Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - RISE to Success: The Ultimate Comeback Compilation with Eddie Pinero

Episode Date: April 17, 2024

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube  Let's delve into stories of resilience and triumph, each speech offering valuable insights and inspiration to help you overcome challenges and reach your full potential. Tune in and embark on a transformative journey towards success!

You can't make something that already exists. You find it. Unmask, unveil, allow it to shine through in its original state. It can be improved upon or enhanced, but who you are is who you are. And that's a beautiful thing. Because success is not about looking around you and trying to replicate someone else's idea of a life well-lived. No, it's about removing everything you're not. until all that's left is what matters most.

You in your most authentic state. That state that most people don't bother to uncover. And see, in a world of acquisition, of longing for more, it's the ones who learn to cut away that truly live. It's in refinement, simplification that we find clarity, that we're gifted with peace of mind, Because it's the burden of constantly doing something that doesn't excite or playing a role that is not yours to play that is the costly one. Life is about meaning.

And to deprive yourself of that is to remove the wind from the sail. We are not free until we decide to be. As Greg McCune mentions in his book Essentialism, the Latin root of the word decide, sis or sid literally means to cut. or kill, it's to walk away from what you're not. Unearthing the power, the value, the potential that always existed despite our ignorance. So let's no longer ask what do I need in order to be who I want to become and start asking what can I remove that is infringing upon who I am. What can I dismantle so that I might give wings to that which means

the most. Let's talk about fear. One of the most interesting aspects of being human. Our fear of touching the stove prevents us from burning our hand. In many ways, it's our greatest protector. But it's also outdated.

It can obstruct us from the things that we want most. For thousands and thousands of years, it has kept our species alive. Those who weren't afraid or skeptical of the dark cave or the rustling in the bushes, they probably didn't make it too long back in the day, right? They would have been weeded out.

But the thing is, life today is very different than it was back then. We don't have to fear for our life going to get food anymore. The tricky part is that in many ways, our cognitive processes are still the same. We are wired to be afraid. And this can be a problem, because if these fears limit our ability to grow or live the life that we want to live,

then that fear, that primal instinct, can be a barrier. Because the human body will always take the path of least resistance. And for us, that means avoiding the problem. It's just easier. If I'm scared of public speaking, it is exponentially easier for me to avoid the problem and not deal with it.

I can eliminate the pain and discomfort by simply staying home. But here's the issue with that mentality. Life is too short and too precious to waste. Think about all the opportunities we'd miss. If we ran the other way and hid every time we were afraid, if we never pushed ourselves, if we never broke through the barrier of the unknown and sought out more,

it would be a tragedy. We'd live a fraction of the life that we're capable of living. So the big question is how? How do we overcome fear? Well, it turns out the answer is simple, it's just not easy. If you've ever jumped into a freezing cold pool, you'll be able to relate to this. As soon as your body hits the water, you go through extreme discomfort, right? Pins, needles, that quick shock you feel.

The only thing on your mind is being out of the pool, being warm. But as time goes by, this changes. Your body acclimates. You adjust. And after five minutes, you can get out. you can jump back in, there's no discomfort, you're completely fine. Well, facing our fears falls a very similar pattern.

The more we expose ourselves to a certain stimulus, the more comfortable we become. Tim Ferriss references this in the context of going to a crowded place, a sprawling out on the floor, lying on your back as people walk by. It's an incredibly difficult and anxiety-inducing thing to do. It goes against every instinct we have, But something happens when you get back up. You've taught your brain that there are no negative repercussions, that it's okay.

And this pushes the bar a little higher, makes you a little braver, stretches your boundaries a little further. Emphasizing the point that to get what we want out of life, to overcome fear, to be better than we were yesterday, we cannot avoid what makes us uncomfortable. Quite the opposite, we need more exposure to it. To destroy your fears, you need to muster up the courage to stare them in the face. And that's tough, right? Our mind tricks us into thinking about worst case scenario.

