Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - STOP MAKING EXCUSES | Powerful Motivational Speeches | Morning Motivation | 3 Hours

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

What happens when you confront the place you fear most? Growth. Transformation. The courage to step into discomfort isn’t about suffering for its own sake—it’s about breaking down the walls of who you were to rebuild into who you’re meant to be. Change is rarely comfortable, but it’s in the chaos, the unpredictability, where the old you makes way for the new. Yes, people may resist. Your own instincts may fight to keep things safe and predictable. But the key is to stretch beyond all of it—to not just survive the chaos but embrace it. Within that storm lies clarity, strength, and a version of yourself you’ve only dreamed of becoming. So, where is that place that scares you? Go there. The new you is waiting. More from Eddie Pinero: Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Your World Within Podcast: https://yourworldwithin.libsyn.com/ Stream these tracks on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pB Instagram - @your_world_within and @IamEddiePinero TikTok - your_world_within Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Yourworldwithin Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/IamEddiePinero Business Inquiries - http://www.yourworldwithin.com/contact

Find that spot where you're most scared to go and go there. And I promise you two things. One, that it will be painful, at least to some extent. And two, most importantly, it will be worth it. It will burn down the old you so that the new you can rise. and I'm speaking from nothing but experience. Every word derived from the delta between how I used to live and how I live now. I'm referring to all the good that came from finding the courage to let my old self die, a recreation of sorts.

And I'll tell you what happens. Your mind, your body, at least initially, start to panic. They say, wait, this is not you. Go back to how things were. You, you followed orders. You did what you were told. You were linked to predictability. Remember how great that felt.

Many of the people in your life, they won't like it either. For various reasons, perhaps it reminds them of their own limiting beliefs. Perhaps it shines a spotlight on the fact that most people in your life, yeah, they want you to do well, just not better than they're doing. And so you'll get resentment and God. gossip and a very obvious tension. But just like your mind and body seek to hold you to the status quo, so does the world around you. What I'm asking you to do is to stretch beyond it, to reach for it anyway, to know, to see, to understand that there is chaos around you and embrace it.

Enter into it, right? Because that is the second piece. the predictable, unavoidable friction that the unknown creates. We want to know. We want predictability. We want safety. But the truth is, everything of value, everything meaningful in the world started with the process, disconnected from a result. It's like, how can you be sure how things will end up?

How can you be sure this will work out? How do you know for certain that the hero wins? You don't. And that's naturally scary, disconcerting. But you have to be okay. Dancing to the music before it plays. You have to place enough trust in yourself to let the wheels hit the road. And you may be thinking, my God, that's a lot, man, that's heavy.

Sleepless nights, the risk, the judgment. You want me to invite all that into my life? Just open the door and wave the chaos in? Yes, because as hard as it might be, nothing is as beautiful or as meaningful as becoming an individual capable of slaying dragons. Suffering is inevitable. And look, you can either,

let the suffering come to you and hold you down, or you can go to it. Face it head on, held by its turbulence. I was recently at a live podcast where a man named Akshay Nanavadi was being interviewed, and he's taking 400 pounds, and he's pulling it across Antarctica. Obviously, an insanely challenging feat. And someone asked him about suffering. He says, you know, I'm paraphrasing, but I need suffering in my life

because it's what brings me closer to God. It's in those moments where we immerse ourselves into an unknown, something way bigger than us, way outside of our day-to-day lives, right? The normalcy of waking up and going through the motions. That's where we transcend who we were. That's where we get to. find answers to questions we otherwise never would have asked.

We learn about the world and ourselves and how capable we are, how much we can do. We get to touch the infinite. But the infinite does not come to us. We have to go to it. See, most people, they accept what is. They look around and see not tools for building, but a reality, all constructed, a rulebook of sorts. But imagine with me the freedom in knowing that life,

this little experiment we were just dropped into, has infinite potential, infinite space, infinite room for the assembly of dreams. There are infinite games to be played and paths to be walked, just because most people refuse to walk down them. Just because most people only ever know a fraction of themselves, of themselves, just because most people never embark upon the adventures hidden in plain view doesn't mean you should do the same. Everything in life has a price tag attached to it.

Everything. And I'm not here telling you what is or should be important in your life. You already know that. In your world, you're well aware. I'm just here to remind you that when you close your eyes and dream of a life, lived on your terms. When you can see fragments of a world different than this one, and you're playing with the idea of reaching towards it,

maybe even digging deep to find the courage, I want you to know that price tag, the one so expensive you're tempted to move on, to deem it too much, that it's not only worth it, it's a bargain. That once you've fought through the change, move beyond the reliance on what you're old friends and acquaintances think or thought.

Once you've redefined the standards in your life, you will find a contentment otherwise unreachable. You'll have arrived at a state beautiful beyond comprehension. So if you're scared, good. Good. Be scared. To let your old self die is a terrifying proposition, right? after all, your old self is all you've ever known.

But ask yourself this. Could it be that your old self fought and scrapped and fell and endured so that your new self could emerge? Is it time to climb the ladder? See that next level. Feel the sun on your skin, wind on your face, air in your lungs from the perspective of someone who's not a cog in the wheel of life. life but someone making the most of the masterpiece they are in.

Feel it, let it scare you. Own it. Fear is the cost of admission, right? And when you see how incredible the show truly is, you'll understand fear was not this stop sign, it was an invitation. Don't walk towards that which scares you run. It's not you against fear.

Fear is an ally. It's you against ticking, clocks, you against the sands of time. So take fear by the hand and go. Not tomorrow or next week, but today. Now, you can only exist within the walls you've placed around yourself. So, question. Where have you placed them?

