this framework guided their journey,

this contributed to their success, this clarity, this line of sight. It's an awareness we can all learn from. Understanding that we're not shackled to yesterday, we're not tied to the old stories, the old relationships, the old ways of living. No, our paths are not dictated by what was,

but rather our willingness to be aware to ask the questions that position towards our North Star. And as the conversation was winding down, Joe pointed to a quote from the movie Vanilla Sky. States, every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around. Change doesn't happen without the understanding

that more is possible. That perhaps you'd been conceding too much while asking too little of yourself. Perhaps you've been surrounding yourself with inadequate resources. Maybe you've been building walls that without your knowing it became self-induced limitation. And yeah, excellence in every single aspect of life is unobtainable. But what a beautiful standard. What a journey to embark upon.

A horizon to chase down. And the point is not to recklessly destroy your current reality, but to build a bridge connecting what is to what can be. It's loving the reflection in the mirror enough to know you are better. You can be better. You will obtain better. You need not be perfect or flawless, but you must be willing.

Willing to destroy anything. in your life that is an excellent. I was thinking about something recently, something we've probably all heard before, and in some cases already know. But that's why it warrants a little bit of discussion. It's not about knowing, it's about executing, which are two very different things.

And so I'll start here with the idea that everything is relative. Right? Someone who runs five miles a day, and then starts hanging out with people who all run 10 miles a day is more than likely going to at least ask themselves the question, could I be running more? Should I? Right, that's just human nature.

One's perception of normality shifts when they're around people or circumstances that stretch it. And as far as I can tell, this can be applied to anything. I remember a friend of mine probably about five years ago now, asked me what my monthly revenue goal was. And I remember telling him, and he paused and looked kind of puzzled, and asks, you know, why only that? And I thought, only that, right?

That's a big number. I was reaching there. But that encounter, I still remember, it rocked my worldview. It's like, okay, wow, I need to, you know, move some things around. I need to aim higher. It's an important convoy for me. And I think, you know, there's often a negative connotation. a negative connotation we apply to this concept, right? Comparison being the thief of joy.

They're always being more to acquire. It's a tool. And but not utilized the right way or internalized the right way can be unhealthy. But there's also, when utilized correctly, something not only healthy, but incredibly powerful and advantageous about it. We need to be reminded that we're capable of more, otherwise our worldview can't stretch. We're able to extend far beyond the reality we find ourselves in, but that fact alone does us no good. We have to position ourselves to see, to feel, to believe the more. A good friend of mine and I started reporting to each other daily the workouts we do now twice a day. And the funny thing is, it didn't start out twice a day.

But just, you know, the nature of not wanting to be the guy who does less. You know, we've been friends for a while We're all about helping each other be better In business and fitness and you name it And you can bet When I've been running around working all day And I'm tired And the little voice in my head starts whispering

Well, you already got a workout in earlier Just go really hard tomorrow instead You'll be fine But then my phone buzzes And it's a screenshot of his workout stats It's like, nope, have to find time to do it He's tired, he has a job, and a family. He wants to crack a beer or grab a burger, but he didn't.

And the fact that he reached for more makes me realize, hey, so cannot. Makes me ask, what are my targets? Are they big enough? Right? And that's been incredibly effective, prompting, you know, this conversation, making me realize, you know, there's something to this. How can I position myself so that I have line of sight to that precious abundance in the other areas of my life that I deem important. How can I nurture the relationships I have that serve as a reminder that there is always another level? How can I keep at the forefront of my mind that there are online creators helping millions of people a day? There are business owners making millions of dollars a month. And it's not that I'm not proud and grateful. I'm both of those things. Instead, I love the

journey. I love the challenge of seeing what I can become and know that our default is to get so consumed by the current way of things. We start thinking, hey, maybe that's all there is. We forget to keep our eyes up. And so a few things I plan on doing. I'll share them and maybe they'll prompt some ideas in your head for whatever your values are, whatever you're trying to improve. Recently I set up a mastermind quarterly with some buddies I have that are investors and business owners which is simple to report growth, revenue, future plans as someone who just loves to write and create

it's easy for me to put all that stuff second so this is going to hold me accountable. Fitness, I already mentioned. This one's new. I have a few friends that I started. to meeting up with just to get out, to unwind, do nothing business related at all, which is just as critical as work, right?

