Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Step Into the Arena: Don't be tricked by Comfort and Complacency

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

Most people don’t truly win or lose—they simply watch from the sidelines, afraid to step into the fight. Inspired by Teddy Roosevelt’s Man in the Arena speech, this episode explores how too many of us trade victory and defeat for the comfort of playing it safe. We avoid risk, critique from a distance, and settle for a life that feels secure but ultimately lacks meaning. But what if avoiding failure also means avoiding everything that makes life worth living? True growth requires stepping beyond comfort, embracing both triumph and setback. The choice isn’t between winning and losing—it’s between fully living or merely existing. Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube 

Most people experience neither victory nor defeat. Why? Well, rather than step out their front door and shape their world and the reality, most people sit back and they observe and they criticize and they condemn those who actually do. This is the central premise to Teddy Roosevelt's man in the arena speech, which I've talked about and explored a few times on this podcast, but I had the pleasure last week of sort of rediscovering it in Sedona. And what stood out to me particularly was just the idea of how okay we are with that middle ground,

of giving up the highs to not experience the lows, how okay we are with being the ones who merely observe and critique while life around us is shaped. It's like, no defeat. No, that's avoided at all costs. We want safety, safety, safety, which means almost definitionally no victory. And when we skip those two things, what we are left with is empty space, a perpetual purgatory to which we're not. most of us are confined.

Someone I respect once told me it's okay to be hated. And it's certainly okay to be loved. But what you don't want to be is simply tolerated, right? Merely existing is for cowards. And you might be asking, well, what does that mean for me in my world? And that's the beauty of it. Like, I could never answer that for you.

you are the only person that can answer it for you. But what I can tell you is that the highs in life make it worth living. I can also tell you that you don't get highs without lows. And so to avoid life's turbulence because you're scared of the risk or you're scared of the criticism is to deprive yourself of life's beauty. Now, am I perfect at this? No. No.

No, I don't think anybody is. And that's the beauty of it. That's why I surround myself with people to help push me along. Because every chapter of life demands a new level of courage, new risks. You don't even realize that you've moved up to the cheap seats and you need to step back onto the floor. And it's also, funny enough, easy to see in others or easier than it is to point out in your friends

than it is to point out in yourself, right? Like, I talked to a friend recently who was talking about a business idea and just going through everything that can go wrong. What if I fail? What if this? What if that? And they're genuine, like,

they are reasonable concerns. But I just sort of posed this question to them. Like, well, what if everything goes right? Think about the upside. Are you thinking about what that could do? for you and your family. Are you thinking about the impact? Are you thinking about the financial upside?

Are you thinking about that stuff? Because that's transformative. And you could just sort of see behind his eyes that switch. Sometimes we just need that nudge. That reminder that says, hey, you're strong enough to be in the arena, making change in your life, taking on the risk. taking on the burdens, stepping into the chaos of life

so that you can make something of it. You can do that. Well, Eddie, how do I figure it out? Again, this is a work in progress, my friends, and I don't think that ever changes, but I can say personally, awareness. Awareness is the key, awareness is everything, understanding that it often does not come natural

to go where you most need to go. It requires courage and discipline. I've invested heavily in multiple masterminds, engaged in very intentional conversations, spending every day in some type of contemplation, thinking about that next step, looking for the right risks. Because I know that when one stays too long where they are,

they do themselves, their loved ones, in the world a disservice. When you stay the same, no one wins. But when you're aware, everything of value starts to rise, starts to emerge. What is it in your soul that you know you need to do? Where is it in your soul that you know you need to go? Because once you've aligned with that, you get to go out, step into the world, and begin the process of falling and failing and making your mistakes.

but in doing so, there's a few things that are happening at once. First, you're incrementally moving towards meaning in your life. It's been said that progress equals happiness, and I subscribe to that. I believe in that 100%. I also believe in the second thing, which is that you convince yourself that when you fall, you can handle it. You can get back up stronger. It's the mantra that confidence is earned.

you're proving to yourself who you are. You're showing yourself. You're watching yourself grow as you take on combatants in the arena that you stepped into. I'm a firm believer that a life of meaning isn't avoiding chaos, but rather knowing you can endure and persevere through it. So I'm going to say it again. And hopefully it hits. you the same way that it hit me.

