Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Stop Becoming Someone You Don’t Recognize || Powerful Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

This episode is brought to you by:Puori: Get 32% off your first omega 3 Subscription at https://www.PUORI.com/eddie with promo code EDDIE at checkoutHuel: Make healthy eating simple. Get Huel today with their exclusive offer of 15% OFF online with my code EDDIE at http://www.huel.com/eddie New Customers Only. My NEW Performance Tee - - Code "YWW20" for 20% off► http://www.agns.lifestyle🧠 Join the free community: https://www.agns.lifestyle/pages/raise-your-standard📖 Get my Free Ebook While the World Sleeps https://eddiepinero.com/ebookHard times will change you but they will never define you.In this powerful motivational speech, Eddie Pinero explores what it takes to rebuild after heartbreak, failure, loss, and disappointment and how to find the courage to begin again.Your past isn’t proof that you should give up. It’s living proof that you can survive, rebuild, and become unstoppable.If life has knocked you down, remember: you are still here, and your story isn’t over. Take a deep breath, leave the past behind, and take that next step forward.📱 Follow Along:Support the Podcast on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/your_world_within/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@your_world_within📝 Comment below with what's been holding you back as of late. Would love to help you 🙏🙏🙏#liveinspired #yourworldwithin #motivation

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free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. When you look at erosion, I like, say, dunes on a beach. What you see is something giving itself away little by little, deteriorating. Sure, there will be events that expedite the process, but generally speaking, it's lost a little bit at a time, day by day, right in front of our eyes. until the time comes when we realize that what we have is no longer recognizable. It's sort of redefined.

And I think in a lot of ways we find ourselves in a similar situation. The concessions we allow every day slowly redefine who we are. You know, and it doesn't seem like much, that's the thing. It never does. Quietly detaching from what you believe. Taking on an identity that doesn't quite align with who you are, doing things, being places that causes something in your gut to protest. Toning down the color in your life so that you blend in.

These are not epic, monumental decisions. It's the drawn-out erosion of what makes you who. you are. It's the chipping away of what makes you spectacular. See, the idea that now isn't permanent. So I'll just suck it up now. What's the big deal? I'll just settle for now. Let me tell you, if that's your rationale, you're forgetting how easily tomorrow becomes never and now becomes forever. We operate under an illusion that things will become easier. that change will be less strenuous down the road. We'll make things right, get back on track, be happy then,

but the harsh reality is that things don't get easier than they are at the present moment. It's quite the opposite. And to disregard or ignore this is to let yourself wither away at the hands of procrastination. If you're planning to wait for that, get comfortable. and see, conceding day in and day out, it alters your understanding of who you are and what you're capable of. Our actions reinforce our beliefs.

Imagine a straight line, a simple straight line drawn on a piece of paper. Right? You're in the middle. And on one end is who you are, in your heart, in your soul, and on the other end is everything you're not. Every time you sacrifice your principle, your beliefs. Every time you say that's not me but fine. That's not where I want to be, but okay, it's only

temporary. You take a little step toward what you're not. And another step, and another step. And one day you look in the mirror and you have no clue who's looking back at you. Because you've conceded one small decision at a time. You've given away your sense of purpose. Sure, the situation is Difficult. But the best things in life are the things that are not easy. You have to fight for those things. You have to stand up in the face of struggle, adversity, the narrative that others want to write for you. We stay within guidelines because we think the outside is scary. No, what's inside is scary. What's outside is what you need. And when you stop banking on the anticipated miracles of tomorrow and manage the reality of today, you succeed.