I have to make time to soak in the world around me. And there are others as well, but you get the idea, right? It's teaming up with those people in my life where our values overlap, and we can help each other win. The saying goes, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. But now imagine taking it. making that a step further. Reaching out to those people and teaming up to help position each other to succeed.

You get the accountability, the camaraderie. You become a team looking to get the most of your time on this planet. I've stated many times that my belief is the pieces exist around us to do so many things, incredible things, monumental things. But how we mix, match, and utilize those pieces, the world around us determines that. So let's ask the question. What is a life well lived to me?

And how can I tangibly position myself to obtain it? How can I help those I care about obtain it? Those are some powerful questions. and will ultimately lead to some incredible growth. How much did you care? What do you mean? I didn't understand the question at first. In that room, how much did you care what they thought of you?

Like, if zero is not at all and ten is you cared a lot, how much did you care? Hmm. Eight, I said, probably around an eight out of ten. And that is the problem. Because if you care, you are not free. I've been working my whole life to obtain that word in its truest sense. Freedom. And I made progress.

The world around us is tough to change. But most things worth changing are tough. I've uprooted and walked away from people that brought me down. plenty of times. I've walked away from places that just weren't me. I've committed to carving out a path that I deem meaningful in my life. See, but you can always turn your back and walk away from people, from places, from situations. Here's a little caveat no one seems to tell you about, though.

You have to take yourself with you. There's no destination to which you can arrive without your thoughts. There's no place you can show up without your narratives or your view of the world. And the more I navigate this floating rock we're on, the more I'm convinced that weather is determined by the onlooker, not the atmosphere. Some people simply choose to see sun. people choose, rain, our forecasts are internal. I've referenced this book often because it's one of the few cheat codes, not to any subset

of reality but to life in general that allows us to reverse engineer true contentment. It's called the Top Five Regrets of the Dying by Brani Ware, where she speaks with mostly older people during their final days, asks them what they would do differently if they could do it all over again. Regret number one, and we can actually stop right there, is I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the one others expected of me. Meaning, the number one thing people wish they did differently was careless. They wished they'd lived in their authenticity, put more weight on their goals and their dreams than those of strong. Rangers that pass like ships in the night.

Every time we repress who we are, our future selves shed a tear. And I know that's not pretty or uplifting to think about, right? A future you looking down and wishing you'd sought out that freedom in its truest form, the freedom to live fully. But look, sometimes carving meaning out of life just isn't pretty. Sometimes what's necessary is not pretty. Pretty. See, everything's relative.

And perhaps understanding that it's not others who are the judge. But it's instead that older version of you sitting on the bedside, reflecting back on this one roller coaster ride. Maybe that's who we're living for. That's the well from which our courage should be drawn. We are guests passing through a miracle. With minds that falsely and irresponsibly whisper, we have all the time in the world, trying to convince us that the trip lasts forever.

But it doesn't. Your life is a raindrop in the thunderstorm. It will be over as fast as it arrived, and how you choose to live it will be everything. See, there will always, in some capacity, exist that voice asking you to dial it down. There will, from time to time, be sweaty palms and shaking knees. You know, those human things. But when you find yourself standing on the edge of that door, looking out at a world that you know calls your name,

let your voice be louder than all of it. Let the beating of your heart be stronger than your fear. And if you can't do it for you, then please do it for that very. version of you years from now, looking out the window, smiling about how you almost said no. You almost boxed yourself in, you almost let what matters pass you by. But instead you captured life like a child chasing down a firefly, that in a world of constraint, you allowed yourself to be free.

Jack Welch has said, control your own destiny or someone else will. I'm passing this along today as I believe it's one of the most important things to understand. Not a once and done thing, but a reoccurring question. Where have I relinquished control? How can I recapture what matters most? As the world around us shifts, slips, and slides, so does our grasp on it. which is why I find this continuous self-reflection so powerful. I have a flight this afternoon, which means I have a hard deadline and a lot I need to do

before I head down to the Miami airport. I've been traveling a lot recently, which means I've been finding myself in this situation a lot recently. And here's what's become abundantly clear to me as I work through the logistics. On travel days, I'm exponentially more productive. than on my typical quote-unquote workday. I wake up with an urgency and sense of control over my time that apparently is lacking on, say, your typical Tuesday. And I'm shot out of a canon.