But if you can change your mentality to see not the downside, but the upside, life changes along with it. Now the scariest outcome isn't failure, or having to backtrack or being wrong, The scariest outcome is doing nothing. What we eventually learn is that dark, mysterious unknown isn't half as scary as standing still and watching life go by. Would you ever wonder how much of you has materialized?

Like if what F. Scott Fitzgerald says is true, when our lives are defined by opportunity, even the ones we miss, then how much much remains in the ether. And I don't think it's about playing a game of what if. You know, that would be endless. It would be self-defeating.

No one's perfect. I don't even really think it's about making a right turn instead of a left. Because as long as you're moving and moving with conviction, life ultimately brings you where you need to be. But more, my concern is the steps never brought to paper. My ideas on the hatch, my opportunities, I either knowingly or unlawingly. unknowingly left on the shelf. Because it didn't seem real enough.

Like a Broadway play between my ears, that as a spectator I knew would end. After all, that's what stories do. How much of ourselves have we cast aside as simply the things we don't say out loud? At first, it's infinite. We've yet to be taught to limit because limits aren't things, their ideas, and ideas must be adopted.

be adopted. That's why they say some of life's best things were done by people too ignorant, to know they were impossible, too naive of the notion that they couldn't say them out loud, then it's comparison, they have what I want. But it was meant for them and not me. How delusional to think I could have it. How crazy to think that life has yet to be written, and I am an author. My date is with normalcy in the box where I keep those things we don't say out loud, and then we look around and we see highlight reels. We see awards and vacations. We see vacations. and smiles, but we don't stop to think, maybe they're just like me.

Maybe they're people who struggle and question themselves and doubt the road ahead. No, it must be the past diverged. They took happiness, and I took those things we don't say out loud, and then there's everyday life when things don't go as planned, when the world presents curveballs, and you haven't learned to hit off speed,

so you feel small and you feel inadequate and ill-equipped, and you could reach out, but that's not cool, that's not right. That's something that you don't say out loud, but we keep it in, like all in, and eventually if he comes the if only's and I wish I had, it's the quiet envy gazing longingly towards those who just cared less, who realized maybe life's not as serious as we make it out to be, who turn thoughts to things, not by burying, but by embodying them. And maybe that's the trick to unlock the gate, keeping your perceived reality from the

possibility of a new one. The one you could create, if only you promoted your fleeting thoughts to forward progress. See, dreams can fail to come to fruition in two places, in your head and outside of it. But at least outside it has a chance. At least outside, you can take the common, normal, everyday background and make it the backdrop to your movie, where you play a lead role. But it must be accepted and acknowledged, not thought of or even whispered, but screened

so that the details and the trivialities that exist now work for you. That's right, they are now your. They are now yours, not because you thought about it, but because you reached out a hand and you took. You asked the world for something. And in life, it will always be true that you don't get what you do not ask for. So when you find yourself staring up a wall

comprised of self-defeating narratives and manufactured limits, be ignorant, be irrational, be the reason your dreams have a chance. And when you look around and you see more and wonder why you don't have it, know that you can. You're allowed to. If you sacrifice, you will. But you must believe you are worthy of it. Not in the back of your head where you keep your locker combo in movie quotes, but in reality,

where words bounce off lips. And when you feel like life is treating you unfairly like they're happier or have it better, know that life is peaks and valleys, not just for you but for everyone. In how you internalize that and carry on makes the difference and when you feel lost or stuck, you are not hopeless, but in progress. Being broken down so that you can be reconstructed, stronger, better. Victory is not in hiding those struggles, but accepting them as the difference as the reason you created the miraculous. Not because you had dreams. because you said them out loud.

When the path is uncertain, we seek out footprints from journeys that occurred long ago. Opinions from people who know no better than us. We look for things that can't be given but must be made. I once heard Charlie Munger say that we are our own experiment. Life is the extraordinary arranged in infinite pieces and placed inside a box, waiting for us to uncover and unfold parts that contain no meaning until we place meaning upon them. And the danger of looking externally for answers is that no one knows you better than you. Life is a playground. An experiment, a place to try new things, push, boundaries, build, fail, and ultimately build again.