Think of the concept. you can only hit targets that you aim for and expand it out because my point here is you can only exist in the plane that you have deemed to be real for you that you have decided is reality and if we think about that just on a common sense basis it's it's pretty apparent right people don't do things that stretch beyond their perceived identity if i don't think i'm capable of accumulating wealth, for example. I'm simply not going to do the things or take the necessary steps required to accumulate wealth. Why would I? If I don't think I can help or add value to others, I'm not going to do things in an attempt to help or add value to others. Using that example,

that stuff would exist on the other side of those walls I've placed around myself. That's why deciding what those targets are is so important. Deciding what's real matters. Because if you set the scope too small, if your reality is void of all possibility and imagination,

even if you win, you've conceded too much. The premise you've been basing your entire existence and your decisions on is so limited that you can win there and still lose overall, still leave everything on the table. And there's, you know, a ton of examples of this.

You know, I commonly hear people refer to it with their work. I'm not crazy about what I'm doing, but how do I fix it? How do I learn to like this job? How do I exceed expectations in my role? How do I get a promotion so that I can bring in more income? All valid questions, certainly valuable questions, if it's where you should be. And I can tell you, I remember asking those same questions to myself, and the conclusion I finally came to was, no, what you need exists on the other side of those walls. In this part of your life, it's critical that you move beyond those parameters. That's not what lights a fire in everyone, but it's what lit a fire in me.

I was asking the wrong questions, right? Was go over there and start your own business, start your own journey, start sharing the things you want to share. So what Alex Hermosso refers to is playing a different game altogether. And it's kind of a weird concept to grasp, you know, that you can win the game you're playing and still end up losing. You know, because you never thought to look for more. You never ventured to peer out over what was directly in front of you.

This is a matter of self-reflection at its finest. Because you'd never see those walls unless you really took the time to think about it, to be alone with yourself and ask those questions. It's the fun what-ifs. What ifs? What if I stopped doing those things I don't like and started doing what I love? What if I didn't accept this as what I have to do? and instead took a different path altogether.

What if I was capable of playing a different game? And what we find is that we're capable of some pretty incredible transformations. We're capable of taking what matters out of a less than an ideal environment and recreating it somewhere that is ideal, that is conducive to our success and our growth and our evolution and our content. instead of conceding so much and asking so few questions. Why accept those limitations? So again, I ask, where have you built your walls and why?

And what if you push them back? Like lines in the sand meant to be redrawn? See, perhaps the income coming in is a direct result of you feeling like, hey, that's just what I make. Perhaps your fitness level is the result of you thinking, that's just how I am. Perhaps your friends and the people you surround yourself with are result of you saying,

it's just who I know. But there comes a point when new targets must be set and new lines drawn. At least if any type of evolution is going to. You don't have to perpetually navigate the revenue streams, fitness levels, and friend-drawn. groups you have now. You can play a different game. Again, it's not always asking,

how do I live within these walls, exist within these circumstances? Sometimes the question is, how do I step into a new arena entirely? Be loved or be hated, but never simply tolerated. In life, you can live, to chase opportunity or you can live to avoid failure. And there are two very different things. Rather than pursue, we often avoid, we avoid failure, we avoid criticism, we don't want to ruffle feathers or disrupt. No, we choose to simply exist.

Never condemned, but never extraordinary, just tolerate it. And it's an interesting dilemma. Because the best things exist on the extremes, life's fringes. That's where you find your accolades, your accomplishments. That's what we celebrate. It's where you need to be. And you get there not by worrying about what everyone around you thinks, but by taking your strength, your unique self holding on

and pressing the pedal to the floor. to the floor going all in. And yeah, that means suddenly, my friend, you are exposed. You are vulnerable. You are now out there. It means those who don't have the courage to chase their dreams,

they will find you threatening and they will let you know. But it also means that the shackles are off. The door is open. The light is green and you can build from the ground up. You can build the life you want. The finish line has now become more visible than the prospect of falling along the way,

and you've granted yourself permission to run through it. Sure, some will love you for these accomplishments, some will hate you for these accomplishments, but let me reiterate the word accomplishment. Because when you live to be invisible, it's a term that rarely presents itself, I promise. Life, it rewards the bold. Those who are bold in their beliefs, bold in their actions, their dreams, and their pursuits. They are not for anyone but you. And years later, when you look in the mirror, you'll know that you gave every single thing you had to a life that meant something to you.

Loved, yes. Hated, sure, but merely tolerated. No. No. No, I'm not sorry. Sure, I was ignorant back then. No question, but ignorance is not a crime. Ignorance is the foundation that we build upon. You can't be sorry for not knowing.

You shouldn't be sorry for not knowing. The only real tragedy is to plant a stake in the ground and call the ignorance home. Then no, I'm not sorry that I found myself in places I didn't want to be, doing things that weren't me, talking every day with people who didn't fill my cup or push me forward. But it's not the end of the world when we find ourselves walking down the wrong paths with the wrong people. It's just an invitation to step off and find the right one. In fact, the only real wrong path is the one you continue walking down knowing that it's not for you.

And no, I'm not sorry. I was half the person I am now. Half is capable, half as knowledgeable, half as driven. But it's not a bad thing to look around and realize. that you can be more. It's not a problem to see the reality you're living and deem it beneath your ideals. That's a beautiful thing.

What would be a shame is to never open your eyes and see the possibility. To see now as a permanent fixture. Not something you can control, but something you're confined to. That, well, that would be a shame. Never be sorry. for where you came from.

Never be sorry for what you went through. Never be sorry for the hell you're walking through now. And most importantly, never feel sorry for yourself, right? These so-called inconveniences are the bridge to something better. They are the reason you will evolve and grow and expand. Don't be sorry. Be grateful. Be ready for the second act.

Excited about what will become of you. See, often we have to find ourselves in the lowest of low places before we learn to ask if there's a better view out there for us. That's just the reality. Sometimes life is about touching the hot stove before learning to avoid it. You're never dumb or less than for finding yourself looking up at an ideal. For saying, hey, there's a delta between where, where I am and where I want to be, and I can obtain that.

You know what one of my greatest strengths has become? It's not earlier mornings or quadruple deficiency, not a biohack or a evolved daily routine. It's learning to be kind to myself. And if that seems fluffy or unimportant, I want you to picture someone never running to, but always running from, always motivated by fear.