Today, for example, I've worked out, written and recorded two speeches, counting this one, recorded short video content sent to my editors, planned next week's topics. Might even have time to go live and hang out for a few minutes. And I'm sitting here thinking, you know, dude, if I had a flight at noon every day, I'd be worth $500 million by June. What is the difference between today and every other day? Simple. My approach towards it. How I utilize and control the resources at my disposal.

This is a powerful, powerful thing to realize. You know, it begs the question, how can this urgency be manufactured? Because that's what it's about, right? setting up the parameters so that they are most conducive to our success. Another life-changing quote I came across a few years ago was you are your own experiment. Meaning life is about testing things, trying different methods, exploring different approaches, and also having the discipline to observe their outcomes. Why?

So that you can use that information to position yourself for success. That info is as good as gold. one understanding and two implementing so that you know we're not pushed back and forth by external factors like leaves in the wind but are instead creating our own ideal circumstances these let's just call them travel days have helped me realize how much power energy control I relinquish on a typical day and most importantly how I can change that time for a new experiment Let's try approaching every day like there's a hard cut off at noon. How? I'm not sure yet.

I'll test and explore until something clicks. But there's definitely some information worth noting. I've picked up my phone zero times today, which is obviously valuable. I've second-guessed my messaging and communication a lot less. Don't have time to waste on the small things. Nope, not when you fly out at noon. This is information I'll take with me. Little nuggets of wisdom that I've been able to collect.

And so I'll finish with an important reminder. That this is not so much about efficiency as it is about awareness and a willingness to adapt. Like becoming a robot is not the goal here. But the discipline to step outside yourself and look at how you're spending your time so that you can make it more valuable and meaningful is. is. We let the outside world dictate far too much and we don't even realize. We just sort of move through it. We relinquished control because we had no idea it was ours to take. We are very often unaware of the power that we have over ourselves, our circumstances, and our lives in totality.

We're unaware of just how much value we walk right by. The opportunity is not days, weeks, are months away, it lives with you now. Every breath, every step, every decision, you just have to open your eyes and invite it in. You belong here. This was something that was said to the class during yoga the other day. As I've said before, yoga is something I'm really turning to as both a mental and physical approach to a lot of the injuries and imbalances I've been dealing with for a very long time. And part of that, you know, starting something new was obviously not knowing what you're doing. It's a willingness to play the fool to be this student. It's signing up to be, you know, at times the worst in the room. And so I hear the instructor say this line,

you belong here, and then kind of repeat it again for emphasis. It hit me hard, you know, and I'll never know if this was prompted by me flailing around. around in the back trying to do crow pose or she just felt like, you know, it needed to be expressed in the moment. I'm not sure, but what I do know is that it was exactly what I needed to hear. And in fact, it's what I've needed to hear throughout many stages of my life, which is why I think it hits so hard. Now, I want to unpack it for a second.

When I moved to Massachusetts, after spending the vast majority of my childhood in the Los Angeles area. I used to joke around with my friends back in LA. I'm like, this is so different that it feels like a culture shock, right? It seems so little of the world. Why do these guys not where dickies are spiked their hair? Everyone has cargo shorts and new balances. What's happening here, right? You know, but all jokes aside, when you're a freshman in high school, that's a big deal. The differences were many. And it took a while, you know, but I acclimated. I made friends. I did the thing. But persistently, in the back of my head, I felt like an outsider,

making my home somewhere that wasn't really mine. Like, I didn't really belong there. Then came college. I went to a small private school where most of the students I knew came from prep schools, and I had somewhat of a more rigorous academic background than I did. And I decided to be a political science major, basically living in my professor's offices