This is the process from which we see what we're made of. Who we really are. Uncover what the best book, the most intelligent being on the planet can't give to you. It's where you learn that wandering is not the same as lost. See, we must return. treat to the depths of vulnerability in order to come back stronger than we've ever been. We must self-examine in order to find our wings. The Bill Gates of the world, the Picasso's of the world, they disappeared for 10 years

until they came back equipped to transform everything around them to explore, build, create themselves, to acquire something that mere advice is incapable of providing. Don't deprive yourself of that because of the pressures right now. See, when we realize that falling ten times brings us contentment on the 11th, falling is nothing to be ashamed of. It's something to be sought out. By falling, I learned to succeed. By losing, I learn to win.

By looking like the fool I learned to lead. By wandering off the paved road, I created the map from my soul. to where I was meant to be. A little girl walked up to the edge of a river, took a piece of paper out of her pocket, folded it into a little boat, and pushed it out into the open water. The little boat made its way with the current, kind of unsure where it would take him or what it would ultimately mean, and for days he felt helpless, lost.

But one day a storm pushed him to the edge of the riverbank. A man picked up a little boat and began examining it. Is this my home? asked the little boat. Well, wouldn't you be the only one who knows the answer to that? The man asked. I suppose so, said the boat. It doesn't feel like home. So the man nodded, started to put the boat back in the water.

Before the little boat cried out, wait, I don't want to go back in the water. I'm scared. I'm alone. The man with a reassuring smile pushed the boat back out into the water and said, look, I've felt how you feel. And I've been where you are. I know what it's like to not know where home is, but the only way to find it is to carry on. That water is your path and a little boat you're not alone. The little boat kind of gathers himself, starts making his way down the river.

A few more hours go back. by, suddenly he runs into some plants that are popping out over the surface of the water. He realizes pretty quickly he's stocked. He can't move. The panic starts to set in. He's freaking out. He's thinking, now I'm never going to find home. All these terrible thoughts start going through his mind.

He's screaming for help. But then he sees a mom with her son over on the shore. The child points to the little boat, says, Mom, look, another one's stuck. We need to help it. The mom says, no, this one will break free too, just like the last one did. Give it some time. The little boat hears them and starts thinking, wait, someone else got out of this situation. The thought never really crossed his mind, that it was possible.

So he takes a breath, starts rocking from side to side, building momentum. A few seconds later, the plant's grip starts to lessen. He nudges his way to the front of the brush, and sure enough, slips. back into the flow of the stream. The little boy points. His mom, look, the little boat got out, she says. He sure did, baby. He just had to realize that he could.

So the boat, again, collects himself, keeps making his way down the river proud now, right, feeling accomplished, growing into a paper boat of his own making when sure enough, that wind shifted direction. Suddenly, he's not able to go where he wants to go, starts drifting towards the muddy riverbank, how could this be happening again, he thinks to himself?

But see, that little boat started to learn a thing or two about life. That it wasn't all smooth sailing, that it would present its obstacles. But that contained within that little paper sea vessel was far more power than he knew. So we unfastened the excess paper on the back and the sides of the boat and created a little sail and at first nothing happened. He waited, knowing that this was it, this was make or break for him.

He adjusted one more time. He could see the shore, feet from where he was. And then suddenly he felt himself turned. The boat started making its way back downstream. Against all odds, he had managed to get back on track. And he was so excited about this that he didn't even. noticed the water had cleared out and led him to this giant opening. It took him a second to adjust, but when he did, he saw boats of all shapes and sizes from paper to the largest

boats he'd ever seen. So he went up to the first one he saw, a little red and white canoe drifting around. He said, I can't even believe this. You have no idea what I went through to get here. I almost landed in the wrong place. Then I got stuck in some brush. I thought it was over for me. Then to top it all off, I start drifting towards the muddy riverbank and I barely adjusted course. I'm talking seconds. The red and white canoe smiles and says, well, so did I. And that's just it. That's the magic of this place. You can't even get here until you learn that the wrong stops are inevitable, but that they don't define you, that you have the strength to keep searching. until you learn that you have the ability to get yourself unstuck,

that life setbacks aren't forever and that you can find a way. Until you learn that some things you can't control, but how powerful are the ones you can. As the saying goes, you can't change the wind, but Little Boat, you can always adjust your sails. These are the things we all had to learn. Little Boat looks at him and says, but how was I supposed to know that?