Endless examples, a mere jog on a summer afternoon was never fast enough. Other content creators, authors, writers, speakers were always better, always further along. Imaginary competition always seemed to move faster, where they were always doing more. I used to call this perpetual state of lack a chip on my shoulder. This is what kept me going, the giant shadow of failure. I can't fail, I can't fail, I can't fail, I won't fail, not me. So I'll do more and I'll push harder. And I'm not sorry about that.

In fact, it was probably what I needed for that season of my life. It hardened me up, made me tougher. I think most importantly brought me to where I am today. Sort of inverse position, learning to be just as motivated, from a place of abundance. You can run just as ferociously towards something as you can from something. And guess what?

When you reach the finish lines, you actually appreciate them. Running not away from what I'm fearful of, but towards what lights me up. True story, every time my YouTube channel hits some sort of subscriber milestone for years, I'd get a note from a good friend of mine, Dave, who'd say, hey, congrats,

don't forget to celebrate the accomplishment. Every time. And I'd be grateful for the message. But celebrate? That part I'd kind of overlook. That's nice, I'd think. But when I started to really understand the importance of that message,

I started to see things differently. You have to celebrate. You celebrate because now is the magic. If you can't appreciate now, you will appreciate nothing. Nothing. Doesn't mean stop, doesn't mean go easier, minimize the destination. It means remember to love the ride because you are, as the saying goes in the midst of the good old days.

Don't wait to be 90 years old to appreciate them. And I'm not, again, sorry that it took me so long to get there. You know, perhaps that's why I've learned to appreciate this point of view so much. I've seen the inverse. You know, I'm not sorry I spent so much time running away from what I fear and don't want. I'm grateful that now I've learned to live in abundance, to run towards what lights me up.

Really focusing on each step, finding gratitude in all of it. And of course, it's not always easy, right? There are days where I have to really work to see the value, but when I try, which is the point, I eventually find it. I learned this by stumbling into it. And so in your world, I have a request. Maybe you can frame it as an experiment.

What if you completely cut all the sorry stuff? Stopped being sorry for your mistakes. Stop being sorry for the things you aren't happy about or the cosmic injustices you feel have occurred? And what if you started being grateful for the realization that you can change them. You started being appreciative of the fact that you're on your way to something better. Maybe in your context running from and running to are different. But I'd be willing to bet there's a rearranging that can transform life as you currently know it. And who would have thought,

you know, that rearranging is what we come to value. So don't be sorry about what's occurred or where you are, be excited. Be grateful because life is about. It always gets worse first. I was recently at a mastermind where someone made this point, and as hard as I tried, I couldn't really poke holes in it. For the simple fact that everything new requires some vulnerability, some discomfort that was previously non-existent.

Or in other words, you have to endure turbulence prior to calm. So imagine a wavy line on a piece of paper or whiteboard where the top of each wave is slightly bigger than the one before it. Right? So right before that new wave occurs, there is necessarily a low point or a trough. a point that's absolutely, without a doubt, lower than the top of the previous wave. And this, to me, summarizes the battle we fight, right? When you're comfortable, when you're at the top of the little wave you're currently riding,

it almost feels self-defeating to willingly jump off and land yourself at the bottom of some new, soon-to-be future wave. every new mountain means starting at the bottom a new base every acquisition means letting go of something we once knew and understood the question is are you willing to fight through are you willing to hang out in the trough

at the bottom right wander that valley of despair and that's by the way what we're talking about when we talk about, for example, Walt Disney being fired, being called unimaginative, and struggling to get the world to understand his Mickey Mouse cartoon. That's what we're talking about with Steve and Was with Apple. That's what we're talking about with Lincoln and the constant political rejection before finding stability and success. These stories have become almost folklore.

And all of them share the same characteristic, that the main players willingly accepted the fact that it would get worse before it got better. All of them were willing to make a trade. The bottom now for a chance at the top later. Not only is this pragmatic, but it also aids the mind throughout the process. It helps us understand and internalize what we're going through. You know, that initial instinct to think, why me, to shake our fists at the world and fall into the role of victim. That goes away when we know that, you know, we're enduring turbulence now for something better. When we know that this is merely the cost of admission.

You're not at the bottom of the wave because you have to be, or even, you know, because it's fun to hang out there, you're there because something greater is coming. And a human's desire to delay gratification is a superpower. We all know that. Things get worse before they get better. So remember next time you're out in the world, right, dealing with adversity. Technically, you don't have to be there. You could be hiding away, letting life slip by, but instead you've made the decision, the courageous decision to better yourself.

What you're enduring will ultimately become your strong point. And so don't villainize or demonize that, cherish it, hold on to that. Because we need to get beyond the notion that discomfort is weakness. Discomfort is a decision. a bold decision that you should be proud of. Again, you could live your entire life running from the painful things, hiding from the discomfort of growth. But then you'd also be forfeiting that next wave.

You'd be so hell-bent on escaping the notion that it always gets worse first, that instead you never let your life get better to begin with. There is no bottom or trough on earth more detrimental to the human soul than stagnation. We need to be moving, marching forward, even when we don't know, right, into the unknown, into the night, fighting to get to the ceiling, then gladly allowing that ceiling to become our next floor. It always gets worse, and thank God. That's where we are made.

Conditioned. That's the buffer that separates mediocrity from greatness. that forces us to ask the important questions. Do I really want this? And if the answer is yes, let it get worse first. Let it be tough out of the gate. Grant yourself that gift of vulnerability.

Because a few waves from now, you'll be on a different level. Physical, spiritual, personally. A few waves from now, the quote-unquote worst parts will be what stand between who you are and who you were. And that decision, the decision to step out and face them, will have been perhaps the best decision you've ever made. If I could have and hold on to one thing, it would be the courage to pursue a world that I know. could be taken away from me.

It would be the strength to fight for a life that I know is not forever. What do I mean? Well, maybe it'd be easier to first start with what the opposite looks like. Because the opposite is refusing to give a piece of your heart away because giving someone else your heart simultaneously gives them the power to destroy it. It's refusing to speak your mind, to take a chance, to give all of yourself to the world, because you know the same vulnerability required to build you up could theoretically be used to tear you down. It's not going because you know that should you obtain what you're looking for, you then have to defend it.

