Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - STOP BEING DISTRACTED AND REMEMBER WHY YOU STARTED - Motivational Speech

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." - Serenity Prayer Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube  In this episode, Eddie Pinero delves into the power of perseverance and turning dreams into reality. Drawing inspiration from the Serenity Prayer, he explores how we can use the uncontrollable events in our lives as tools for growth. Eddie emphasizes that while we can't control what happens, we can control our response and adapt to turn challenges into opportunities. Tune in to learn how to harness the wisdom of resilience and make the most of every situation.

Rain dances work 100% of the time. If you dance until it rains. Someone kind of jokingly said this to me recently at an entrepreneur event, and I thought, man, I get it, it's clever, but there's actual genius behind that. You tend to get what you're looking for if you don't stop looking.

Right? Like you eventually arrive where you need to be if your feet don't stop moving. The question we often find ourselves asking is, did the dance work? But the real question, the question of value, is how long are you willing to dance around that fire? How much of yourself did you put into the pursuit? You know, it's both liberating and terrifying to find out that there is no failure in life. There's simply the permission we give ourselves to move forward.

That trajectory we continue on up until we reach a point where we look around and say, no thank you, I'm done. Because if you're moving forward, you haven't failed. You have not lost. If you're moving forward, everything is possible. If you're moving forward, you are creating reality. The question is not have you failed.

The question is, are you still? still willing to move forward. It's not, did the rain dance bring the rain? It's, were you willing to dance around that fire until the sky's opened up? I often think about the stoic idea that there are things we can control and there are things we can't.

And knowing that difference is wisdom. The same idea that has become, as many people know, the serenity prayer. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. It's certainly powerful to understand the difference between what we can control and what we can't, but it's also worth noting that those things we cannot control, even when they seem to make life harder, when they're not what we want,

when they're frustrating and difficult and exhausting, they can be brought into your world and leveraged as tools to ultimately get you where you need to go. Slinghot to something better, right? There's value in all of it. And if you're looking at life through the lens of I'm not stopping until X happens,

well, then everything that occurs around you is just a vehicle taking you closer to X. Put simply, you can't always control what happens. but you can always control what you do with what happens. And that's power. That is strength. So using a tangible practical example, right around the time COVID emerged in 2020,

I was speaking about five or six times a month. I had video production clients, and my own personal content creation was relatively minimal. And so that hit to our way of, life, the one we all endured, took a lot of companies' budgets, right? That uncertainty prevented a lot of people from spending the marketing money they were spending. And on its face, it's a bad thing, right? It took a lot of business for me. But I look back now and I'm like, that pivot, you know, 10xed, 20xed my digital footprint. I was able to reach more people from

my home studio. I adjusted, right? And that was the beginning. of the most important transition of my business. To be honest, perhaps even my life at that point. You can't control a virus. You can't control the public's reaction to it. But you can take the pieces and make something with them. You can dance around that fire until it rains and dance around it I did.

And by the way, so many people I know today did the same thing. Adversity has created more masterpieces, more miracles than calm ever could. because it makes a step back and look at our creation in a new way. Remember, quitting is not something that the external world projects upon you. Quitting is looking around and saying, wow, this is a lot. This is more than I can handle. I'm done.

This is the end. I don't want to walk into this storm. I'm not interested in embracing the chaos. And I want to take a second to remind you that if you put your head down and just continuously step into it, If you can remind yourself, I didn't make this situation, but day by day I can make something valuable from it, you're making yourself powerful beyond measure.

It's not superhuman strength or some godly intellect that makes the difference at the end of the day. It's a willingness to understand, right, that if you do not stop, if you're willing to adjust and keep moving forward, you become invincible. There's a lot you can't control, but you can control what it all means and how you'll navigate it.