Most men live their entire lives without knowing either victory or defeat. Never defeat because they shied away, because they were scared because the risks seemed too big. Therefore, never victory because the victory requires the defeat. And so this is your opportunity to step out into the world and make your mistakes. to dispel the notion or any idea that a safe, peaceful existence is a victorious one. You will fall repeatedly. But the beauty is you will do so on your ascent to a world above the cloud. 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 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 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.

It 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. That climb is manageable.

You'll acclimate. The adversary is pushing beyond that fear of starting anew. Taking your limited understanding, bringing it to the base of that mountain, the 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, for prosperity, for fulfillment. This is the pathway to anything of substance.

You take your ls. You embrace your critics. You swallow your... 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 one devised by those who could put pride on hold. By those who were humble enough to crawl through the unknown long before they,

They ran anything. Who knew that before they played for any title or championship, they must first play the fool? I was talking to my friend on the phone this morning, and he's been on a very long journey. A lot of highs, a lot of lows, but now he's doing incredibly well. He's heavily invested in real estate, has a very successful business. I mean, you talk about a turnaround, he's it. And he says, Eddie, you know what the best part of all this is?

When I get up in the morning, I think yes. I don't think, oh, man, I wish I could sleep just a few more minutes. I don't wish for a little longer in bed. I think yes. And I found that moving. If that's not peak living, I don't know what is the second your eyes open to be excited. about what's to come, right? And so I asked him, Tom, you know,

what's the biggest mental change you made in your life that brought that about? And he said, essentially, this is a term used a lot by Dan Sullivan, he says, I learned to always be the buyer. Now, I'm just starting reading Sullivan's books, so I'm not too familiar with the idea. I said, Tom, can you explain, kind of expand upon that a little bit?

paraphrasing he said he started to look at life like he was worthy of it like he was the decision maker right and I don't know if if you've been there I certainly have where it's like man I hope this person accepts me I hope they hire me I hope I can be included now that's a it's an existence of constantly selling yourself but when you make that mental shift of instead saying, uh, I have value to add to this person, I am the buyer here. You empower yourself, right? A buyer cannot get rejected. Instead of walking around, hoping the world accepts you, it's having confidence in yourself and your ability. As my eighth grade teacher, Mr. Bettencourt used to say when we were kids, the worst thing you

can do is hold your hands up to the sky and hope something of value falls into them. The worst thing you can do is take the power out of your hands and outsource it to fate. Because the truth is, you do have value to add. There is change you're going to make in the world. There's a beautiful mark on humanity to be created by you. And there must come a time where you see that as a valuable resource. You're on a mission. and it's not about other people saying yes or no to you

it's do you want to allow these people to come along with you on your mission not selling yourself but buying the pieces that will comprise your greatness subtle shift but also a powerful one and the reality is people respect it right that's the crazy thing when you find the courage to dig deep and unlock that confidence in yourself you get more of it from others And this is from experience, right? I've never been the loudest guy in the room, not an attention seeker.

It's easier for me to listen, right? But I find that when you live with conviction, the world around you conforms. Respect finds you. People will never believe in someone who doesn't believe in him or herself. This is kind of an interesting note. The good friend of mine has helped do some booking on podcasts and events. events, right? And part of that's trying to get speakers and personalities to participate. You have to explain to them the value. And this is what I found amazing. He says a formal,

well-thought-out letter stating the ins and outs, how grateful the host would be, how beneficial the experience would be. It gets ignored 99 times out of 100. But a simple, hey, X is happening, going to be incredible. Give me a shout. We'll see how we can get you involved. It gets responded to way more often. Why? Because you're not selling, you're buying, right? People want to be around those who live with conviction, who have value to add. So make that clear, right?