It's life's greatest test. Are you brave enough to be you? Are you strong enough to fight back when you're tempted to hide, to blend in? Every time you summon the courage to stay true to your soul, it gets easier, the difficulty lessens, you become free of the mental chains you've placed around your ankles. There are certain things in life worthy of compromise, but your identity, your journey, what makes you feel alive, that is sacred ground, that is worth defending until your last breath. No one can take that because it's yours, and when you look back on your life and the amazing,

people in it, a life lived fully, will always supersede marching through your days, wearing a mask, and following someone else's agenda. It's your life. It's your gift. What you need most is the reminder that you need nothing at all. It costs zero dollars to begin. To see the road before you is one leading to upside. Oh, but this is a little. This is the real world, one might think, and in the real world exists real and tangible obstacles. Sure. Obstacles that are solved one by one when you move into them, directly into them. Ill-equipped, ill-prepared, not quote-unquote ready, but willing, willing to learn as you go. That is, as far as I'm concerned, the only way to move forward into the abyss.

As John Maxwell's explained, a car moving out of a parking space at night can't see the entire way home. But the lights illuminate enough to get out of the parking spot. And then out of the parking lot entirely. And then make a right onto the road and the next road and then ultimately pull into the driveway. landing at home. Too many of us don't get in and turn the keys because we, using the same metaphor, can't see a street sign four miles down the road. We don't go because the problem wasn't solved before we saw the equation. We don't pick up the book because it wasn't fully comprehended before it was open. Life's not a game of answers. Life is a game of moving forward without them,

a game of picking up pieces along the way. Forget what you've done. Forget what's fallen short or not met expectations. What have you not done? What is your heart longing for? And yes, even the things that seem absurd and out of reach, even the things that when imagined feel like a complete reinvention of the self, The notion, what will my friends think, my family think?

What will they say about the change or the pivot? If that's the voice of fear that speaks within you when you close your eyes and picture a new reality, perfect. A life of meaning always pushes back against the comfort of normals. A world of substance always forces you to step out of your former self and into the ideal. You require nothing to go. Nothing to believe, nothing to understand that life will be what you make of it. The beating heart in your chest is all the permission you need. Feel the life that is pumping through you now, the opportunity moving through your veins.

Capturing it is hard, sure. Obstacles are tough, no doubt, but bowing down to them. Not heeding destiny's call, that is the greatest adversary of all. It's time to step up and put an end to procrastination's lane, to strike a sword through the heart of regret, to step on the prospect of, I wish. You, in this very moment, have everything you need to do just. You are always stronger than you think you are.

So last month I was at a Genius Network meeting, and I got to see up close and personal as Joe Polish interviewed Kimberly Shannon Murphy about her book, Glimmer. It's one of the most powerful conversations I've ever heard. Her book's an autobiography about Kimberly, who's a stunt woman, among other things now in Hollywood, rehashing the pain and abuse she endured as a child.

child. And really, pain her whole family endured because of her grandfather, who is not a good human, to say the least, whatever you're imagining in your mind, it's worse than that, right? I'll leave it there. And I watched for about an hour as she delved into the pain and how it bled into so much of her adult life. It was a suffering she spent seemingly her entire. youth trying to escape, trying to free yourself from. Again, front row, you can see the emotion

in her face, her eyes as she's reliving it. As a spectator, it was truly inspirational. Which brought me to this thought, what are the odds? What are the odds after everything she's endured? everything, that she was not devoured by the monster that is her past. Or even worse, a continuation of it. She instead found it within herself to be the antithesis of that evil. To say never again. No, not in my life.

not in my world, not for my family, not for my daughter. And once my mind went there, it was really all I could think, right, that this person, only a few feet away from me, found the courage to not only rise above her pain, but to turn it into something beautiful. Now, I'm assuming there are a million different takeaways from her story, right? And I'm sure those who are victims themselves of childhood abuse, you know, will receive it in an even more powerful light.