That understanding is greatness. So dance around that fire until the rain falls. Because if you dance long enough, it surely will. There's a really cool clip of Steve Jobs in 1997. He's on stage at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. back a little over a decade after originally being fired by Apple. He's taking questions from the audience, and this particular guy stands up and grabs a mic

and asks a vicious question. He basically tears into jobs. I'm implying that he doesn't know what he's talking about, questioning the value that he brings to the company. It's just super aggressive. And I think one of the reasons it stuck with me all these years is because upon hearing it, you know, my instinct as an observer was to be insulted for Steve Jobs.

The guy just got lit up. And you'd think he'd fire back, defend himself and his accolades, of which there were obviously plenty to draw from, but that's not what he does at all. He instead does two things in particular. that have, over time, added tremendous value to my worldview. The first thing, as I was kind of alluding to there, is he didn't at all get angry or defensive,

which may seem like an easy thing to do, but again, observing it, like you can feel the tension there. It's like Jobs saw the criticism as merely procedural. That's it, right? There's something to be expected as one of the time. builds, he completely depersonalized the attack as it was being fired his way. His exact quote was, you know, you can please some of the people, some of the time. But one of the hardest things when you're trying to affect change is that people like this gentleman are right in some areas.

Then I'll explain what he means when he says the guy's right in a minute or two here. But that response like totally reduced the tension by 90%. Right? Understanding that there are going to be people who have things to say, some of it will question your ability and your effectiveness. And if you're looking from a 10,000 foot view, that's to be expected. And this is a part that was shocking to me, warranted. Right? He says the criticism is warranted. Growth is messy and sloppy and a work in progress. And so criticism will, from time to time, hit the nail right on the head. And you as a designer and creator have to know that you'll both make mistakes and be called out for them.

That's the way it goes. That's the contract one signs with the world in order to bring to life those things that are not yet visible. It's scary. It's intimidating, right? At least at first. Again, my reaction was to get defensive. But I think what made Steve great, as he smiled and jokingly said, here we go, made question, was the reassurance that, look, I signed up for this. So in actuality, it's a good thing.

It's not an attack. It is growth. And I try and keep that in my back pocket as I do my thing, right? It's sharing your thoughts. It's a vulnerable thing. and if you are going to fall apart or crumble, anytime someone's not totally in love with where you are at the moment

or what you're creating or your last piece of work, you're in for a, you know, a rude awakening. It's going to be a long journey. So that depersonalization is everything and incredibly valuable. And the second part brought a ton of value to me as a creator as well, just in a different way. And this is a part.

This is the part that I alluded to earlier when Steve said that his critic was in some way correct. You know, when he was being hounded about his knowledge gap in some specific technology, right? I'm not really sure what the technology was. But Jobs basically explained that you're right. I'm not an expert there, but it's not about the specific technology or the minutia. It's about giving your consumers, your audience the world, what it's. wants. It's about having a big picture, a vision. And that's what made Jobs so special.

He didn't need to be involved at such a level of granularity. The vision changed. It revolutionized technology because it was reverse engineered and brought to life. Here's this exact quote. Jobs said, one of the things I've always found is you've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards for the technology. You can't start with the technology and try to figure out where you're going to try to sell it. And I've made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room, and I got the scar tissue to prove it, and I know that it's the case. End quote.

That was an incredible thing for me to hear. If anything, because so often we get caught up in the weeds, right, we let the details drive the decisions, whether it's technology or anything else. I often think of that, you know, in my world. Don't worry about what's in place right now. Worry about where you need to be and then backfill to make it happen. And sure, you know, some people might not get it. And sure, it will certainly mean you'll have to delve into areas you don't quite understand

as you seek to support that vision or bring it to life. But that's the price that must be paid because vision is king. And so, taking those two concepts I just talk about, if you were to combine, them. You'd walk away with the understanding that, one, growth is sloppy, criticism is inevitable. And two, don't forget that adding value to the world should light your path. Not the little details that peak your interest along the way, right? Not everyone is going to get it as you build, and that's okay. The way I see it, everyone is building something. And as they build, will surely come face to face with some sort of resistance.