that I wasn't the only one. Well, that's the thing. You don't really find out until you arrive. I guess it's just one of those funny aspects of life. Well, I'm going to tell the world, said the little boat, that no one is alone. That we all get off at the wrong stops. That we all get stuck.

That we all have to adjust course. But the trick is to keep sailing downriver, no matter what. Keep sailing down river. I'm going to tell everyone that they are not alone. That's a brilliant idea, said the red and white canoe. Now come on, I'll show you around. You're going to really like this place.

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 avoid.

better tomorrow. Those steps, that courage, that strength is everything you'll ever need. Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom. Victor Franklin. So much of life comes down to how we arrange and internalize what we see. Our realities will always be comprised of what we choose to look at. Now that's not to say the unfortunate or quote unquote bad things aren't present, but whether or not you choose to keep them in your life, in your field of vision, that's on you. Here are two ways I like to explain this. The first, The first was explained to me as a curtain hung from a stage,

and this curtain has holes and tears all throughout. On the other side of the curtain, there's an auditorium, some chairs, aisles, a few lights. But depending on which hole or tear you chose to look out of, you'd see a different piece of that picture. It can be said that the curtain is life, And the whole you choose to look through makes up your reality. The little piece of information you choose to consume. Because life is certainly complex, right?

There are too many images and variables for us to notice all of them. That's impossible. We'd collapse in on ourselves. We have to pick a few, which means that our entire existence, from the time we're born to the time we die, is dependent entirely on which details we choose to focus on, which ones we use to tell. our story. Which leads me to the second example. Let's say you decide you're going to walk to your

car. You open your front door, you walk down your driveway, right up to your car, open the door, and get in. Your story was, I'm going to my car. And so everything you experienced was related to that. In the sense that you didn't notice the driveway of the person's seven houses down. You You weren't looking for that. You didn't notice the potholes across the street. You weren't looking for that either. You didn't think about the funny shaped cloud over your head. That wasn't on your mind.

Why would it be? All these things weren't part of the story, right? And the idea is we are very selective of the things we pay attention to. We use a small fraction of the world to tell our stories. And this matters because when we are down. or stuck or disappointed or whatever it is. It's not that you don't have a reason to be where emotional creatures and things happen, but it is true that you don't have to stay there.

That the little hole you are looking out of from behind the curtain may not be serving you. Your viewpoint may not be the best viewpoint. But it's in your control, right? You choose what hole you want to look through. to look through and then use life to create supporting details. When you're focusing on the negative or why you aren't good enough, you'll find things that support that narrative. Choose a different story, and you'll start seeing different pieces that support it.

I'm sure you've all heard how when you're looking to buy a car, you start seeing more and more of that car on the road. It's not because they suddenly appeared overnight on 95. night on 95. They've always been there. They've been in the mix. But now it's become a part of your story. You're looking through a new hole in the curtain.

Therefore, your focus has changed. And that's what I mean when I say reality is a choice. The details will match your beliefs. Believe you are incredible. You'll find evidence. Believe this is just the beginning of something beautiful. And you'll find the details necessary to bring it to life. You get what you focus on.

So focus on the things that will propel you forward, because trust me, they're there. It's easy to look back and think about all the things you could have done differently. Especially since as we get older, we get wiser. Right? Time provides this beautiful gift of clarity. And ultimately we realize things like Maybe a lot of our hesitation was unwarranted.