But for me, the message was a giant spotlight turned towards the internal. A reminder of just how strong we are and the power we have over the hand that we're dealt. Even when life feels helpless, hopeless and pointless, us, that reminder that we always have fight in us. You know, I've been in situations where I've looked in the mirror and asked the question, you know, what the hell do I do next? You know, when you feel like you're suffocating. And sometimes it's simply the stories of others that remind us when we are drowning in darkness,

that it may just be that we are the light, that somewhere, deep down in the depths of our soul, there exists a glimmer of hope. Enough, just enough momentum to get you through one day onto another, onto another, until you rise from the ashes and find yourself recreated, re-made. You know, one of my favorite ideas

is that the wake of the boat does not drive the boat. The wake is gone. It's history. Where you go next, down to whoever's holding the wheel, and you might hear that anecdote and think, okay, you know, surface level, I get it, but easier said than done.

I can point in my life to so many times that just the understanding, just the realization that I'm not tied to yesterday, that I can break free of what was, that I'm not defined by it, that exact realization encouraged me and pushed me to step out and find an evolved version of myself.

Sometimes just understanding that a different reality exists is enough. And so, you know, after being lucky enough to hear Kimberly's message, you know, that's the idea that I want to pass on to you. You are not tied to what was. You're strong enough to not only discontinue the patterns and the narratives of yesterday, but to grow beyond their shadow and gift the world, their inverse, their opposite.

Not only can you find the solution, you can become the solution. When you look to your left and you look to your right and you think impossible, this is too much, it's too big, all of this is just beyond me, I need you to remember everything you need you have. Remember that inside you right now, even though you won't be able to see the whole picture or how every single piece fits together, that in this moment exists enough light to chart your course, even, as Kimberly would say, if it's just a glimmer.

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And she actually hasn't seen my brother in a very long time. So we're all catching up, having a nice dinner. And she tells us the story about my uncle, her husband, who passed away. And when she was with him in hospice, I guess one of the things they do is sort of some type of checklist. with questions and different things to just discuss and go over. And one of the questions for my uncle when he was sick was how do you want to be remembered? And she said, you know, she remembers vividly asking him that question

and him pondering it for a few minutes and saying one word, grateful. And I thought that was one of the most powerful, beautiful tributes to just life itself, to the people in his life, to everything. I don't think Hollywood script writers could come up with the more perfect answer, a more ideal answer. And, you know, it's something that I've been thinking about a lot,

just gratitude in general, that sort of perspective, that power we all have to choose. and how that sort of reinforced the gravity, the importance of having gratitude as a North Star. You know, we all have the ability to choose gratitude. And the older I get, the more I learn that it's not a small thing. One of the most important books I've read by Dan Sullivan, and Benjamin Hardy. I've referenced it a few times.

It's called the gap in the gain. And it talks about this sort of binary, this ability we have to either look at the gap, right? What's not there in our life that we want to be there, the things that are missing, the things that hurt us, versus the gain,

which is how far we've come, in what we do, have and how lucky we are. And it's funny, it doesn't matter the situation. There's always both. There's always a metaphorical shelf right in front of you and you can choose which one you want to take and how you want to see the situation. You know, I think something that I'm learning as well is that we all have natural predispositions. We have biological tendencies. How you view the world innately is not going to be the same as I do. Nature plays a role, right?

I need personal development. That's why I love it. That's why I've, in a way, made it my mission. I love philosophizing and diving into it. It helps me. Without it, I wander. Because my instinct is not, I am so happy. Let's find the positive here.

Right? It's training the mind. to say, ouch, this might hurt, but where's the value? And at the end of the day, that's fine. Because I get there,

ultimately, right? And I scream that from the mountaintops because we can all do that. We can all look around and say, hey, there's something to be grateful for here. There's value here. Even in the darkest moments, even in our suffering,

there is value. You know, and in that book, The Gap v. The Gain, that's what Dan Sullivan says. you know, especially as entrepreneurs. It's like if you're ambitious, it's very hard to see anything but the gap to where you want to go.

Right? We're impatient. We want it now. But how lucky are we to even be afforded an opportunity to bring something into existence? It's not lost on me that so much of what I talk about is first world.