And while it's not always easy, there's value in finding the strength to smile to yourself and understand that resistance is merely part of growth. It's a necessary component of your evolution as you add value to the world. As you seek to leave yourself and the world around you better than it was yesterday. Aristotle has a quote that states To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. What a waste that would be of the potential and greatness contained within you

to let it slip away for fear of what might be said. As Jobs explained, you can please some of the people, some of the time, but it's not about that. The benchmark is not being perfect and never making anyone angry. No, it's seeking to bring to life that which does not yet exist. trusting yourself and your vision. It's not taking personal that which is merely part of the process. Because when the storm arrives, that will ultimately carry you through to the most incredible

things you'll have ever done in your life. 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 time.

Epicetus 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. 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, its 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 and 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 as anything but self-sabotage so 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, OK, 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, 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. One of my favorite quotes is sometimes success is simply hanging on when others would be letting go. The reason is that it reminds me how frequently the advantage is in not stopping. It's in consistency.

It's in showing up. When I run particularly long distances, almost like clockwork I can break it down to feeling good at the beginning. Usually a little rough stretch in the middle and then somewhere on the second half I catch a second wind or a second blast of energy. The question just becomes when? Will you hang in long enough to capture it? Because you don't know when it might be,

where it will show up, you don't know when you'll find that nice rhythm again that makes the sport so enjoyable to me. And when I say, you can pull an infinite amount of life lessons from running, this is one of them. That depiction of trusting that the road ahead has everything you need, to cross your finish line.

Even when the short-term chaos is all you can see and feel, even when it's hard to look up and imagine. Right? Because it's easier said than done when you're tired and worn down to continue on, right? When you're in the trenches. There's an uncertainty to the road ahead, but each footstep is a shot on target. Each step forward is saying, I'm worn down, but I'm here. and I'm not going anywhere.

And life can present an almost eerily similar narrative, right, whether personally you're at a low point, whether you've been working and working and working and haven't seen the result you're looking for, whether you're uncomfortable and starting to wonder whether this reward is really worth the high price tag. You need to remember that second wind, that second blast of energy, just enough momentum to ease your worry

and recalibrate your journey, it's there. It's waiting. But you know the rules of life. It won't come to you. You must go to it. Through the storm into the night beyond the comforts of home, most sadly don't arrive. Not because they couldn't,

but because they ultimately let go. They look too far down the road at the distance to be traveled and forgot that their only job was to hold on. Through the doubt, the pain, the worry, no miracle, just a willingness to fight each battle as it presented itself. To let time stack up, to let the distance over your shoulder accumulate. See, the thing about stopping is that you never know when that much-needed second wind will arrive. There's a saying that many of life's failures had no clue how close they were to success

when they gave up, when they turned around. Now, I'm not suggesting the road will be perfect, or that it won't come with its adversity, mistakes, and lessons. But what we always have control over is the ability to push forward until we finally come face to face with that which we so desperately needed, it's there. I could say it a million times and it wouldn't be enough. The pieces exist. Will you hang in long enough to collect them? When the road is intimidating, will you hold on?

When you run into those moments of self-doubt, will you hold on? When you feel small, navigating the ups and downs of life, will you hold on? Because if the answer is yes, you'll find yourself crossing some finish lines that will blow your mind. You'll get from life that which most can only dream of. And again, not because of the miraculous, but because you knew that the second wind was coming,

you knew it would be there for you so long as you kept moving forward. on when most would be letting go. Somewhere along the way, we all come face to face with the gatekeeper. Watcher of the road ahead, protector of the path before us, he is your defining moment. The reason you either go home or push forward. He's where your story ends or be. He's where your story ends or begins. And see, I've met him before many times this gatekeeper, guardian of all that's worth possessing, acquiring, and conquering. I've witnessed the pain he inflicts,

the doubt he manufactures, the obstacles he creates. And what's interesting about the things in life worth having is that they're never easy to obtain. The universe has this way of making sure you really want those things you say you want. Because a lot of people talk and they wish and they project. But what they fail to see is that it's not until the wheels hit the road that the truth materializes. There is a cost for everything. You don't get day without night.

or courage without fear or bliss, without pain. The road to every kingdom travels through hostile territory, and the harder you pull that arrow back, the more power it contains as it leaps forward. Resistance in life, it's not a detriment. It is a simple triage process, in which only those willing to endure the cost of excellence are able to access its boundaries.