You have to fight to keep it. And you know that's not always a winning fight. fight. That's why vulnerability is so hard. It's both the solution and the problem. If you refuse to be vulnerable, you stand no chance. Right, because life requires risk, it requires skin in the game. But conversely, being vulnerable is also taking off your armor. It's removing the last line of defense against the onslaught of arrows flying through the air. Vulnerability is the cup of water required to live and the vast ocean capable of flooding a coastline.

And this is exactly why, going back to my opening line, I ask and I seek the courage to run into vulnerability and never away from it. I want to be vulnerable enough that my heart can be broken in half, because at least then I knew what it was. like to love fully. I want to be vulnerable enough to give all of myself to the world because sure, some will attempt to tear me down,

but I'll have gotten the opportunity to lift others up. I won't have lived a life in the shadows. And I want to be vulnerable enough to chase the tallest mountain tops. Because sure, I may fall, I may fail, I may find myself fetish. at its base looking up again. But at least I'll know I got the view. At least I saw the world from the vantage point of the cloud.

And I don't take that lightly. Sometimes we skip the courage part altogether, seeking the ends. I want to find the love of my life. I want to build something meaningful. I want to reach the mountaintop. Yet we never put ourselves out there. We're not vulnerable enough to immerse ourselves into the chaos.

We don't let our guards down. You don't need the thing. You need the courage to pursue the thing. You need the courage to let yourself become the kind of person who gets the thing. Then infinity is at your fingertips. I often remind myself that the sand from the hourglass continues to fall. And when it's gone, I won't be thankful for my excuses. I won't be thankful for the reasons I didn't go.

I'll be thankful that I saw through them and lived a life of courage. I'll be thankful that for every reason to stop, I saw three to continue on. If I could have and maintain one thing, it would be the courage to pursue. a world that I know can be taken away from me. It would be the strength to fight for a life that I know is not forever. Because then I'd be able to say with conviction that I built a world that meant something. And I lived a life I was proud of. It's not the thing that matters.

It's the strength to pursue the thing, build the thing. the thing, become the type of person who achieves the thing. It's all the life that we live along the way. That's the beauty. So give me that, or at least the courage to chase it. I was in the car recently with my sister Ali, her girlfriend, Alex, and her girlfriend's dad, Jeremy. We were on our way to dinner in Naples, Florida, simultaneously

driving and kind of looking through different places to eat. And no one really knew the area well, right? So we get to the point where we're pretty sure we have a spot we want to go picked out. When Alex suddenly looks up her phone and says to her dad, you know, looks like the place we're going tonight is a little fancy. And so for context, right, they're both from London, their accents make this one million times better. And he hears her, he looks back over at her and says, because, well, we deserve fancy, don't we, darling?

And I'm like, oh my God, you guys are a real life movie and don't even know it. I thought it was just such a beautiful thing. Moments like that are everything. Reminders to immerse ourselves in the moment, in what matters with the people that matter. This, of course, wasn't about the restaurant, but how evident it was that he was grateful.

to be there. I remember seeing a quote that said, if you can't find joy in a cup of coffee, you certainly won't find it in a yacht. So how's that for perspective? You know, it's the little things that hold the value, the ones that become the big things. And while our eyes are fixated on mountaintops,

life is about the climb. Or as it's put in another anecdote, we live not for the destination but for the journey. And see, this is a very timely topic for me. I woke up today, having hit the milestone, 500,000 subscribers on YouTube, which has honestly been a goal of mine

since I started doing this in 2014. I woke up so excited, so happy, so grateful for every single view, for every person that stumbled upon my message and saw somewhere in my journey a little piece of their own. But as today's gone on, it's been interesting. I found myself more and more unsure how I feel.

Because on one hand, it is representative of that exact thing. The journey, the ride. I feel like the luckiest human alive with friends and family that have truly carried me through the valleys of life. And if anything, milestones like these honor them and the light they bring to the world. But on the other hand, a part of me couldn't help thinking, oh, okay, I guess one million is next.

And trust me, I wish that wasn't true, but it is. I remember reading in the Almanac of Naval Ravacant, a passage where he said, essentially that the excitement of acquisition isn't in the thing we're acquiring, it's in the anticipation of it, the buildup. I believe you used the example of a Ferrari, implying that waiting for it was the fun.

That's the rush. Getting it is just kind of, okay, now I have a Ferrari. And that's what makes these benchmarks we create so interesting. They're everything and nothing simultaneously. Reminders that finish lines aren't of value for their own sake. They're valuable because they remind you of the race you ran, the highs you cherished, and the lows you fought through. Life ebbs and it flows, and I'm continuously fascinated by its duality.

By the overlap we need to live in, how two things can be true at once and so often are. I can sit here today and tell you, I think in a lot of ways, societally we've gotten a little soft, too soft, that we often fail to understand that the road to what we want runs through the very landscape that will push us. to be more than we've ever been. That we have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Or that the beauty of being human is that we can make sacrifices now for that which we desire in the future.

All this, as far as I'm concerned, is absolutely unequivocally true. But there's also the existential question. Yeah, but for what? If you're not living, cherishing the little things, finding the miraculous in something as small as a cup of coffee, then when, when, darling, will you let yourself deserve fancy? Now, I'm not going to claim I have all the answers.

I do not. But if my time on this planet is a test case, well, here's what had shown me. When life is all about the destination, the 500K milestones, the money, the growth, the status, the world becomes hollow, and man does it hollow out fast? Things mean less. And while sure, they're often a valuable direction to point the compass, they are not life. And on the contrary, when it's all play in no direction, all wandering and no learning, all chaos and no building, that subsequent meaninglessness emerges again.

It's in balancing the two. Life is incredible, but only to those who make a point to see it as so. And God, is that easy not to do. It blows my mind how easy it is to miss the things that are most important. That's what this day has taught me. The finish lines and 500,000 milestones, though few and far between, are a celebration. but they do not point to themselves. They point to the little things.