during their hours when they would spend extra time helping me, write, showing me how to organize my thoughts and put together analytical papers. It was a long and stressful learning curve. And just like before, I figured it out, did bind academically, but again, never really felt like I belonged there. There were some of the same sentiments with, you know, walking on to the rowing team, where many of the recruits had been doing in all their lives. Same thing in the corporate world, felt a little out of place. It was a feel. It was a feel that never prevented me from starting. You know, I'd dive in, I'd figure it out,

but there was always this lingering fish out of water feeling that I couldn't shake. I'm kind of a tangent, but this is, you know, one of the funniest moments for me looking back in my early 20s. I was at an interview at some insurance company in Boston, and the guy interviewing me is sitting on one end of a desk, I'm at the other, he's holding a physical copy

of my resume and cover letter. cover letter, not saying a word, just kind of scanning them up and down. Then he slowly kind of drops them on the desk and goes, so Eddie, tell me more about, and pauses. It looks back down at my cover letter, back up at me, back down at my cover letter. Then he traces the first line of the cover letter, quoting it as his finger moves across the paper. He goes, tell me more about how, quote, your lifelong dream is to become a data analyst. And I was like, oh my God, this guy sees right through me, Eddie, what are you doing, man? Like, this ain't it, you know?

And I crack myself up every time my mind goes back there. It's the epitome of square peg round hole, and I would consistently find myself in that position. Right? But, you know, I digress. The point is me feeling like I'm on the outside looking in has been somewhat of a theme. Even in the areas of my life where I was finding success. Like, I couldn't totally be there. Like, find the things that are important to me and commit to them fully.

And I'd be lying if I said it didn't still exist today. Right? I've worked like a madman for 10 years to build this company and this brand. And certainly I've seen some progress. In this industry, I've gotten to surround myself with some incredible people. And every time I walk into a room with folks that I've looked up to for years, I'm grateful, which is good, but sometimes too grateful, which is my entire point, right?

At some point you have to transform from looking up to into being one of to give yourself permission to belong. And yes, you need to do the work, and yes, confidence is earned. But if you don't give yourself permission to do a thing, not kind of or sort of, but to fully with all your heart and soul be that thing, I think you'll always be leaving part of yourself on the shelf. It feels like, to me, a lingering defense mechanism.

You can't be great if you're not all in. And part of growth has been reflecting and asking, hey, you say you're all in, but are you? Are you immersed? And that's what I want. I think to some extent that's what we all want. To not just do it, but be it. In a million years, I don't think my yoga teacher would expect it.

A word's prompted a 10-minute rant, starting with my childhood on the West Coast. But, man, did that comment create a light bulb moment for me? It's set this stage for such a beautiful epiphany. It's like you've been doing the thing for 10 years. You've grown in so many areas, but have you given yourself permission to become what you're seeking? Not kind of, but pour yourself into it.

It's who you are, the environment, the people, the variables, the ups and the downs, all of it is who you are. Just imagine what that freedom would allow. Go be the thing. More, more, more, more fully. All you have to give. So yoga class this morning Showed up Even though I suck

Even though I'm learning Decided hey Little little symbolism here No more hiding in the back of the room Step into those neon green lights Move towards the front You no longer do things Even the little things

To simply scrape by or exist Do it to be it If you're going to do anything Do it to be it You belong here. Help me realize what being it really is. That maybe I'd let my definition slip. Maybe my understanding wasn't wide or all-encompassing enough.

And yeah, there's a line we need to walk, no question, we must be on the path to acquiring competency in something before we can make it our own. But the beauty of podcasts and audible and boring. books, all our media outlets, it's that other people's growth and understanding can fast track our own. I learn from this experience. Life is too short to always feel like you are on the outside looking in. It just is. If you earned a chair at the table, be at the table. If you were let into the room, work the room. If you're spending time and energy doing something, be that thing. Don't deprive yourself of that precious alignment

because it's such a beautiful thing when we allow ourselves to feel it and obtain it. But like so many things, it starts with you giving you permission. It starts with a simple understanding. You may be new. You may be struggling. Unsure.

You might have a hell of a mountain to climb, a journey to travel. You might have extra work. to do, you might have to add some things and cut away others, you might have to ask yourself the tough questions and accept the difficult answers. But you do, my friend, belong here. What's the difference between paying a fee and paying a fine? The answer to this question may not be as small or insignificant as we're inclined to believe. I recently picked up the book, the psychology of money by Morgan Howesle.