You can have all the world if you give all of yourself. The question is, when the gatekeeper approaches in its decision time, what's your move? Product of the pain we endure, the sacrifices we make, the struggles we overcome. Let's not complicate that, which is simple. It's not the universe, but your mind that it needs. Because once that floodgate opens, water is walkable, walls or climbable. Once you empower yourself, the status quo is left powerless with no option but to watch you bend life to your will.

It's not during the easy time. But the midst of your journey, the heart of your race, when you most want to pack your bags and call it a day, That that gatekeeper stands before you, hand extended, whispering that you want it, but maybe not that bad. And it's in that exact moment that you dig deep, look him in the eyes and show that there was never a doubt. Only belief. And no matter what awaits, you'll endure, you'll break through. Because gatekeeper or not, that's who. You are.

When the ground beneath us shakes, we crave stability. When the heavens open up and rain pours down and we run for shelter. When life presents us with vagueness, with flashes of possibility, we long for mastery. It's more instinct than anything else. But could it be that that instinct that we run to like moths to a flame, is leading us astray that it doesn't have our best interests at heart. Could it be that we're so worried about protecting and maintaining an acceptable image for the world that we forget to build something internally that's worth protecting?

What if that's shaking is what brings down the foundations that held us back? What if that rain washes away the limits of yesterday as we evolve into something more? And what if those flashes of possibility require of us not mastery, no, not yet, but a willingness to be the fool? And what if that willingness isn't an unfortunate dead end but a beginning? In one of his lectures at the University of Toronto, Jordan Peterson said, if you are not willing to be a fool, you can't be a master. In the cycle that is self-discovery, that is growth, we have to at some point step into an arena that's foreign to us, that we don't yet understand.

We have to be willing to operate with inadequate resources, trusting that they'll be picked up along the way. And that's a lot to take in. It's painful to know that others are going to have knowledge and skills and competencies that you won't. that you'll willingly inject yourself into the bottom of some hierarchy with nothing more than aspirations. But that willingness is your vehicle. And what's clear is that everyone wants the moon, but very few people have the courage to start constructing that spaceship.

Very few have the courage to be the student. That's why our inclination is to quit when we can't snap our fingers and magically beyond. beyond our way when we can't leap past that wandering around the unknowns. The reality is we have to fight to scrap to obtain that sense of belonging in a particular competency. And just talking about it brings me back. It's an obstacle that we all face. It's super real to me. I remember being featured on a podcast where the host literally asked me,

why should I listen to what you have to say? 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.

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, right? 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, a new Goliath, and looking up with confidence. And the question is, can you be foolish enough to do that? And once you've made that ceiling, your next floor, will you be

foolish enough to do it again and again and again? And breaking through that fear, knowing that stumbling around for a period of time doesn't kill you, it's required. It's the inability to show weakness or appear vulnerable. That's what chips away at you for a lifetime. If you want more, immerse yourself in that cycle of mastery. Start at the bottom and ascend. And when you approach the top, separate yourself and find another ceiling to chase. Replant a seed.

Play the role of the fool again. This is the formula for growth, for prosperity, for fulfillment. This is the pathway to anything of substance. You take your elves, you embrace your critics, you swallow your pride, and move towards a tomorrow that far exceeds today. As your reality changes, your perception changes, the company you keep changes, you'll start to see that what's around you is made by people who are willing to fail and fail. often. Our world is when devised by those who could put pride on hold, by those who were

humble enough to crawl through the unknown long before they ran anything, who knew that before they played for any title or championship, they must first play the fool. On that long drive, in the middle of the night with headlights and endless road in front of me. Everything I knew in the rear view mirror, I learned the value of making the difficult decision. During the times of disappointment, being let down by the ones I counted on I believed in, I learned the importance of loyalty, the power of being there for those who mean the most to you. Through the failures, the stress, the uncertainty, I learned that, like, Life goes on.