Maybe a lot of our decisions or indecision was fear-based. And knowing that, it's easy to look over your shoulder and feel like you could have lived a different life or taken a different path. At the very least wish you'd done things differently. But the reality is, everything you've done has in fact taken you here. you hear to this moment. And when you dwell on the past, the should haves and the could haves, you completely diminish the power of right now, the current moment.

You completely underestimate the knowledge and the wisdom you've been collecting for years whose single job is to assist you in your next move. a compounding of experience. The good, the bad, and the ugly has landed you right here, right now, and how beautiful right here is. The infinite blank page. The forever fresh start. And that's not to say the past doesn't matter. It's to suggest that your prior discomfort, your mistakes and lessons have equipped you to deep. from the routines and the cyclical nature of your past. Right?

The past is a gateway to now, not a life sentence. And there's a difference. You say last year or last month or last week is valueless because you did X when you should have done Y. I say to that, doing the wrong thing has positioned you to now do the right thing. potential energy, right, like a spring being pulled back tighter and tighter and tighter, awaiting its opportunity to propel forward. You don't get that without those could-haves and should-haves.

They're integral to the process. The reason you'll be different moving forward. You can say, I wish I'd taken more chances. I wish I was bolder, I wish I followed my heart. Two pieces of news for you. One that's fantastic. It seems as though you're now aware of those times you fell short and can therefore mitigate them moving forward.

And two, you're not dead yet. We have to stop looking at yesterday like it's anything but a ladder to greater competence. The gymnasium for you. for your decision making. Anyone can cherry pick the past. But the practical me asks, what does beating yourself up about what's gone do for you? What does it add to your life?

Except for enabling and legitimizing the same identity you're looking to evolve and move on from? See, we don't limit ourselves because of right now. It's always because of yesterday. Look what happened. Look what I lost. Look how things turned out. And it's like take the data and trudge forward.

You now have the tools to move right into that darkness of night. And in five years you'll look back and sure you'll wish you did things differently. And same five years after that. But that's why life is a journey and not a stand. standardized test. We are picking up the pieces as we go, painting the masterpiece one brushstroke at a time. And even though you might wish yesterday's brush stroke was a different color, little darker, different shade, it's just as valid as all the others in contributing to the mural in its totality. So sure, be your greatest critic.

But be your greatest ally as well. well and that calls for being bold enough to let go of what's gone extract the value from yesterday and use it to build now something anything that's up to you but hear the message it's up to you now not who you were yesterday or what you did not how people saw you or how you to live your life, you have an opportunity now to go wherever your heart desires. Stronger and wiser at this point in time than you've ever been in your life. So rather than dwell on what's gone, how about asking how you can take those pieces of yourself

and build? Dear younger me, there's a lot that you don't know. A lot, you're pretty sure you understand, but couldn't possibly wrap your hands around. Because the most important things in life, the things that you'll remember, they're the very things that seem like footnotes in your story. Background noise, hidden in plain view. So younger me, hear me out because time goes by quickly. And we only get one opportunity to do this dance, one chance to do this thing right.

Younger me, when you wake up, be thankful for the shoes on your feet, the house you live in, the life you lead, because if all you do is focus on what you don't have or the next milestone, happiness becomes a mirage. Younger me, the world as you know it isn't something that was destined to be. It's here because people no smarter than you have the courage to build it. Never be scared to challenge what is. This place will be better because of it. And younger me, it will always be easier to play it safe, to stay comfortable, but I want you to understand something.

That's not where you'll find the good stuff. If you don't take chances, you'll spend your time wondering what could have been. Younger me, believe in your greatness. This world can be a tough place, and if you don't believe in yourself, no one will do it for you. No one will hand you the sky. Earn excellence every day, it's there, I promise. Younger me, don't get distracted by the small stuff, the little things that so easily consume our energy and emotions. Don't lose sight of who you are and what means the most to you.

to you, everything else washes away. Younger me, you didn't have all the answers, but somehow you were exactly what I needed you to be. You created a map. You showed that change can't happen until one falls victim to life's imperfections. That risks aren't taken until you've experienced regret, that confidence isn't acquired if you don't learn to play the student, And most importantly, if you don't allow yourself to get lost, you will never discover who you truly are. 20 years from now, when we meet again, younger me, I know you'll do the same. I know you'll have given me everything I needed, nothing more and nothing less. Because time goes by quickly.