Right? It's like, if you're not happy with your life, fix it. You can. That's a luxury to be able to do that. Right. There's a time and place where it's like, I just need food. I need water. I need shelter. Right. I need to hide from violence or, you know, to be violent myself, whatever it is. Right. And so we're in this sort of place in time where we can really make the most. of life and why shouldn't we? But I think, you know, with that comes the reminder, we have to understand how lucky we are and how much we have. And, you know, I've said it before, that is, it's armor. To choose gratitude is to choose armor. It's to make yourself stronger.

It's to strengthen yourself. I was with my brother the other day. We were in Sedona, Arizona. And I just found out that my car, when we were in Sedona, some rodent got under it and chewed the front trunk sensor and some wire harness. Clearly I don't know much about that stuff. And so with Teslas, when something's wrong like that, an alarm goes off. Like just an obnoxious alarm, and it doesn't stop. it just goes until, you know, you can get some type of, you know, you have to bring it to a mechanic.

You have to bring it to one of their folks who can take care of it. But there's no way to override it. And I'm on the phone with them. I'm doing sort of the restart on the computer, on the car, nothing. So that means every time we got in that car for that entire road trip and beyond, there's this just obnoxious alarm. That, by the way, when you turn the music up, the alarm goes up to match the music. It was almost comical, right? But at first, it's incredibly frustrating.

And especially because, you know, they were saying that I couldn't get an appointment for like 45 days. I'm like, so you want to tell me for 45 days I'm going to be driving around with a siren going off in my car? We got to taking care of sooner. But it brought me to that moment, right? The gap versus the gain. Because you feel angry. It feels stupid and unnecessary. Why is this happening?

This is obnoxious. Then you think. What a problem to have. Poor me. My Tesla is making a sound while I'm on a road trip with my brother in one of the most beautiful places in the world soaking in the scenery. This is when you're going to throw a tantrum, right? And it's that same idea. There's just, it's so easy to be angry and overlook the good.

And I say that not to be cliche. I say that because it's really become a superpower for me. And I want to share that with you. That's what I do. I share my wins. I share my losses. When I discover something that I think is meaningful or powerful or impactful, I want you to know. Because some of the biggest changes we make are little alterations to our perspective.

And so every time you're angry, picture that shelf right in front of you. And there's the gap and the gain. two things, right? There's a reason to be grateful or resentful. There's the choice to move forward or to be slowed down. And you reach out and you pick up the one you want to pick up. They'll always be there. And so if you start becoming accustomed to picking up the gain and the gratitude and the value,

You'll see that, you know, in this game of life, you're not a puppet. You're the puppet master. You know, Victor Frankel talked about in his book, the one thing that can't be taken away from us is our attitude. It doesn't matter what's going on around us, what life is presenting. Attitude can't be taken away. Your gratitude is always there. Whatever you're going through, good, bad, in the middle.

Think of that shelf. Think of the value that you can pick up at any moment and use to better yourself as opposed to these narratives that we create that hold us back or make things seem harder or put us in that gap unnecessarily. In a world where you can be anything, choose to be grateful. There is one person who can save you and that person exists in the mirror. I was recently doing an audit of some of the most important conversations I've ever had. Mentors, friends, coaches, people that have changed my life, people that I love and am beyond grateful for. And started kind of going one by one. What did I learn from this person?

What was it that I took away from them? And, you know, in one way or another, across the board, the answer was the same. It was some variation of confidence. It was belief that I could step into that next chapter, that I have what it takes. that the unknown, you know, wasn't impenetrable. In fact, you know, the unknown is inviting. And truthfully, I don't know how many people started from the same starting point that I did

where I essentially had to learn every step of the way that I was good enough, had to re-teach myself that I belonged where I was, that the room that I was in, there was a reason I was there, that the circle I was in, that I earned a right to be in that circle. They say confidence is earned, and I had to continuously earn it. And I value that progression, truly, for a few reasons.