They point to the people. They point to the times you were walking through hell and kept walking. They point to the sunrises, sunsets, and times you sat back and thought, wow, am I lucky? After all, there's a reason the view from the top points right back down to the world below. shines a spotlight on the very ascent you just endured, as if highlighting what really matters, what life is really about. And so today, by default, a new ship has left the port.

Towards a new horizon. Compass aimed at, let's say, one million. Why not? But it's essential to remember that that is the North Star that guides the journey. It is not everything. I challenge you to point your compass accordingly to whatever it is in your world that matters, that excites you, that lifts you up.

And when you arrive, let it be not the goal in and of itself, but a celebration of the joy. The happiness contained along the way, the fact that you did look around and smile, did cherish those sunsets, sips of coffee, that you treated yourself to fancy, and that you paused every now and then to say to yourself, thank you. Stop protecting what you've built. Like what you've built is what holds the value. No, the value is in the builder, his or her knowledge and ability to build again and again if they so desire.

On an episode last week, I talked about a conversation recently had at a mastermind in Santa Monica. I want to pass along one more piece of wisdom from that day that I found to be incredibly valuable. This was just a random comment made by someone in the group. And so to kick off the scenario, someone asks everyone in the room,

hey, but what if things don't work out? And it was more specific. I forget exactly what it was, something along the lines of what if the monthly revenue decreases, or what if my target or my intended outcome doesn't evolve or unfold the way I wanted it to, what then? Is it worth taking the risk?

And this person stands up and says, listen, we need to stop looking at our businesses, like it is the only business, like it is something that needs to be protected, that if it falls, down or if it's taken away, it's over, it's the end of us. We are entrepreneurs, which means the power and strength is in our ability to build again, not the thing that's built.

Right? Theoretically, we should be able to do this over and over and over again. And what we do, and obviously I'm paraphrasing all of this, right, but what we do is we put cages around ourselves and our potential. You know, we shackle ourselves to the crucial. jackal ourselves to the current moment instead of taking the necessary risks because we're thinking, what if we lose it all? Well, fine. It's the ability to build again. And I love the idea. Because man, it's relatable to me. I have three businesses I'm growing right now. And every single one of them, I find myself playing conservative at times, not wanting to break the moment.

momentum or what's going. I've spent a decade building this, and the most valuable thing I've acquired or produced is not the company. It's the ability to add value. That's what's been built. And even if the physical company disappeared overnight, no one can take what's been learned.

I think it was in the book The Happiness Hypothesis, which was one of the first books I read almost a decade ago, almost a decade ago prior to starting my personal brand and really beginning my journey. And the idea was like you could take everything away from the top, I don't know, two to five percent, maybe it was all the way up to 10. And they would reacquire it in the next 10 years.

Because it's not the stuff they had that made the difference. It was their ability to acquire it. their understanding of the world, not looking at life through a scarcity mindset, but an abundance mindset, positioning themselves to build and grow. That's something that cannot be taken away. This is all a message that is hitting

at the exact time I need to hear it, right? Be bold. No, that's not bold, that's maintenance. That's doing what you've always done. Plus maybe a little extra here or there, right? Truly living is about uncapital wrapping yourself in totality, really reaching, because you know that it's not the entity that holds the value,

it's the one or ones who brought it to life. It's crazy to me that even when you are aware of fear, when you understand our proclivity to play scared, right, you get it, it's something we need to look out for. Even then, do we still find in our own life? places where we're limiting ourselves. As if the fear just hides in the shadows, controlling the subconscious from a distance.

Like a puppet master. Strength, growth, evolution is the ability to find that fear and dismantle it. As was said to me a few years ago, most actions are reversible, meaning you can make a mistake and it can be reversed. It can almost always be fixed. Or at least re-approach from a more intelligent

from a more intelligent angle. But what certainly cannot be fixed or changed or adjusted are roads never walked. Adventures never begun. And with a scarcity mindset, you spend your entire life in your corner protecting the little fragments of life you've collected along the way. That's it. But if you can flip that, if you can find a way to see the abundance. the value, the infinite opportunity,

you realize it's not in those little fragments you've collected, but the understanding that you can always collect more and not only that, build something beautiful with them, not only acquire more, but use them to create a new reality. Bend and shape the word normal like it's clay. Like the world around you's not giving orders but taking them. You hold the value, not what you've made.

You. We've all heard give a boy a fish, feed him for a day, teach him to fish, feed him for life. I'm going to give it my all, make it my priority to remember every step along the way

that it's in my ability to fish that value exists. If I'm not able to catch anything on a particular day, life moves on and so do I. If what I've caught goes bad or expires, life moves on and so do I. It's in the action.

It's in the doing. That's not only why you can take the risk and shoot for the moon. It's why you must. One of my favorite anecdotes or mantras is work hard and silence. Let success be your noise. That idea in my mind is perfection. Let your growth, your evolution. Ultimately, your accolades do this speaking for you.

This always hit home for me for two reasons. One, because things of value come with a hefty price tag. We know this. Excellence requires sacrifice. It is, in many ways, both a daunting and worthwhile pursuit. And two, well, because we often conflate flailing around with progress. In fact, some of my favorite books, whether it be deep, by Cal Newport, Relentless by Tim Grover, The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.

Part of what captivates me with these is the emphasis on what we are willing to do in silence, behind the scenes. That's where true meaning and value materializes. It's also where it's most difficult to commit and continue forward because in silence, there is no audience clapping for you. There is no validation. When you're building and reading and improving, when you're at the gym or on those calls, establishing that foundation, putting in the hours,

it's easy to look around and have doubts. And our brains go, I did the work, where's the reward? I sacrificed, so where's the payout? It's not intuitive to understand that, hey, it's not visible yet. One of my favorite metaphors, the lily pad pond, in which there is a pond with lily pads doubling in size every day, and on day 30, the pond is completely covered with them. So what day was the pond half covered?