And we only get one opportunity to do this dance, one chance to make this right. And I promise you, younger me, that it won't be wasted. Remember what's yours to control and what's not what must be let go. Remember that nothing is so futile as attempting to move the immovable or change the unchangeable. Remember that your greatest strength is focusing your time, talents, and efforts, exhausting your energy on that which you can conduct. And sometimes this distinction hurts. But to fail to see it is to shackle oneself to delusion.

Right? You can complain about the weather all day, but to complain about it, to focus on it, to be stuck in it is not going to be. to change it. Your time would be better suited looking at how to adjust yourself to it. And that's what life repeatedly tells us. There's plenty we aren't happy about, plenty we wish we could change. But to stay there in that space is to forfeit your greatness, your strength. Why? Because there is so much you can control. So much you can do. you can always position yourself to succeed.

But that calls for first separating what's yours and what's not. There are people I wish were different. There are situations I prayed were alterable. There are outcomes that are given without my asking. That's just life. And a losing mentality is to fight that, to feel anger or resentment at the people that let you down. Why couldn't they be how I want them to be?

It's to dwell on the situation that occurred despite your wishes. Why couldn't it have just happened my way? It's to refuse to acknowledge the outcomes that have already materialized. Why couldn't it just have evolved differently? All that, as hard as it is to see, is embracing a mentality of victimhood. walking down a path that has no desirable destination in store for you. When you accept the unchangeable, you then become the architect of your reality. Sure, people, places, and outcomes weren't always the best, but now you ask, how can I navigate around it, or better yet, use it

to my advantage. It is, to use the famous metaphor, not shaking your fist, at the wind, but building sails for your boat, creating a path to take you somewhere new. So let the energy, the time, and emotion that's wasted on the immovable dissolve. The question worth asking is, where do you most want to be and how can you get there? And while those details outside the scope of your control

can feel like a bottomless gap in your way, I promise that what's around you is enough to build a bridge over it. There's enough there for you to find your way. So long as we learn to separate the gap from the bridge, the details from the solutions, when all you see is why you can't go or how it can't be solved or how impossible something is, It's not that you are looking at an unfortunate truth, it's that you are looking at the wrong supporting evidence.

When we stop seeing the details and outside circumstances as the deciders of fate, we win. When we place our eyes upon the controllable, when we step into what is ours to move and shape and transform, we finally see that the journey to something bigger is not only possible, it is inevitable. I found a quote the other day. The time heals nothing unless you move along with it. I thought, well, that makes perfect sense. You can't pursue a new reality, a new world, unless you can detach and depart from the current one. But that's in theory.

And my question was, is it the destination or the path that holds us back? Because in my experience, the greatest struggle in life, it isn't what to do, it's knowing how to do it. How do we get there? We know we need to get back up. But how? How do we initiate a spark and create momentum and take that world of black and white? add color. Because those times of gray, when life seems to lose its purpose, we find ourselves

simply existing and not living, that's when we need answers. And I guess this quote, it jumped out at me because it prompted an equally important question, right, which is now what? And I started thinking a few years back, 2017. Probably the most difficult year of my mind. It was void of, you know, many of that beautiful nuance, the uplifting moments that we like to remember when we look back. For me, it was, you know, essentially an ended relationship, was relocating away from family and friends, was having a few dollars in my bank account, everything I own in a trailer, and starting over.