One, because, you know, I've been on the other side, and when I see other people, you know, making that assent, I do everything I can to make them feel welcome and comfortable. Right. But the second thing is I understand at a deep level, How much of success is simply believing you are worthy of it. You know, I look at the things that I do now, and it's like so much of it's just because I allowed myself to do it. At some point, I looked around and said, you are worthy of this.

Believe it. Step into it. There's nothing stopping you, but you. And I've seen the power of, as someone near and dear to me once said, walking into a room like God sent you. It's not a fake it till you make it game. It's believing in your heart that you are worthy game. No one who's achieved success on a consistent basis got there accidentally.

At some point they looked at that reflection and said, hey, this is me. At some point they looked around and said there is no difference between me and the people who have done great things. those people just gave themselves the green light and chose to stay consistent. I can do that. You can do that. Everybody can do that. Will you?

That's the question. No one can save you because no one can make you believe. No one when your eyes open in the morning can position your mindset to say, today is mine. The world is. is my opportunity.

No one can convince you that you're capable of magic on your short time on this planet. That's an internal decision. Do you believe you are worthy of it? And if not, let's get you to that point. That's the name of the game. Look hard at that reflection and remind yourself that you have everything you need to begin.

Not a few things or some things, everything you need. You're good enough. What's required is you giving yourself permission to go on whatever journey you deem important. It's allowing yourself to tap into the strength that's already there. Be resilient. Ship away, little by little, every day. That's it.

That's the formula. You approach that lane with tenacity and drive. And life changes, right? As the saying goes, days turn into months, which turn into years, and you'll look back and, you know, you'll see you're not the same person you once were. You'll see that you had this potential all along. You just had to give it life. See, we attribute complexity to things we don't understand.

We assume people on mountaintops were placed there, that they had godlike abilities. And it's like, no, they just believed they were worthy and stepped forward into the night. Just like a seed must be planted, you too must give your potential the opportunity to be nourished by what's around you. When the alarm clock goes off,

your eyes open and your feet touch the ground in the morning, remember that getting what you want is far less complex than you think. It's simple. Not easy, but it's simple. You say yes to more and start walking down the road. And you'll change, you'll adjust, you'll evolve. There will be times when you backtrack,

course correct, and perhaps even switch lanes altogether, But the gift of going is the best gift you'll have ever presented to yourself. No one is coming to save you. And when you realize how powerful you are, you will have not wanted it any other way. I've been spending a lot of time in nature this summer. In one thing that became quickly apparent when I'm running, hiking, rucking, or filming, food can easily become an afterthought. You either end up paying way too much for something mediocre or you grab whatever's convenient and just kind of hope for the best.

But this summer, I found a different solution that I want to talk to you about. And that's Huell Black Edition. I've talked a little bit about it in the past, getting creative with it, you know, using it for French toast in the morning if I have some time. But it's really been the fuel behind my outdoor summer adventures. It mixes really well with water and milk in about 30 seconds. It's 40 grams of protein, 27 essential vitamins and minerals, no artificial sweeteners, colors, or flavors. What I like most is that it's not just a drink on top of a meal. It's a complete meal designed to replace one, which makes life a lot easier when I'm traveling or spending the full day out on the trail.

And when I'm really in a hurry, I'll grab one of the ready to drink bottles, which costs less than five bucks, which is way better than paying 30 bucks for a meal out on the road. So if that sounds like something you'd use, check out Huell. That's H-U-E-L. New customers can get 15% off online with my code Eddie at huel.com slash eddy. That's huel.com slash eddy. Thanks to Huell for partnering with and supporting the podcast. The words I am are a spotlight used to highlight the parts of you that you want to illuminate.

Those two words are a portal through which massive transformation can occur. I am strong, says the man in the mirror, as this newly crafted identity takes him by the hand and leads him to the gym to lift weights. I am talented, competent, relentless, says the woman over coffee, before walking into work and moving, one step closer to that promotion she's been working for.