It lays out some valuable concepts and ideas about investing and managing our finances, growing our wealth. But there's one idea that I wanted to share because, yeah, from an investing standpoint, it's important, critical even. But it's relevant to so much more. And I think an understanding of it will help us in many aspects of life.

So first, let's start with the financial people. and then we'll sort of grow the metaphor, right? Because Howzel talks about how we should look at investing in the market. And one of the hardest things for us to deal with is the market's volatility. And it's difficult for us to invest, our hard-earned money and then see the market go, let's say, for example, down 20%. Like seeing that huge dip in our investment, that's not fun. Right, and everyone knows that. That can be nerve-wracking.

And it dissuades a lot of people from investing or keeping their money in when they should. It ultimately keeps them from getting the returns available to them, right? But here's the point he makes. He says those people who see that volatility as a fee and not a fine are more inclined to win in the long term. Understanding that market returns are never free, they demand a price. And that price is the roller coaster ride that we all have to deal with. That is the market. It's the ups and downs and highs.

and lows, that volatility is the cost of admission. And if you understand that, you're more inclined to stay calm. Keep your long-term vision. You're more than likely to come out on top. On the other hand, if when that turbulence arrives, you know, the sudden crashes, the ups and downs and you see it as a fine, it has this terrible thing that's happening to a punishment, you're more likely to act emotionally, to be reactive, and make decisions that aren't in your best interest. To drive the point home, he mentions Disneyland, for example. The fee is $100. And people will gladly pay that fee because, you know, they get that great experience with their family,

their kids that they'll have for the rest of their lives. That $100 isn't a fine. It's not a punishment. It's an intentional, deliberate trade of one thing. for another. And if you were to look at it as a fine, you'd never get to enjoy that experience. If you thought that $100 was a punishment, it just wouldn't be the same. Right. And so why do I bring all this up? Because I'm a firm believer that the best things in life all come with that price or a fee as House of States. But I also think we sometimes have a tendency to look at that cost

that very same cost of admission as a fine, as a problem. When really, no, it's just trading some turbulence now for a reward a little bit down the road. Sometimes the right thing is the hard thing, the uncomfortable thing. With dividends, it will pay so long as we understand that it's opening the door to something greater. Leaving a situation you know is not good for you hurts. We've all been there. We all know this in some capacity. But it's not a punishment or even a bad thing, right?

That discomfort associated with walking away is a fee that will enable you to live a more aligned life in the very near future. Or let's say you're building something meaningful, something you care deeply about, but it's just you. You and the idea, there is no validation, certainly no external reward, not yet, and continuing forward in those moments is hard. It's taxing. emotionally draining even.

But this feeling, again, isn't a punishment. It's not a fine. It's the fee. It's the cost of admission to bring something into life that wasn't there. Life's greatest moments are expensive. It's just, are you going to pay the fee to bring it about with a cost of regret at a different time? And you get the point, right?

You can take this and apply it to so many things. falling down, criticism, feeling lost, having to start from the bottom. These things are not fines, they are fees. They are price tags. And so often the initial price is a bargain compared to what we'll get back. We just need to stop perceiving their mere existence as the world working against us. No, these are opportunities in disguise. It's easy to walk by the important things, to dismiss the uncomfortable things.

The harsh truth is that our greatest opportunities are often intertwined in our distress. That's why so many people walk away from the things that will make their lives better. That's why so many people pull their money from the market when it takes a dive. So many people walk away from a project or idea when things get challenged. Conversely, it's why so many people do nothing at all. They stay in situations they aren't happy with and know they need to change. because the fee to get from point A to point B feels too steep. But I think the value is in comparing the discomfort,

the cost, the fee to what it's going to bring you down the road, because often it's a bargain. We need to remember that what it will ultimately provide has life-changing potential. Understand that resistance is not a fine. It is not the world telling. you know. It's life asking you, hey, do you really want this? Because if you do, it's yours. So long as you sign the dotted line and pay the price, most people will be dissuaded by this.