And what I'll never forget about that experience, you know, in totality, was that I saw it colorless, bland, dark. Essentially the road ahead had lost that glimmer that had once had. See, I used to get so much joy in telling stories, but life had kicked me around so hard that I, at least for the moment, forgot the point. Like, what was my reason? And I knew, like I said, what I had to do, but I couldn't wrap my arms around the how. How do you get the train moving again? And then I got this email, right? And I'm gonna paint a picture for you. New apartment, trash, there's stuff everywhere,

suitcases open, I hadn't shaved in two weeks, I'm exhausted, couldn't sleep, sitting there, frustrated with my laptop. And the email is basically someone looking to create a documentary, asking if they could stay with me for three days, and create a film about always maintaining discipline and living a productive life. And I just erupted into laughter, right?

I don't think Seinfeld could have written something more ironic. It was just, it made no sense. But it caused me to reflect, right? I obviously declined the video. It just wouldn't have felt right or accurate in that moment. But I started to think, how is there such a gap between the old me and who I was sitting on that bed? Is this the new me?

And if it's not, why have I allowed this imposter to stay so long? I've always said a life change is one decision. A light switch away, just reach out and find it. And when you're going through times like this, it's funny, life has a way of doing its best to conceal the beauty. It's like it becomes this black in white painting and it stays that way. It stays that way until you put color into it. One brush stroke at a time.

Because life is intimidating when you see everything you're not. when the blank canvas feels like emptiness and not opportunity. But life doesn't require of you the whole picture. Masterpieces, they aren't made overnight. They're not instantaneous. They are a product of trust, of faith. Not in the canvas or the brush, but in the artist. Through his eyes, he's capable of transforming his experience into art.

his misfortune into meaning. Victor Frankel uses the metaphor of a movie, each day being its own scene, where often they don't even come together until the very last act. Trust that, believe that, but man start painting. In the very next morning, like everyone before it, I woke up to a yellow beam of light.

making its way through a crack in the blinds, painting the wall of an otherwise dimly lit room. But this time I saw it. This time I didn't close the blinds. I opened my eyes. And sometimes that alone is the little hinge that swings a big door, a door that I walked through. And I saw the green of the palm trees, the beauty, the simplicity, and thought, How lucky am I to be where I am when I am? I saw a blue sky, a miracle in its own right,

that's not confined to story or narrative, and well, maybe I'm not either. The white of the sidewalk leading me to wherever I choose to go next, the red of my running shoes hitting the pavement, the gold of the sun bouncing off the buildings, the black of a cup of warm coffee as I soak in. the day and the teal chandelier that hangs over the horizon as the same sun that started it all retreats after a hard day's work see you have everything you need and life is not always perfect

but it is always what you make it how things are it's not how they should be your need to be but how you've allowed them to be. And most importantly, black and white does not describe reality so much as it describes what's not there, what's missing from reality, and my hope is to never conform to that sketch or outline

that masquerades as truth, but to see beyond it. To find the strength, the courage, the self-belief, to pick up the brush and live life in color. It's always fascinated me that we spend so much of our lives searching for the things that we realize in time we had all along. That our journeys bring us full circle.

Our stories end how they began, and in the end, we fade away holding tightly to that from which we emerged. Not because we fell short. No, but because eventually we realize how simple things really are from the outside. Looking in, we realize what we have. Speaker Dennis Waitley once said, happiness cannot be traveled to. Owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

It's why times like these, when we get to look around and recapture our perspective, means so much. Almost as though it's reassurance that, yeah, life can be hard, frustrating, abstract, but that the core of everything is contentment is enough. It's why we need not search for love we are, in fact, surrounded by it. We need not search for hope when it's ingrained in everything. breath or reassurance when it's a phone call away. I once heard an interesting idea that we only see what we focus on. And not only metaphorically, but literally so much of life exists outside our periphery. If you can walk down the same street every day and see something new each time,

imagine the power of readjusting how you see life as the sun comes up in the morning. Imagine pulling more. Imagine pulling more of what matters into focus, becoming living proof, that we don't need to wait until things are gone or changed to appreciate what we have and who we are. I think that's why Cicero said gratitude, not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. Because when one can look around and see all that they have,