One of my favorite ideas, people follow through on who they believe themselves to be. Always. But this power is a tool. And tools can be used for good or they can be used for bad. They can be used to build or they can be used to tear down. It's up to the person carrying out the task. The words I am, right, those beautiful life-altering words, they can also become a jail cell that surrounds the now and keeps it exactly as it is.

And you know what I mean. I can't. Sorry, I am not a morning person. I am unathletic. I am slow. I am not like those financially well-off. people. They're different. I am simply not ready. Well, used that way, right? Those words, they're a sealed fate because we only act in ways congruent with how we see ourselves. Again,

who we believe ourselves to be. See, a lot of these things come to me, at least initially, in ways I like to describe as woo-woo, right? I'm a pretty practice. person. So when someone says something like, you know, Eddie, law of attraction, you know, put pictures all over your bedroom and, you know, it'll come true. What you see, what you look at will materialize.

That's scoff. Right? Looking at boats, unfortunately, doesn't drop you onto the deck of one. But then, when I let my little ego chill out a bit, And I thought through the idea practically. It's like, well, maybe there's something to this. Maybe looking at those things simply remind you that they're possible.

That boat, that mansion, the love of your life, that dream body, whatever it is. It's not some far-fetched narrative written for someone else. No, that's obtainable. That's for you. Maybe I can have that too. And then maybe those results change the standard. They change the expectations I set for myself. And then, and this is the needle mover, because of that, I start acting in a way congruent with those standards.

I bring it to life. Boots on the ground, doing the work, creating the change. It wasn't magic. It was just a shift in narrative. I think we all understand at a deep level. people tend not to acquire things they don't believe are possible to acquire. That's why so much lack in our lives

can be remedied by a mindset change. You don't step out your front door if you don't believe there's anything worthwhile out there. Which brings me back to those precious words, I, and they're precious because they are a permission slip from you to you. to be that person you most want to be, to create the change you most need to see.

Being in and around the personal development space for so long, I've kind of seen a tug of war with the idea, fake it until you make it. A lot of people have different takes, different philosophies on it. Some people say, you know, do it, act like it. Why not? Other people say, don't lie to yourself. Go earn that confidence.

to which I say they're both the same thing. The idea is not to deceive yourself. I'm going to paraphrase Tony Robbins again here. The idea is not to close your eyes and say, there's no weeds in my garden, there's no weeds in my garden, open them and hope that the weeds are gone.

It's about giving yourself a target to hit. It's about wearing the shoes so that every step you take in them becomes a little more real to you. you. Let's face it, right? You live with a healthier lifestyle. If you say, I'm a healthy person, than if you were to walk around saying I'm an unhealthy slob, but I'm trying. You will act out who you believe yourself to be. It is that simple. So we rig the game in our favor. Be very methodical with the words you place after I am. They are precious. They are the gatekeepers. They are the gatekeeper.

You know, I am what? Yeah, but Eddie, I'm not in shape and I want to be. You know, it doesn't make any sense to walk around saying, I am in shape. Okay. How about I am healthy? I am working every day to get stronger. I am the type of person who finds a way. I am driven.

I am focused. If you believe yourself to be those things, you've built a foundation more than strong enough to support the goal, to support you getting in shape. That's what this is about. Creating a foundation for you too, even. The relationship you have with yourself, it sets the precedent for everything in your life.

So cherish it. To respect it. See the power contained in the words you utter about yourself. I am on the journey of a lifetime. I am happy. I'm healthy. I'm talented. I'm kind.

I am grateful. How about you? Before you think about acquiring more, first adjust your normal. Before you think about reaching out into the ether for solutions, ask yourself, what's the condition of the space I currently occupy? Is it what I want it to be?