That when you allow yourself to fall, you build an immunity to the fear associated with hitting the ground. You get back up stronger. Through the heartbreak, the loss, the pain I learn to appreciate every moment. To look around and not take any of this for granted. To both recognize and appreciate the fragility of the present. Because with the snap of a finger, life can change. In the wake of past anger and conflict,

I learned to pick my battles. That rarely is it worth my time. That our vantage points are merely a reflection of our backgrounds and understandings, and even the slightest effort to understand the person staring back at you can be the difference between building up. and tearing down.

From being overlooked, disregarded, the smallest person in the room, I learned the value of true leadership. The benefit of empowering those around you and making them feel appreciated. That walking alone may sometimes be necessary, but that building a vision that those around you believe in is unparalleled. Life is a teacher. a teacher? And only through its toughest tests can its curriculum be understood. Can its ideas

and lessons take shape? What you need exists so long as you open your eyes. You'll find an inevitable truth that this universe, it wants you to win. It's holding its handout, providing you everything you need, Just understand. Understand that the lows prepare you for the highs. The losses set up the gains. The mistakes build a foundation for the greatest things you will ever do. Life is a teacher. And should you listen, you'll see that it has no bounds, no restrictions.

Just the next chapter. not here just to get by, to check a box. No, you're here for something different. Maybe it's your desire to chase down that sunrise while the rest of the world sleeps, to embrace the difficult, the inconvenient in exchange for that little bit of glory you'll soon feel as you pour your morning coffee and start your day. It's your fascination with the fact that every time you ask yourself, if there's more, if you have anything left, the answer always seems to be yes. And maybe that's it. That what you're capable of in a world of finitude and constraint and limitation seems to be the only thing without.

Absolutely no bounds. The human soul undergoes a sort of transformation, if you will. Every time we look around at what currently is and decide it will soon be the gateway to something more. And that's life's best kept secret. The word decide. The idea that we choose whether to accept things as they are or to change them. that we have within us the ability to push further than we've ever pushed to find what was once only existent in our imaginations. And this will always be true. You get what you seek. What you're willing to endure. And while some see this tradeoff as too much as a cost far too expensive.

Others see it as the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to give some of you so that you can grow and improve all of you. See, each footstep is far more than a point on the earth. It's a declaration, a commitment to give more than most would give so that you can feel what only a few will feel. So remember that when things seem true, when it's easier to call it a day or turn it around, that the simple act of continuing forward puts you in the minority.

It's positioning you to experience life as it should be lived. You're here to both cherish the now and cash it in. Let the value of your courage compound. Let your resilience remind you just how much control you control you have and how much is waiting for you. If only you say yes when it hurts, move forward when the path is unclear, believe when the possibility only exists in your head. You're here because while it may be easier to watch life go by from the cheap seats, the risk, the sacrifice, is worth being able to look back someday down the road

and know that at least you had the courage to play the game. Many of life's failures are people who didn't realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison. A quote I go to when I've lost my why when my frustration over the lack of a particular result overshadowed. everything. I don't think we realize how transformative these moments are. When confronted by them, we're presented two options. Give up or emerge better than we

were. It's not intuitive. It's not normal to think, I know this is hard, but hey, I'm one adjustment away from getting it right. One move away from uncovering momentum. That's why in such moments, I rely on others to remind me, and it's why I remind you now to reiterate how small a push is required to simply get things moving, to remind you that you do want this. It does mean something to you. And you know what? These are the moments you'll look back on. With the tear in your eye, a smile on your face, and you'll be grateful you push through. These moments, the darkest of nights, the lowest of lows, when we're lost, we're stuck, unsure. They are the ones that matter. So shake it off. See, the difference. The reason so

many people turn around is because they don't know the secret I'm about to tell you. The very same secret those before have passed on to me. You don't need to do anything but not stop. And if that seems too obvious or cliche, let me explain to you that it's in going that we're forced to find solutions were forced to become more it's incredibly hard to stop an object in motion but the question is can you move forward when you don't have the answers when you're tired when what you've been looking for is nowhere to be found can you imagine at that moment what the other side will be like looking back on your journey knowing that where others stopped you hung on where the cost was too much for so many