Most people will turn and walk away. But most people also leave a hell of a lot on the table. And I don't want that for you. You don't want that for you. The world we live in is one of abundance. So when life pushes back, understand that it's merely positioning you to move beyond your limits, to redefine your worldview. And while admission isn't free, it's well worth the price. The world reflects back at us what we currently are, like a giant mirror projecting the movie that's playing in our heads. We lay on the whole. 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 doubtful, alarmed. 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 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. All 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 belief. Mid-20s. I was unhappy, wanted more, but didn't really believe myself capable of obtaining more, right?

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, the 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. Change isn't crazy. More isn't absurd. It might be challenging. But it's possible. And possible is enough. It is enough to begin.

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. The other day, I was sitting in Miami traffic, looking out the window, and it dawned on me. How interesting that human beings haven't solved for this.

Like this is a major annoyance in a lot of people's lives. Now, we put human beings on a rocket ship. We've navigated them beyond the Earth's atmosphere. We've landed them on the moon, but still are unable to effectively get around between 4 and 7 p.m. on weekdays. It's just kind of interesting to realize. Now, there are very practical reasons for this. Sure. not to mention people studying and invested in the problem. And I think most noteworthy,

I'm not even saying one is more valuable than another. This is merely a thought experiment. We get the results where we place our attention. We valued going to the moon. Because of this, humans walked on the literal moon. And we're so used to this having happened that its shock value isn't quite there, right? But for a species who 100 years ago

was traveling by horse and buggy, it's pretty impressive. I just think it's a cool reminder that where we place our focus is where we'll get our positive results. We can change everything if we place a spotlight on it. That begs the question,

where are you placing your spotlight? As John Maxwell said, nobody ever went up a hill on accident. There was intentionality, which gave life to focus and action, planning, growth. We only evolve or we shine that spotlight, or as I've said in previous episodes or videos, what you water grows. I've certainly spent my fair share of time, angry, annoyed by things that I've, by no coincidence, given zero effort to fixing. And when you do nothing to solve a problem, all you can cling to is the ability to complain about it. If you're not putting energy and resources there, you most likely won't win. Some of the best advice I got from a friend a few years back was to highlight the things that matter to you and measure them.

Because this allows you to be aware, to be intentional with your action. It's deciding which handful of things are going to be your quote-unquote moon landing. and then watching over them like they are precious. Let's say a goal of yours is to increase your net worth. If you're looking at your bank account every day, you're much more likely to make better monetary decisions than someone who keeps their finances in the dark because they hate thinking about it.

There are deliberate actions that must take place to bring about that change. When I look at, say, YouTube, I tend to know a substantial amount about my metric. because I really care about the channel and its growth and its impact. I watch it and I monitor it. Things dip. I need to know why.

If they took a sudden upswing and they're great, I need to know why. If success on a platform is my metaphorical moon landing, I'm locked into every up and down. I have to understand what's going on so I can make the necessary adjustments to grow. And then when the growth happens after time has elapsed, I can think, in my own little world, that was space trouble. I was driving that metaphorical horse and buggy not all that long ago. But I stayed locked in. And this may seem simple, and it is. But for what it's worth, my biggest breakthroughs always tend to be.

I've exhausted a lot of energy, and in some cases, even paid a decent amount of money, so learn the simple things. Nothing is that complicated. We just think it is, which is why we do nothing and then complain about the delta between the real and the ideal. But I'm here to tell you that if you decide on a few things that matter to you and then measure their progress, allocate the energy to moving along with them, Where you'll be in months or years from now will astound you. It will be breathtaking. But you have to be willing to peel back the curtain and immerse yourself in it.

Prove to yourself that sure, it might feel big and complex. But once you give something that time and attention, it becomes clear pretty quickly how simple it all is. What's one thing you can do every day in each meaningful category in your life that will get you closer to where you want? to be. If you watch over that process and you adjust along the way, the amount of opportunity available, the amount of change you'll create is unbelievable. And someday to others on the outside looking in, your progress will seem out of this world larger than life. It will appear a moon landing.

But you'll know it wasn't the miraculous. It was just a simple decision to give it time and attention. You watered it, and so it grew.