Because without that foundation, every house is built on sand. You simply cannot build on broken things. So, story time. I've documented over and over and over throughout the years the injuries and physical limitations I face when it comes to lifting at the gym. It's been this kind of giant puzzle for me. I've tried different things. approaches, you name it. I still am. But the situation basically can find me to cardio and interval

training, right? Lightweight because anything beyond that ultimately results in shoulder injury. So continuing to look for answers, I connected with a trainer and corrective exercise specialist recently. His name's James. And day one, I'm in his office. And I'm kind of giving him the lay of the land. My issues, what I've seen over time with my shoulders, we map out a game plan. And as we're doing so, I asked him about what I should do the days we're not meeting, right? Should I keep doing the hit classes? Should I be lifting lighter weight? Should I be swimming? Like, what should I be doing on those days? And he said something that I thought was incredibly powerful. He said, I don't want you to do any hit or lift any kind of weight, even small weight at the moment, because your normal isn't

ideal. And we need to fix your normal before you add more to it. It doesn't matter how much weight if you're lifting with restriction in your shoulders, you're going to exacerbate issues. We need to go down to the roots and correct the problems, right? So let's step back. Let's increase mobility, flexibility, range of motion. And then we start to do. start putting on muscle. Patience and an acknowledgement that things need to change are required. It's stepping back to leap forward, right? And I walked out of the gym feeling excited about the prospect of recreation.

Like, enough, right? Let's go. I think we've got this. But also thinking about that philosophy and all the times that I have tried to add more on top of broken things. how instead of fixing, I tried disguising. Instead of confronting, I walked away from. Instead of pulling apart and rebuilding, I would attempt to fix the cracks with duct tape,

or band-aids on bullet wounds, as the saying often goes. Because, look, it hurts to build from the ground up. That requires looking in the mirror and acknowledging that something is wrong. It means more work. It means patience. It means dedication. But it also means if you acknowledge it,

there will be a point in time where the ground you're building on supports your plans for growth. And this isn't a gym lesson. This is a life lesson. I thought about one of my good friends who years back dealt with substance abuse issues, trying different things over and over again, doing whatever he could to get sober,

but couldn't quite make it happen until he uprooted and changed his environment, where he lived, what he did, who we saw on a daily basis. He changed his normal. And my mind flashed back to him saying proudly that his recreation started with that very difficult tearing down in order to rebuild. I thought of a past relationship in my own life, one that I truly wanted to salvage. But no matter what I did, I couldn't make it feel right. Because the issue wasn't about what we did on the weekends or trying to find remedies to the little things that we thought about. I needed to step aside and personally evolve. I needed to create in myself a new normal. Or even something a little less deep, right? The everyday occurrences, just my productivity and ability to write,

you know, with the internet, distraction, posting, and then trying to manufacture the discipline to not check analytics or DMs or comments on the seven different apps that, you know, I'm constantly working on, right? I can attempt to navigate this minefield all day, try and trick myself into greater productivity, but that's a losing battle. right to win there i need to redefine normal shut the internet off when writing put the phone in a different room become the person who distinguishes between the chaos of being online in the valuable deep work that only occurs when you remove yourself from it my normal wasn't working right it was time to delete the productivity apps and just shut the internet

internet off when writing. It's a simple rewiring of normality. And I think we aim to build on broken things because when we do, we can put pause on what our souls know will be difficult work. We're scared. And so we try to trick ourselves into thinking we're doing enough. And what I've found is, you know, you may once in a while get away with tricking other people, but you can't trick yourself. You can't lie to you because you know and your soul knows. Sometimes life simply asks that we step back. We put the weights down. We increase our flexibility. Right? There's no strength without a solid foundation. So don't seek out the new without auditing the old.

What is your normal? If it's not where you want it to be, congrats. You've acquired an awareness that few seem to grasp. Now you can greenlight the operation. Now you can chip away at what will be the reason you are at some point in the not too distant future, stronger than you've ever been.