Instead of writing up those four-paragraph emails asking the world for answers, for assistance. You weren't put here to wait for permission. To tiptoe through life and not make any mistakes. You weren't put here to impress others or be accepted by those around you. You're here to live life on your terms, to make magic, to enjoy the passing moments with the ones you love, spent how you choose to spend them. Never forget how much you mean and how valuable you are. Never forget that you have every right to wake up and say, yes, I get to get out of bed to them. I get to chase my dream and bring along with me the people and things.

that are worthy of the pursuit. That's not arrogance. That's confidence. That's not existing. That's living. In a world of conformity of please take what I have to offer, in a world of concession,

in a world of I don't want to but okay, you have to get to the yes. You have to become the buyer. Not only in each specific exchange, but the buyer of a destiny that belongs to you a word we throw around all the time is difficult how difficult will the journey be how hard is it going to be to succeed this is more or less asking is a desirable outcome likely we're asking for the worth our time right if something's difficult we associate that with the low

probability of success but that's not the right way of looking at it If you want something enough, difficult becomes your best friend. It's your greatest asset. And this is one, because of the growth that comes with it, but two, because very few people are willing to chase it down. The reality is, most people are average. And that's just looking at the definition of the word. Right? If everyone was great, greatness wouldn't mean anything.

There's something special about it. It's unique. It sets people apart. We generally live amongst people, places, and expectations that make up everything we know. That's our normal. That's our box. But what's particularly interesting is that the people we celebrate, the accomplishments we admire, they go far beyond this sort of confined view of the world.

So where is the line? Something's weird, it's abnormal, it's looked down upon until suddenly it's not. You snap your finger and it's cherished. That guitar player practicing 15 hours a day. It's lame. They don't have a real job. They're not contributing anything to society. And then he or she puts out an album that revolutionizes music and they're a hero.

The whole thought process is counterintuitive. And that's why the words difficult and great are so closely related. Not because it's physically stressful, but because great comes with a hefty mental price tag. Difficult means you are consistently doing what the average, normal, and unspectacular deemed to be too great a sacrifice. They're not asking if it can be done. They're not asking if it's possible. What they are really asking, what they want to know is if they have to break through everyday normality to achieve a result. Do we have to make ourselves uncomfortable?

Do we have to give more than we normally would? Do we have to be better than we were yesterday? If that answer is yes, the vast majority say thank you, but no thank you. And that's where defining opportunities open up. Great means you had the desire to set yourself apart. Difficult means you have the dedication and the drive to do the little things no one else wanted to do. There is nothing miraculous about greatness. It is not divine.

It is not incredible. It's simply seeing the word difficult as a staircase instead of a brick wall. It means you get the opportunity to both give more of yourself and get more from the world. It is your secret door, your passageway. If the incremental progress, the growth and the sacrifice are worth the prize, easy, difficult, and everything in between fades away. The only thing worth the second of your time is making sure that every step you take points you in the direction of where you want to be most.

Being lost is not about what you don't have. It's about temporarily forgetting what you do have. Forgetting that contained within every dark room is a little light switch that has a hangs within an arm's reach. And see, the reason this is so powerful, the reason it's been so important to me is because every time I'm in a lull or navigating a low point like we all do,

I remember something that acts as that hand to pull me back up. I remember that everything I need I have. See, I used to use the word stock as to imply immobility, being powerless to the outside world, when in reality, I just had to remind myself that the path to recreation is always in front of me. And the map needed to navigate is always folded up in my back pocket.

In essence, what I learned is that helpless is not a situation. Helpless is a decision. and one I'd simply never choose. Life's challenges. They are not a display of your insufficiency. No, they are a reminder of just how powerful you are. If you never let yourself fall, hit a low, or lose your way. You'd never get to see the miracle that is your resiliency.