You laid it all on the line. These are the decisions you have to make now. So don't listen to that voice rationalizing. Begging you to take it down a notch or return to the normalcy of yesterday. Let this message resonate. Hear me. Embrace the fact that you are always one move away from recapturing momentum from finding yourself again. It's there.

Everything you need is there. Have the patience. to find it, the patience to do what you do best, find a way. Why is it that the average person seeks out the advice of what feels like a million people before consulting himself? Knocking, looking, hoping, is he looking for answer or looking for permission to be who he already knows he is? Is he looking for insight or just validation that his reflection is in fact okay?

See, I think we all deep down know who we are, know what drives us. And even if we don't know exactly what the destination looks like our hearts know the direction best suited to begin the person. So how is it so easy to forget? Why do we get our antennas crossed? When life becomes about meeting requirements and fulfilling obligations, checking off boxes, and checking in on time, we forget the basics. We forget to live for ourselves, as if our job is to play a part, not direct the movie.

And playing apart is living up to expectations. Directing the movie, well, that's creating your own expectations. This world, your world, it belongs to you. It's a world with both unimaginable happiness, bliss moments of ecstasy, and the occasional suffering. Chaos that we have to navigate through, but I think all of it comes down to whether you trust yourself to live it for yourself. To remove the shackles, take the training wheels off, stop asking permission and do what you've always known was the right thing. That part never changed. It just had to wait amidst all you're looking for external direction.

for you to pause and find the internal courage. Freedom is not a life without chaos. It's trusting yourself to determine which dragons you will slay. It's not a life without battles. But fighting those battles that result in your liberation, dismissing the oppressors that build fences in your mind and chains around your soul, I've thought a lot about the idea of a life well lived.

What it means, how it feels, and It seems to me it's about intentionality. Where are you going? It's not that you can escape suffering or eliminate fear. It's not that you'll avoid getting lost along the way, but it's the why. Why we endure these things makes all the difference. Is it for a better tomorrow or simply to get through today?

And it's amazing. Accidentally stumbling upon that which scares you and intentionally facing that which scares you are so different that their occurrences trigger completely different neural networks in the brain. See, overcoming fear is ingrained in us. We want to grow. We want to evolve. We need more.

The question is whether you will step out of the line that someone else made for you and live a life that is your own. And if it's crazy, great. Let it be crazy. If it's unique, perfect. Stand out and if it scares you my God if it scares you don't turn back don't you dare turn back Give yourself the most important permission one can give the permission to follow your intuition and your curiosity into tomorrow Let the stakes be higher but the rewards be meaningful let the chaos be your own to tame and to master every twist Every turn becomes not only a part of you but a

chapter in the story of your becoming and as the seed you've held in your hand for so long finally meets the earth and grows so high that it connects you to the heavens remember that this is your life it's your obligation to live it fully one of life's greatest lessons is that yesterday is only as powerful as we allow it to be yesterday is an idea A story, a movie that started and ended. Now, it's quite possible that story or that ending is disappointing or it hurts to look back on. Perhaps a reminder of something that wasn't ideal, something you want to break away from. So the question is, why do we give that old story power?