And if we're thinking quickly, we might be inclined to say, well, half of 30 is 15, so it was half covered on day 15. But that's wrong, because if they're doubling every day, that pond wasn't half covered until day 29, and only a quarter covered on day 28. Meaning every day before then the change was so small that perhaps it wasn't even visible to the naked eye. So small that to onlookers, the prospect of it one day being covered

might have seemed far-fetched. But what was at work was the necessary change to set the stage? To start what would ultimately become the exponential growth that is noticeable, impactful. Now, of course, lilypads are not human, but little thought experiment. Let's say they had been. I'd like to believe that talking about their growth, their plans, right, them screaming about how great they are, and what they will someday be would not have helped them grow faster. In fact, it might have potentially even distracted the necessary evolution.

The growth was not them versus the world, it was them versus them. And that's the idea, right? It's okay to work on you, to make a deal, sign a contract with yourself, that you are doing something now that only you understand. That won't be visible until a later date. Let success be your noise. Because there's often zero correlation between the loudest person and the one making the greatest impact. Let success be your noise because you can't fake competency. Let success be your noise because leaders don't need to proclaim they lead.

And winners don't need to prove they've won. And virtuous people don't advertise their virtue. It's in the doing. That's where we pay the price, the steep price. I've always said the last 10 years for me, the hardest part wasn't failing. It was not when things didn't go as planned. The hardest part was simply not knowing. It was the whisper that, hey, all this could be for naught.

That I'm wasting my time. That the whole idea is a car without wheels. And that's what hurt. But if I could go back in time, talk to my younger self, I would say, you know, all this, all of it, the ups, downs, highs, lows, it's making you who you need to be. And if something doesn't work or go as you planned it originally, relax. You learn, you adjust, and you move forward. That's how the doubling of lily pads, right, using the same metaphor, occurs. You're learning, you're growing, and that's a you thing.

I talked a few weeks ago now about the difference between a fee and a fine, as discussed in the psychology of money by Morgan Howell. The weight of not knowing it isn't a fine, it's not a penalty, it's the fee, it's the cost to get into the show, the ticket to something greater. But you have to walk through that door. Again, it's a decision, it's personal, it's a commitment, it's nothing that screaming and seeking attention brings. You have to trust yourself, believe in yourself, right? Your effort is doubling in size. It's compounding exponentially, and you don't need to convince others.

You need to say consistent and build yourself up until the world has to notice. Trust the mission you're on. As long as you're, one, moving forward, and two, learning and adjusting, you are destined for something greater. By committing, you have stacked the deck. By believing in yourself, you have rigged the game. It's about hearing and believing that voice that says, there's more in store for those who take it. And you are capable of that. That's the decision that will ultimately ring so loud it will echo through time.

It took 16 days to realize how precious life truly is. There's a book called The Gap and the Gap. gain by Dan Sullivan, Benjamin Hardy. And the book asks this question, are you looking over your shoulder and measuring how far you've come? Or are you only consumed by how far you have to go, the distance between where you are and your destination? Are you living in the abundance that surrounds you or in the scarcity the mind seems to

constantly be attempting to trick us into believing. This idea was first made known to me during a drive one day. I was on the phone with my friend Tom, who happened to have read the book. I was pulling into my garage, and the gate wouldn't open to the parking garage. And so I'm sitting there, speakerphone on, and I'm just throwing a tantrum, right? I'm in the car screaming about how ridiculous it is that the gate won't open when I need it to. You know, it's not rocket science. How is it hard?

The thing should open when you press the button. And, you know, then remembering I was on the phone, kind of sat there for a second in silence. And after the momentary pause, Tom's voice comes through the speakers in the car. You know, his usual calm southern accent goes, Eddie, are you living in the gap or the gain right now? It was a lightball moment, right? It's a gate we're talking about. The slightest inconvenience. Not an intrusion to my health, my family, my friends, my business.

The ability to live how I want to live in a country that provides the freedom to do that. It wasn't about the food I would soon eat or the water I had access to. Nope. None of that. It was a gate. A slow to open gate. And I love the idea, you know, the perspective to stop, to look around. and ask the question, how serious is this quote-unquote problem?

Have I slipped back into the gap in life? Forgetting about how far I've come, how much I've done, totally omitting the fact that eight years ago, I would have given anything to be living on the other side of that gate like I do now. Right. Your perspective seems to be the first thing to go, right? It requires that constant awareness and attention. And I would use this idea every once in a while on and off, right?

When I could remember the gain versus the gap, attempting to cling to that perspective when possible. But the idea didn't fully reemerge in any meaningful way until almost a year later. That same friend Tom convinced me to join this mastermind. And, you know, I'm in my first session sitting in the room. It was led by an amazing guy by the name of Ben. And Ben made it known to us that day that something tragic had happened in his family. His newly born son, Ben Jr., had passed away at only 16 days old,

right, after battling an illness. And he's telling this story, obviously shaken, still saddened. You know, these things never truly leave you. and what he said changed my life. Rock me at my core. He looked at the room and he said how grateful he was for those 16 days. That they were perhaps the most important 16 days of his life,

that he learned more about himself in those 16 days than the rest of his life combined. That the love he got to share, the time he spent, the miracle of being with his son, he wouldn't trade that for the world. It was as much a part of him now as the air he was breathing in. Those 16 days were in their own unique way, perfection. And see, we're all, you know, sitting there looking on thinking, you know, this is someone who's become a friend over the past couple months, right?

We are a group. We've spent time together. And it's like, well, how can we have? help? How can we assist? There's suffering here. What can we do? And obviously, you know, the sentiment there is correct. You know, everyone's heart was in the right place. But I think what Ben reminded us in an incredibly moving, powerful way is that our toughest tests, our most difficult battles, sometimes our most painful experiences, there's beauty wrapped under those things. Sometimes the things that mean the most are disguised as our toughest tests, our battles.