You'd never get to look in the mirror and see the reflection that is the conqueror of worlds and the slayer of dragons. You'd never get to climb the mountain from which you'd ultimately look and see a world of your making. There's a saying that will always be true. It will be true on your best days and your worst. It will be true after victory and it will be true after defeat. It will be true when you have momentum and it'll be true when you're down on your luck doing everything in your power to create momentum. That saying is, your future begins now. Hey, on the surface, might not seem like much.

Sure, my future starts now. I know that. Everyone knows that. Well, if that's true, if everyone does in fact know that, why do we spend so much time stuck? reliving our past, unable to break free? Why do we remain terrified to change? Why do we feel such a connection to who we were, how others saw us? Why must we remain loyal to the character we've been playing in our mental autobiographies? See, here's the thing about the past and the future. One is fixed, can't be changed, and the other, well, it's waiting for you to tell it what it is.

One is expired time, one is planned to be determined. And it's interesting how we continue to conflate the... Epic Titus has said that the more things we value outside of our control, the less control we have. Well, I'm going to be the messenger here relaying the precious truth that yesterday is in fact out of our control. What can be controlled is where we go from here. The next step. step. Meaning today is not your failures. It's where you take those lessons. It's not your mistakes, but it's what the stronger you can now endure because of them. It's not the

dreams you let slip away, but where your pursuit might take you now. And yeah, yesterday certainly contributes to your outlook, as all information does. It's value considered, it's impact assessed, it guides you, but it's not you. And that difference is astronomical. There's a question about the role the past plays in our lives. That has to mean something, right? Your past is in many ways your story. It's why you think the way you do.

It's contributed to your understanding of the world. It will always be a part of you, and I believe that. But I also believe the past is a story. And just like reading one chapter in a book, simply sets the stage for the next one without controlling its direction. So does every day that has led you up to now. Life gives us the tools to experience,

to grow, learn, and then shed that which does not coincide with what's important. Your failures are not you. But they are precious in that they push you towards what you'd like to be. See, you can, experience something and not be that thing. As Kirkagard says, if you label me, you negate me.

If you proclaim me to be X, you're essentially stealing from me the infinite possibility that is the future. Yesterday has nothing to do with what I can become. And so taking it a step further, never mind being labeled by someone else, how could you label yourself and see it anything but self-sabotage. See, you're never defined by your past, but always learning from it. It's not who you are. It's the cheat codes for what you can be. Without that winding road of misfortune and mistakes, the incredible expansion we long

for doesn't materialize. Imagine if everyone who ever felt down in life felt like a loser who temporarily lost hope. Imagine if they looked in the mirror and said, okay, this is who I am now. There would be no triumph in the world because anything meaningful requires the resiliency to map our way from the hell that was our darkest moments to what will become our proudest moments. Destiny, destiny means that you separate the finite from the infinite. What you used to call yourself has prepared you to move towards the horizon. But what you used to call yourself is also as irrelevant now as those seconds that you watch tick away.

Seconds that maybe you're not proud of. Seconds that perhaps taught you about the world. Seconds that gave you a glimpse of what's possible. Unveiled the happiest of times. All of it. In its own unique way, it brought value. But none of it is your future. Why? Because back to that beautiful, all-powerful sentence, your future begins now.

Your destiny is awaiting its marching orders, and all you have to decide as you stand today is where that ship will sail. Your obligation is a simple one. No, it has nothing to do with breaking any records. No miracles here. You don't have to be the first or the best or the greatest. No, those things by themselves are meaningless. You can't perform them. They aren't verbs.

They're consequences. Consequences of your much simpler obligation. To not stop. To carry on. To hush your mind and move your feet. No, not at the beginning. Everybody loves the beginning. And no, not towards the end. Anyone can find the strength when the adrenaline is pumping and the finish line is in sight. I'm talking about the middle. That dreaded space. Brian Moran's Valley of Despair. Jim Rohn's winter. When nothing around you is reassuring. And I don't mean in some metaphysical way. I mean, when you're just not winning. And no winning means no validation,

at least not right now, and no immediate validation means you begin to question things, question the work, the initiative, your ability to carry it out. See, I've come to form an important bond with this place every time I wander in its direction. It's where lives truly change.