Why do we relive it, create this self-inflicted wound? See, the past undoubtedly played a critical role. It brought you to where you are now. It, in many ways, shaped your worldview, constitutes your beliefs. It was the very road to this moment, and there's value in that. But imagine this scenario. Imagine stepping into your car, turning the keys, and thinking to yourself that you can in this very moment

And only drive down the roads you drove on yesterday. Only associate with the street signs you know, the places you've already gone. Your reality now is determined by what you've already done. So adjust and get used to it. You would say that's outrageous, right? Yesterday's path has nothing to do with where I'm going now. Just like a boat's wake trailing off behind it has nothing to do with where it's going next. A person holding the wheel controls that.

We are saturated with freedom. There is so much opportunity and possibility and potential in front of us that we fail to see because we can't stop thinking about that fictitious story we call yesterday. We confuse the path we took then for the one we need now, the wake from the steering wheel. What is and that story about what was?

The gateway to change is unshackling ourselves from those imaginary monsters. And more often than not, the answer isn't in finding some solution. It's in cutting ties with those things that no longer serve us. Then we see the world as it truly is. Then we see the magic laid out before us. And I get that it's easier said than done. Leaving a part of us behind hurts, looking in the mirror and being vulnerable enough to say, I can be more than this.

It's not easy, but it's possible. And everything starts with how we see ourselves. And when we remain captives to the past, everything about who we think ourselves to be is outdated. We're neglecting one of our superpowers, the perpetual ability to restart. One of the most important conversations I've ever had was on this topic. It seemed trivial at the time, but I was having lunch with a friend. And we're talking and I mentioned to her that I was full. And she goes, well then why are you still eating?

And I'm like, because I paid for it, right? I wanted to get my money's worth. And she says in a very pragmatic way, Eddie, just because you paid for it doesn't mean you need to eat it, right? It's a sunk cost. Why don't you move on? And the whole thing seems silly, right? It's like, yeah, if you're not hungry, don't eat, move on. But in the grand scheme of things, how many of us keep on consuming that which doesn't serve us?

How many of us stay too long when we should be letting go? We let the path behind us dictate the one before us. See, there's a tendency to overvalue what we know, to feel so invested in how things are, even when we're not happy or it's not healthy, that we'll take the pain of now over the potential for something greater. And that's precisely why the unknown is so terrifying. It's not concrete.

It's a world unsettled. And man, do we hate being unsettled? But what we fail to realize is that every time we close our eyes, take a breath and work up the courage to step into that unknown, to leave yesterday behind us. Life gives us new pieces. It resets the stage. It provides new tools to build something incredible, something more ideal, more conducive to our goals, our hopes, and our dreams. And the thought is, well, but what if things become worse than they are right now? What if I move forward and I find myself, more confused, more lost. What if things are more chaotic? And that may, for a moment, be true.

But what we do is we adjust. We learn things we never knew. We see things through a lens that we never could. Touched things that we never thought existed. It wasn't in staying, but in leaving, that we rediscovered who we were meant to be, that we allowed our truest selves to flourish in worst-case scenario. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that the world ends. No, the worst-case scenario, should you find the courage to move forward, is that you end up right back where you started, a little more confident, a little bolder,

and better prepared to live this life like you never had. All that's needed is for you to convince yourself that there is more. You just need to taste the fruit, step into the sunlight. That's the difference between reality and the story in your head. Reality is that this world has for you everything you need to change, to grow, explore, build a light that means something. It has the support structures and the resources for you to pull yourself. back up every time you fall. To say, okay, that hurt, but now let's try a different angle.

There is undoubtedly what you need. And the question is never whether the X on that treasure map exists. Trust me, it's there. The question is whether you can pause that story in your head. The tales of a dark, mean, and scary world trying to hold you down, pause the idea that you're nothing more than the you of yesterday. You're nothing more than how people knew you to be.