The courage and strength he demonstrated not only to share the story but to use it to propel himself, his family in the world around him brought tears to my eyes. It brought that gift of perspective, right? And certainly I don't want to speak for him, but he took what I'd assume is the most challenging 16 days of his life and allowed it to blossom me. into the miracle it was meant to be, which I can't imagine was easy. In fact, I can see a world where many people aren't able to do what Ben did or have find that perspective that been found.

You know, not without the required growth and poise. Not without, you know, learning that that gate outside the parking garage doesn't hold a candle to what's actually important. You know, things don't go the way we draw them up in life. Not always. Life is confusing and chaotic. It's unpredictable. Sometimes it leaves us with nothing more than a moment to look up and ask why.

But if you're able to pause and seek out those answers, if you're able to step out of the gap and into the gain, if you're able to accept the beauty that life is trying to offer you, it's always there. And I hope personally to take Ben and Ben Jr. strength, courage, and live my life by their example, to immerse myself into life's abundance and share as much of it as I can with the world. And I encourage you to join me on the journey. Life is a miracle. Let's make the decision to see it that way. A tree grows, not because it wants to,

but because it was created to. It's a story about potential, right? And about a day. decade ago, right when I started writing, speaking, creating content online, I came across that message and it was transformative for me, right? The idea that human beings are the only life form that will do less than they possibly can. The full quote by no surprise, Jim Rohn, he says, every life form seems to strive to its maximum except human beings. How tall will a tree grow as tall as it possibly can? Human beings, on the other hand, have been given the dignity of choice. You can choose to be all or you can choose to be less.

So why not stretch up to the full measure of the challenge and see what you can do? Beautifully said, right? Imagine every night of your life going to bed knowing that there was more inside of you. Imagine running a race. knowing there were other levels that you could have reached for, but didn't. Imagine looking back on a life of infinite possibility in knowing you created finite parameters. I'm not saying you have to live every waking moment obsessed with always being better than you currently are.

I'm merely asking you a question. Aren't you curious? Don't you want to know what that ceiling is, that space for which excellence has been reserved? I often think every time I hop on a rowing machine at the gym, that, you know, it highlights the gap in black and white between what I'm doing and what I'm capable of. Love-hate relationship with that machine. It brings me back to my college days, the days I first learned to truly push myself. I get on it now for one minute sprints as part of a sort of a workout program I'm doing. And I just think there's no evading that concrete number the screen gives me.

Exactly how many meters I went in 60 seconds. Right there, right in front of me. And then I ask, imagine if the stakes were higher. Imagine if this wasn't just a workout. Imagine if someone said on sprint number four, Eddie, if this is not your fashion, The fastest sprint of the day you lose X, or Y is going to happen to you. Whatever those variables may be. Eddie, if this isn't your fastest sprint, insert worst fear.

What's gonna happen? I'm going to break that record. I just am. My body is going to find a way. And that's what's interesting. That's the point. What this metaphor is not an indicator that you need to go around scaring yourself into personal best.

But what it is, is a reminder that there's always more right there, right in front of you, if you want it. It's a pointing out that we all live somewhere under what our best could be. And knowing that is such a powerful tool. It's powerful because there's no screens showing you the meters you don't. traveled when it comes to where you are with your work, where your health, or your relationships. There are indicators, sure. But so much goes unmeasured. How much did you do today? Did you feel good about your output? How good? Because there's always another level. And maybe the solution is more. Maybe the solution is an audit of time spent. Maybe it's adjusting your compass all.

together, but there exists a best in you that is untapped. Always. And the question remains, aren't you curious? Aren't you curious what that next level looks like? That should make you feel good. Because your current circumstance is as permanent as today's weather. What you don't like can be changed. What isn't aligned can be adjusted.

If it's not good enough, you can make it so. One of my favorite ideas, life is a game of adjustments. The question's how far are you willing to push, to grow, keyword willing. Some people decide to stop at point A. Others stop at point B, others point C. And that's for them to decide. That's a decision, a personal decision they've made. But the million dollar piece of knowledge is that in all cases, that that's a decision.

landing spot was a decision. It was not fate. It was not handed out by a stranger on the street. You choose how hard to pull and you decide which levers are worth pulling. See, we are the only living beings capable of underperforming. And that's amazing. Take that, run with that. Because it also means we are the only living creatures capable of rationally looking around, assessing the situation and saying, I don't like this reality. I'm going to rebuild my own. The world is yours. You just have to decide which world you are willing to accept. Which world are you willing to fight for?

Which world are you going to call your own? The thing about storms is that they all have one thing in common. They pass. And once gone, they leave you as a person different than who you were before you stepped in. Before you found yourself consumed by its adverse conditions, they are disruptors. Breaking down and shaking up. But not for the sake of chaos itself. No, storms break us down so that we can build.

again, so that we can find within ourselves the power and the strength that simply remain tucked away during those sunny days. And so walking up to this storm, what you'll immediately notice is a break from the normal, the every day, an obvious detachment from the standards by which you had been living. But don't be fooled into thinking those dark clouds. Clouds and heavy winds have nothing of value for you. Don't be tricked into thinking the rain will consume all the good in life. Because at the end of the day, it's that very rain that washes away the excess and leaves

the meaningful. We don't grow despite the storms. We grow because of the storms. So compose yourself and embrace what's around. you. Amidst the storm, you might realize that you don't want some of the things you thought you did. You might realize that life contains variables that make it incredibly unpredictable. And when old plans meet new variables, sometimes we learn that the path we were walking down requires adjustment. It needs change.

Not because we were wrong. The dream was wrong, where the path was wrong, but because life is an experiment. Experiments are meant to test hypotheses and support exploration. Without the storm, sure, everything seemed fine. Everything was flawless, but in the thick of it, when the variables, the multiplicity of factors present themselves, it often paints a picture for us that we previously weren't able to see. That's okay.

Ideal, even. It's life. So when amidst the storm and presented this new information, this new portrait pivot, grow with your understanding and newly acquired knowledge. There's no point in remaining tied to the ideas, the people, and the places that once served you, but have since run their course. Growth is perspective and awareness, and as the storm shakes your foundation, it also hands, you a clarity that those blue skies simply could not. So adjust, adapt, and move further into the person you are destined to become.