So long as you can get beyond that, first trap, that trap of thinking that it's a reflection of you as opposed to what it really is, the test that guards and protects the realm of excellence, the invitation to become who you've never been. There's a saying that everything looks like failure in the middle. It's one's ability to see through that haze that eventually makes the middle something meaningful. That obligate, not to stop, not to let the external world do internal damage. The obligation to depersonalize the bumps along the road, the people in your way. The chaos, the difficulty, the uncertainty, it's not about you.

It's about everyone trying to figure your life out. Trying everything and looking everywhere but the road in front of them. Your job is not to leap a mile or change humanity with you. the single act, no, it's to carry on. And don't discourage yourself by thinking you owe more than that. Because all you can do in a single moment is not stop. I've always said one of the most beautiful things about victory, is that no matter how big it can be simplified,

condensed down to those who could have said no, but didn't. And that when your plan is to show up no matter what, you have made yourself elite, you've built a template for the results to model, to catch up. You're there. When you win and when you lose, when you're excited, and when you feel tired, when you're certain, and when you have no clue you are there, that is your obligation. and win those steps

when those decisions when that persistence comes together they tell a story so incredible that we can't help but stop and admire the result one decision at a time without seeing it in the moment has come to be something larger than life

saying yes once it likely doesn't mean much but saying yes in the face of adversity every day recreates your world. So stay true to your obligation. Whether you're in the valley of despair, winter, or some other hellscape we referred to as the middle. Remember that an ending is not required of you. No, not right now. All that is asked is that you don't stop,

that you see hope when so many are unwilling, that you see the temporary nature of the state you're in and believe with all your heart that you'll emerge victorious. One simple decision. Remember the little things, the ones we all come to appreciate perhaps a little too late. That feeling of comfort, our little eyes first understood to be home.

Those little conversations we still think about, the ones that shaped us. Those little stretches of time we thought would last forever, but to our surprise, had a final moment written into the story. Oh, those little things. I remember going to a concert in high school. It was at the Orphium in Boston, Massachusetts. I went with two of my friends.

Had an amazing time in, well, years. And years have obviously passed. And recently I asked myself, of what is it I remember about that day? Why is it such a powerful moment for me? And interestingly enough, I don't remember any of the songs that were sung or how well they were played.

I don't remember what I bought or what I wore or what teenage troubles I was going through at the time, no, years later. I remember how it felt to stand there in the center of that theater, color of the lights filling up the room, the bass drum resonating in my chest, aligning with my heartbeat, the people I was with. And the funny thing is, 17-year-old me had no clue. He was driving into the city for a night he'd remember forever. But not because of the music, no, because of a feeling. Because he would spend the time with the same people he would have hung out with any way at home.

And perhaps subconsciously I knew, perhaps we all do, but at the time, it all felt like details. The time they were simply included in the story, a buy one, get one, if you will. Oh, how they hide themselves, those little things. In a way, it's not too different from the oxygen. We breathe in and breathe out, intertwined in everyday life, necessary to carry on, to grow up, to grow to evolve, yet only missed when it's gone. We don't think about the air we breathe unless, of course, we are submerged and without it. So why, why does this matter? Why put this thought to paper? Well, because to use my previous

concert hall metaphor, I've spent so much of my life thinking about the stage presence, the accuracy of the of the notes, the visual appearances, the wrong things. It seemed intuitive, overwhelmingly obvious, but now they're just reminders. How easily we can walk on what matters to get our hands on what doesn't. Do we know what's important? Do we know what we hold dear?

