Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Reinvent Your Life - Motivation for 2021

Episode Date: January 8, 2021

"It's never too late to be what you might have been" - George Elliot Tracks: 0:00 Don't Be Afraid To Be The Fool 6:11 Show Them Who You Are 11:56 Strong Enough

When the ground beneath us shakes, we crave stability. When the heavens open up and rain pours down and we run for shelter. When life presents us with vagueness, with flashes of possibility, we long for mastery. It's more instinct than anything else. But could it be that that instinct that we run to, like moths to a flame, is leading us astray that it doesn't have our best interests at heart.

Could it be that we're so worried about protecting and maintaining an acceptable image for the world that we forget to build something internally that's worth protecting? What if that's shaking is what brings down the foundations

that held us back? What if that rain washes away the limits of yesterday as we evolve into something more. And what if those flashes of possibility require of us not mastery, no, not yet,

but a willingness to be the fool? And what if that willingness isn't an unfortunate dead end, but a beginning? In one of his lectures at the University of Toronto, Jordan Peterson said, if you are not

willing to be a fool, you can't be a master. In the cycle that is self-discovery, that is growth. We have to at some point step into an arena that's foreign to us, that we don't yet understand. We have to be willing to operate

with inadequate resources, trusting that they'll be picked up along the way. And that's a lot to take in. It's painful to know that others are going to have knowledge and skills and competencies that you won't. That you'll willingly inject yourself

into the bottom of, some hierarchy with nothing more than aspirations. But that willingness is your vehicle. And what's clear is that everyone wants the moon, but very few people have the courage to start constructing that spaceship. Very few have the courage to be the student. That's why our inclination is to quit when we can't snap our fingers and magically be on our way.

When we can't leap past that wandering around. the unknowns. The reality is we have to fight to scrap to obtain that sense of belonging in a particular competency. And just talking about it brings me back. It's an obstacle that we all face. It's super real to me. I remember being featured on a podcast where the host literally asked me, why should I listen to what you have to say? Right. Like, who are you? Why are you roadmapping your journey? Right. I remember fighting for relevance in an area in which, you know, At the time I knew almost nothing about. And I love how Peterson articulates this battle.

He says at some point, you'll want to make a change and you'll feel like an imposter. And guess what? You are. But you have to be. You'll ultimately feel worse if you don't do it. That's imposter syndrome. Feeling like a stranger in your own body. And guess what?

It's not wrong. It's just a beginning. I like explaining it like jumping. into a cold pool. Feels uncomfortable at first. It feels out of place, but then things normalize. They become comfortable. And what's the other option?

To fear that minute of discomfort and never jump in? It's what we need to tell ourselves when we want something, but the climb seems too steep. Right? That climb is manageable. You'll acclimate. The adversary's pushing beyond that fear of starting anew. taking your limited understanding, bringing it to the base of that mountain, a new Goliath,

and looking up with confidence. And the question is, can you be foolish enough to do that? And once you've made that ceiling, your next floor, will you be foolish enough to do it again and again and again? And breaking through that fear, knowing that stumbling around for a period of time doesn't kill you, It's required. It's the inability to show weakness or appear vulnerable. That's what chips away at you for a lifetime.

If you want more, immerse yourself in that cycle of mastery. Start at the bottom and ascend. And when you approach the top, separate yourself and find another ceiling to chase. Replant a seed. Play the role of the fool again. This is the formula for growth. prosperity for fulfillment. This is the pathway to anything of substance. You take your elves, you embrace your critics, you swallow your pride, and move towards a tomorrow that far exceeds

today. As your reality changes, your perception changes, the company you keep changes, you'll start to see that what's around you is made by people who are willing to fail and fail often. Our world is when devised by those who could put pride on hold, by those who were humble enough to crawl through the unknown long before they ran anything, who knew that before they played for any title or championship, they must first play the fool. Show them who you are. As Emerson said, to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. It is nothing short of courage to walk into that dark cave that is your potential. To become a pioneer of uncharted worlds in search of who you might.