Pause the idea that you're nothing without that job title or that relationship. Pause the idea that you need him or her or them in your life. Every day you wake up, you are a blank canvas. Who cares about yesterday? What do you want to paint now? When you walk out your front door, where do you want to go now? step outside that circle of familiarity see how artificial and in some cases ridiculous these boundaries are that we place around ourselves life is an invitation not a set of requirements and when you free yourself of that not only will you feel like someone new not only will you experience life as it was meant to be experienced but you'll see that this world will conform to your

new definition. This world wants to support you. It wants to lift you up and yeah, it may be challenging and strenuous. It may force you to work harder and be braver than you've ever been. But it is at the end of the day, your ally. You just have to see your future self before it materializes when no one else gets it. So move on from all that does not serve you. Break away from the old rules, regulations and guidelines. Maybe you exhausted time and energy into creating this reality. Maybe it feels like a monumental piece of your identity. Maybe right now is the only security you have. Fine. But my hope is that you can respect it and walk away. See it as the sunken cost that it is. Just because you paid to get there doesn't mean you need to keep paying to make wrong decisions. Just because it took your

time doesn't mean it's entitled to keep stealing your time. Just because it's part of your identity now doesn't mean it must be tomorrow. Just because it creates security doesn't mean it's right. Jails and steel bars are also incredibly secure. No, today we are breaking free, leaving the past in the past and setting our sights on the horizon. Today is the end of yesterday and the beginning of the rest of your life. Time waits for no one. Look, the earth will continue to spin, the sun to set,

clocks to tick. There are no perfect moments, only moments, waiting to be interpreted by those passing through them. And as a raindrop in this thunderstorm, an actor in this play, the only rational question in my mind, is if time will not wait, why should I?

If time will continue its steady march, why let it leave me behind? I'm in my mid-30s, and here's what I've already seen. I've already seen songs I grew up with, referred to as classic rock. I've seen some of my childhood sports heroes struggle to throw a first pitch before a baseball game. I've seen a substantial portion of my social and social and interaction, become digitized? I've seen once forever people in my life fade away and become memories. I've audibly laughed at the ridiculousness of things that at one point I was sure were important.

I've redefined the meaning of the word home in my life more times than I can count. In fact, the way I see the world and the way I see myself operating and it continues to change. As the saying goes, the only constant in our lives is that things change, evolve. Why does this matter so much to me? Well, because when I look back, the single thing that would consistently keep me from truly pushing that pedal to the floor to truly capturing all life has to offer was a fear, a very specific fear, the fear of losing what I had at that moment. I was scared to death of loss, as we all tend to be to varying extent.

In fact, we're biologically wired to respect the fear of loss to a greater extent than the prospect of acquisition. There's humor in all this, though, a deeply rooted irony. It emerges when we discover that we lose everything. It all goes. The song that's playing ends for each and every one of us. And is this a sad thing? No. No more than the credits to your favorite movie rolling after the final scene. It was the show, the experience that meant the world.

It's a beautiful thing if you let it manifest in all its beauty. If you move along with it, immerse yourself in its brilliance. My point is that the only way to lose is to wait. It's to not realize that you're starring in your own cinematic masterpiece, and those credits will at some point roll. It's to sit in a chair on the side of the gym while the rest of the room dances. Life is finite, and the power is not in a flawless existence. It's an understanding to our core that there is nothing to lose, that the window is small, that we should carry out the human equivalent of a fireworks show.

We should be obnoxiously bold, absurdly courageous. We should go, live, try, experiment, explore, build, create. And yeah, sometimes you'll fail. And sometimes you'll fail spectacularly. But sometimes you'll triumph. And along the way, the mistakes, they become wisdom. They become courage. Both of which are integral to any meaningful grand finale.

And as I make my way around the sun for the 36th time, The priority is to remember that these rides are not forever. They are precious. And that I have the strength to live accordingly. Fearlessly, courageously, my hope is that you find it within yourself to do the same. To pull back the curtains and see now that failure was never the adversary. No, not even close. The adversary is an unwillingness to make the most of your moments.

The adversary is freezing amidst the constant hammering away of ticking clocks. The adversary is the prospect of removing failures mask years down the road, only to stare directly into the island. of regret. These outcomes constitute your greatest adversary. So for the sake of all that is meaningful, go push into the questions and the risk and the curiosity that makes life worth living. After all, it is not about failure. It's about time.