Do we think enough about those little things? Every time the caller ID says mom or dad or nana banana, When my little brother and sister get new apartments, jobs, promotions start navigating this crazy world. Every time I open my laptop and get to bleed my thoughts onto a blank page over a cup of coffee and a sunrise. Running around random towns across this country with my best friends, bringing ideas to life. See, the now tells you they are nice things, happy things, lovely things. But it doesn't let you in on the greatest secret of all. Those little things just might be everything.

So see them while you're in them and hold on tight. I walked up to the canyon's edge and I looked. I remember thinking this is my moment. I took a breath, I stepped back and I screamed. At the top of my lungs, I screamed. And out came my plans and my plans. my hopes and my dreams, I let the world know everything I've been building and everything I planned to build. Everything I knew and everything I intended to learn.

I explained everything. I felt all of me turn messenger packaged into these tiny airwaves and dispersed to the sky. Echoing one more time as they left is it for approval. And then... Nothing. No problem. I thought I'll just wait. But the second hand kept ticking and still...

Nothing. No answers and no approvals and no guarantees. Huh. What was left to do, but stand up and scream again, and I did, and all I got was my own voice pushing through the canyon. Did I say the right thing? Did I make the right plan? Can you be right and alone at the same time? I don't know. I'll wait. Because surely someone cares. Someone has to care. Don't people care? At that moment, a tear rolled down my cheek as I sighed, sat down, exhausted, tired, tired of screaming

and not being heard, tired of swinging and missing, tired of Every attempt being the one that might change everything. I was tired of it all. Forget it. Time to go somewhere else. I wasn't sure where, but let's face it. It doesn't really matter when the only way to go is up. So I turned around and took my first few steps.

Defeated eyes down at my feet as they marched me away unceremoniously. But then... Then I heard it. Something in front of me. And I immediately lifted my gaze from my shoes and stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't believe what I saw. A sea of people standing there. People that had been gathering this whole time making their way up the canyon

as my back was turned as I yelled and yelled. Some I knew. Some I didn't. Some who cared so much that my pain was essentially their pain. Some I've helped along the way and some who have helped me. Some I've laughed with, some I've cried with, some I've learned from, some who have learned from me. Some who felt exactly as I had, alone, tired, exhausted, some who felt lost but found their way. Others who thought they had everything figured out, but for that moment were lost.

Some who felt like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders, others, simply looking for anything to carry. All there, not to hand me answers or a shortcut or any perfect solution. But apparently to remind me that when the answers aren't in front of you, and trust me, they won't be more than they will be, You have to trust what's behind you. What brought you to that canyon's ledge? You have to believe in the things you cannot see. Because you can think you're alone and be loved by many, and you can feel like you're losing and be right where you need to be.

Life can seem like it's over when it is in fact just beginning. Those words bouncing off your lips, they don't disappear. In fact, by speaking them, you are giving them life. They become as real as the hand in front of your face, and it's up to you to never let that blank space make you think otherwise. To never let what you don't have minimize or mitigate what you do. Because the tricky thing about that abyss beyond the canyon's ledge is that it's not for reassurance or compliments or ego boosts. No, it's the real deal. It's for carving away at who you might be. And that's, well, that's never going to be easy. In fact, it's always going to make you ask yourself the tough questions.

And the hardest part is it will often leave you alone to answer them. But alone for the moment, not for the journey. The echo through the canyons highlights the power of what you have to say. in the river down below emphasizes how high you've already climbed, and those people behind you, they are your strength. Your reminder that even in the darkest of moments, the most trying of times you are not alone. Let those dreams leave your lips and fly off into that abyss. Because as hard as it may be to understand in the moment,

they are in fact making their way back. to you. You're right where you need to be. Sure you have your doubt. Perhaps you feel tired, alone, fearful. Maybe you're trying to make sense of a world that feels too complex. Or all you see and here are reasons to turn back, to find shelter, to run, don't. Regardless of how hard it seems, don't. You are right where you need to be. Turning thoughts to things, making life from dreams, what makes change so interesting. So powerful yet deceptive is that it comes to us in small doses.