It is courage to leave what will be accepted for an idea that will certainly be misunderstood. At least initially, it means you're playing by new rules using new metrics. Not the rubric that's already been handed out. No anything but that. And that is the fundamental difference between those who create and those who react, Those who fight to discover who they are and those who hide behind the mask of acceptance. It's courage.

See, anyone can criticize. Anyone can condemn or tear down. But who's willing to run the gunlet? Who's willing to subject themselves to that hell? Who wants something better so bad that they trade comfort and the reassurance of now for a life to ultimately be proud of, to be excited when the sun comes through the window

when they jump out of bed in the morning. There are most definitely complexities in life, and we do our best to understand them, to navigate through them. But that question, that particular question in my mind will always be simple, Do you have the courage to show them who you are to make that decision? Not reflect back their wishes and their reality like a mirror, but create your own.

Harness it. Carry it up the mountain like a torch through the night. See, what I've come to understand is that knowing simply is not enough. Understanding is not enough. replicating is not enough. What these things lack is you. And if I had to best represent this understanding, it would be like this.

If you take a musician, a technically sound musician, she can play. A student of music. Well, he can understand and recite. An expert in the craft. Well, she can teach. But it's only someone who injects, their authentic self into these abilities that can touch the hearts of people around them,

change their lives, fill minds with wonder and awe. Because when you take a step back and really see what's going on, the songs that are sung, well, they're not sung because they are the most technical or most advanced because they followed the rules. No, we sing them because they meant something when we heard them. Their authors had the courage to move a step beyond understanding and into the vulnerability that is self-discovery. That is creation. It is a microcosm of life. And in a world where comfort is not only pushed upon us, but it's the essence of what makes us human, saying no, well, it feels like running uphill.

When you blend in, you can't be questioned. When you blend in, you rarely lose. When you blend in, there is no risk, but when you blend in, there is no you. There is no you. And I'm not suggesting you missed the mark or you lost the battle. I'm suggesting that every once in a while, we need to be reminded that the journey has not even begun. That down the road you'll see those people around you, they weren't so much concerned about you as they were themselves. That everyone is scared, everyone is unsure, no one knows or has the answer.

But man, to see that, to feel that and move forward anyway, to know that you're worthy of a tomorrow greater than today, that is a courage rarely understood. And Emerson gives us with that message everything we need. The wisdom to know there's more and most importantly. The courage to show yourself and the world who you are. Strong enough is all life asks of us. Strong enough to carry on. Strong enough to take an uncertain step forward.

Strong enough to be better than we were yesterday. everything starts with strong enough. The decision to make a single move towards an existence that is not yet yours, not yet. But it's arguable that understanding it could be yours is a greater accomplishment than making it so. As the old Latin proverb states, once you've started, you're halfway there. Halfway. not because you found a shortcut or some previously undisclosed path, but because convincing yourself that you have everything you need

is the greatest barrier to entry. It's the wall around the castle, and once you scale that, well, everything else works itself out with time. But life asks that we be strong enough to start the clocks. It asks that we have the strength to begin. See, because just as things start with strong enough, well, they could just as easily find their end there as well. How many journeys weren't started

because we forgot that our responsibility wasn't to suddenly arrive at the destination, but rather find the courage to take a small step in that direction. How much of ourselves do we leave on the shelf? Because we forgot that transformation overnight wasn't the goal, but rather a trust in the process. The heart to paint a first stroke, make a first call, walk out the door, strong enough can be an ending or a beginning. It's a fire that can enhance, it can nourish, or it can burn out.

And that is perhaps the greatest question of our lives when the time approaches, when life demands, more of us will we only see the finish line the mountain tops the vastness of the terrain will we feel small and inadequate or will we remember that we are strong enough to advance to push back against the chaos of life and that's not only all that's required of us but it's the key to everything worth doing the start of transformation the seeds of beauty, the foundation of impact, that is our challenge, where some bow down to the impossible.

You have to see it for what it is, the many possibilities that comprise it, the hope, the understanding that an improved existence is about having the strength, not to change reality in one foul swoop, but to carry on, to take another step and see that as time unfolds,

those steps become the blueprint to a better tomorrow. Those steps, that courage, that strength is everything you'll ever need.