scarcity has to give way to abundance. Fear becomes hope, the mundane becomes beautiful, Gratitude is power because it's not acquisition. It's awareness. A reset button. A tap on the shoulder reminding us that life is about the people who make it worth living. The times we spend together. It's a reminder that the minutes aren't ticking towards some life altering grand finale,

but that each second is in and of itself a miracle. And of course, I'm a believer that we are here to evolve, to grow, to test the waters, to push our limits. But I'm also a believer in asking why. And it seems to me the answer is not to obtain something new, but to share who we are with the world. Not to get what we don't have, but to make the most of what we do. Not to impress or fit in,

but to take that passion that increases our heart rate, that curiosity that pulses towards new horizons, towards new horizons, the incredible friends and family by our side, and simply realize that we are, this very moment, embarked upon the adventure of a lifetime. And for that, I am forever grateful. There's a saying that some people feel the rain. Others just get wet. I've always found this interesting, this idea, how the same subject, same situation, same situation or occurrence can be interpreted so differently. It can plant the seeds for such different outcomes. Like Yeshemi and Koga mentioned in their book, The Courage to be Disliked, well water is

60 degrees, and it's always 60 degrees. In the summer and the winter, but depending on what time of year, right, the makeup of the outside world, that 60 degrees feels different. The water didn't change its circumstances did, and our thoughts are no different. It's not the world that writes the story. We do. And every second moment day is merely an interpretation. Does time tick by?

Or is it driven into a state of flow? Is it transformed into something more? Was losing an indicator that, hey, maybe you're not good enough? Or is it your motivation to be better than you've ever been? Is your day an allegiance? to the present, or an invitation to chase down tomorrow. See, the world doesn't get to tell the tale. The world is paper, it's ink, its ideas.

The world is everything you need to decide how your story's going to go. How does he see the world? How does she define reality? That's the question. Because you don't need to change the world. You need to change the way you see it. You see it. And you don't need to change who you are.

You need to change the imaginary shackles you've placed around your ankles that are limiting the heights you could reach. In fact, the world as far as I'm concerned is an accumulation of thoughts, ideas. It's 8 billion individualized movie screens attempting to interact to coexist together. And when you look at it like that, it's not that your mindset plays a role. or it's kind of important. No, it's that it narrates the play. It's the glue that ties everything together.

What you see is what you get. And this isn't a one-and-done thing. It's an everyday thing. Because there's always going to be occurrences in our lives that challenge us to threaten our understanding of who we are and what we're capable of. There will always be the temptation to make the opportunity into the problem

and the hero into the villain. but why forfeit that control? I remember hearing that if you find time to be grateful, both in the morning and at night it changes your life. Not because the world transforms, but because it reinforces the perspective you need. We are lucky to be here. We're lucky to have challenges that push us forward.

Lucky to have ups and downs that bring us closer to the people in our lives. We're lucky that chaos and discomfort open a door for transformation on the other side. And look, I get life isn't perfect. And not everything can be great all the time. But I do believe that if we can bring ourselves to stop, to breathe, to even focus briefly, we can find value in any situation. What's in front of you, it exists, right?

It's the well water. You can't go back in time or remake the obstacle at your feet, but you can always decide how to make that work for you. And that's a superpower. And I use that. I use it when my short-term ideas or videos or projects underperform. I use it when people let me down. I use it when in the moment I'm either under or overwhelmed.

The question, where is the win? In this spot, this situation where most would hang their heads and let the outside world rewrite the story, how can I find a way to hold mine high and maintain my own accountability? Extreme differences in life outcomes are so often prompted by such subtle realization, subtle decisions. Their reason to stop could be your reason to not only carry on, but thrive. And the best news is you don't need approval or authorization. You don't need the stars to align or doors to open up. You just need to give yourself permission to see the sun amidst the clouds, the hope amidst the doubt.

to remind yourself that there is always something to cling to always a second chance there is always a win all you have to do is choose to see it