Not a tidal wave of transformation, but a slow, steady, rising tide of progress. No one feels the tug of erosion, yet it chips away. And so do you. Removing piece by piece, behold you. The world you're moving away from, and piece by piece, you unveil the promise of your becoming. You may not see the whole picture. You may not understand the whole story,

but right now, in real time, it's being told. and you are right where you need. We just weren't equipped to understand what that looks like. It's never been what you see that makes you uneasy. It's what's missing. That's what hurts. The solutions you wanted, the changes you expected, the finish lines you envisioned.

It's the wondering, how long must I wait? Did I make a wrong turn is the joke on me? But it's this line of questioning that causes so many to stop. Unaware of how close they were, ignorant to the foundation they were standing on. What you need is not a miracle. It's to simply carry on. To keep laying those bricks because not a one.

is wasted. And sometimes you don't realize you're on the 80th floor until you look down. That climb can be frustrating, exhausting. It isn't always glamorous, but it's necessary. And strength comes from understanding that truth. You are right where you need to be. The world, it can't take what you refuse to give. and self-belief is non-negotiable.

It's off the table. Your most prized possession. So hold it tight because it'll be needed when the journey feels long and the road impossible. You'll know that you can always take one step forward and that is the essence of life, of growth, of progress. Think about the steps, the lessons, the self-discovery that led you to this intersection of now and forever,

this beginning of whatever you discerning of whatever you disson. side comes next. You are right where you need to be because you are armed with the decisions that brought you to today and the courage to let them carry you into tomorrow. You could be anywhere, but you're here. And as you strap up and settle in, you'll see that right here is everything. Montesquieu once wrote that we received three educations. One from our parents, one from our schoolmasters, and one from the world. The third contradicts all that the first two teach us. That thing called life, right?

And the more I think about this, the more I get it. The most important rules are the unwritten rules. The most significant boundaries are the ones. we learn to ignore. The greatest tests don't concern what we know, but our ability to move forward when we don't. It's the real world that shows us we only get meaning through sacrifice and discomfort that shows us the homes we lived in and the classrooms we learned in were meant to block out the uncertainty and unpredictability of life. They were meant to draw a line directly from effort, to result and cause to effect, but the line that the real world draws, well, it isn't so straight.

At least not all the time. And it's this third education that shows us how powerful we truly are. Sometimes I think back to the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, that first year, the writing, the recording, the producing, the editing. The beginnings of a pursuit that I believe to be so important. Looking around and just seeing no result, like none, and thinking, how could this be? You know, I worked so hard, suffered so much, I put all of me into this, only to realize I had no clue what all of me meant.

And what I thought constituted life was really just the tip of an iceberg that extended so far underwater that it would take a lifetime to uncover. The real world, upon introduction, always started to start. instruction always starts by showing you how much you don't know. And I look back and I don't really think about the financial concerns, although they were very real. I don't remember much of the everyday worry and anxiety bouncing around in my head, although it was definitely there. I remember learning one of the greatest lessons I've ever learned that life is hard, but it's supposed to be. And it's not standing in front of you, hands on hips, saying you can't have this.

It's extending its hand out, saying, my friend, if you want this, it's yours. But understand what that means. Understand that you'll spend a good portion of your time unsure about your path. That you'll exhaust energy that will, a lot of the time, go unappreciated. that the easy road is fine, but it caps you way before your best. And if you want to take this on, this road before you, you have to pay a higher price. They can have predictability and peace of mind and comfort, but this path it takes you to purpose and meaning and an evolved self.

And you may think you understand what it means to be proud now, but wait until you touch these things. Wait until you look at your reflection, knowing that the person staring back at you could have said no time and time again, but didn't. Just wait, my friend, until you feel what that is like.

Your parents and grandparents can't tell you. No book can't explain it for you. It's the curriculum of life, the real world education. where the tuition is temporary discomfort and graduation isn't one but a million little evolutions it is the stage that's calling your name the one you're ready for whether you know it or not