You can't learn that on a sunny day. No, that's what storms are for. And amidst the storm, you might find yourself scared, nervous, unsure. You might even look back and wonder what life would have been life would have been like had you not stepped in. Perhaps you're angry with yourself for not navigating around the inclement weather. Maybe you'll find yourself asking, how did I let myself end up in such a situation when there were visual indicators and weather forecasts? People warned me about moments like this, yet here I am. You might find that the drop in temperature is uncomfortable.

The rain difficult, the wind annoying. But here's what they don't tell you. There's something innately powerful about proving to yourself that you can move forward despite those things. That when you're scared and step forward anyway, when you're lost but maintain your poise and trust in the process, when you're down but cling to hope to that light at the end of the tunnel,

You emerge with a different understanding of who you are. You end up stronger because you've allowed yourself to become stronger. And you don't get that on the sunny days. No, that's what storms are for. And amidst the storm, you might feel like the sacrifice required in life is more than you want to endure. Maybe even more than you can endure. After all, it's during our trying times that we're forced to make some of our most difficult decisions. We might be forced to let go of some things that had been staples in our lives.

That in order to say hello to some things, we must necessarily say goodbye to others. And this hurts. Especially while it's happening, it hurts. But what you're really doing is learning. to identify what matters and mitigate the things that don't support that journey. Sometimes storms teach us that growth

is not about acquisition and obtaining more, and they show us instead that we've been carrying too much, that we become accustomed to surrounding ourselves with things that no longer elevate or inspire or push us. And the best way to evolve is to move forward with less.

So when you see parts of yourself fade away or dissolve, hold your head up. Because when you get to the other side, you just might see that cutting away those things was more liberating than anything you could find or pick up along the way. And we're not taught this lesson on those sunny days. No, that's what storms are for.

And amidst the storm, it's quite possible that you'll feel lonely from time to time. Maybe misunderstood. Perhaps like the whole world has everything figured out. They're moving single file through the correct door while you wander around aimlessly. That's not true. No one has all the answers and everyone has their storms. The question has always been as far as I'm concerned. What will you make of yours? Because we're always presented with the decision to let our adversity define us or to find

something of value in it. The opportunity hidden in plain view. You're never alone in your pain or your distress. Those things are an inevitability tied to the miracle that is life. But what you are is powerful. Powerful enough to learn in your solitude and bring that understanding back out to the world. Powerful enough to let the lessons guide you to something beautiful. Powerful enough to find the meaning underneath the turbulence.

We often confuse our times of greatest transformation with setbacks. We often forget that the darkness cannot withstand a single flicker of light, and we can be that light when we trust ourselves. It's a lesson that can't be taught on sunny days. No, that's what storms are for. And that storm, that very thing you want with all your heart to avoid, it's not antithetical to your happiness or your prosperity. No, ultimately, it's how you create those things.

The trials and tribulations help us look at light, from different angles. They remind us what we are capable of. Show us we can do so much more than we thought that we have in many cases been accepting a reality that is not our own. That is just the beginning and so whether you were on the outside looking in or at this very moment in the heart of chaos remember this is making you who you need to be. And sure, it never feels good in the moment. It's never exciting when it's happening.

But there will be a point when you look around and see a world unlike the one you stepped away from. One in which you are stronger, bolder, wiser. One in which you have greater clarity and understanding, a better sense of who should be with you and where you are going. It's not despite but because of the storm That you'll rise from the ashes and from the quote unquote misfortune To find yourself and your way Now I see

The lessons The takeaways the value add The things that we don't understand while life is teaching us the lesson. It's like the value materializes after the course is over. After the storm. When we look back and realize

one, what we've been through and two, what it all meant. I can't emphasize enough how much patience and self-control it takes amidst those storms to trust that there's value. Sure, that value floats

beyond your periphery while you're in the midst of it. But it's there. The same way that in the middle of the night, right, if I wake up and want to, you know, turn my light on, right, I can reach for it. I can't see it. It's pitch black, it's dark, but history and repetition has shown me that

if I extend my hand and I fumble around for a second, I will one, find the switch and two, turn on the light that will then infiltrate the room. And the same thing applies. We have to hold on to that faith during life's turbulence, during times of pain and discomfort. Because when things aren't their best, we are presented what feels like that dark room at midnight.

Empty space and unknowns. But it's continuously flexing that muscle, strengthening the understanding that light is in arms reach away. And when the time is right, it will illuminate exactly what we needed to. See, the truth is, everything I lost created space for the things I needed most. My deficiencies highlighted my strengths. My failures ended up showing me just how much I could withstand. And what's more powerful than being armed with the understanding that you can get,

through anything. Human beings have the gift of engaging in delayed gratification, taking on difficulty now for a reward at a later time. The same thing applies to those difficult things, difficult experiences that we didn't ask for, right? The exact same idea. Instead of intentionally going to the gym and suffering for a reward later, sometimes life brings the gym to us, right?

We didn't ask for it, but there's the adversity. You're tired, you're hurting, you're a million things. But you won't see until later that what also happened is you were made stronger. That in the fighting, you were given something miraculous. Okay, so what? What's the point? Well, the point is, it's not natural to. during our struggle, be uplifted by what the pain will become.

We tend to forget about that. We forget about the gift that's put in the mail and addressed to a future you the second life becomes difficult. But I want you to find comfort in that fact. I want you to battle harder because of that fact. I want you to show up for yourself because of that fact. And remember that step by step by step you will get through.

And when you do, you won't be empty-handed. You'll have something that you couldn't have even fathomed or comprehended prior to the chaos. And trust me, I get that it's tough. I get that it's easier said than done. But if you can find it within yourself to rise to the occasion here, you'll see that you weren't just enduring, you were growing, you were becoming, Just because you cannot see the value doesn't mean there is no value. When you're fighting through, no one says, hey, in two years, you'll be a different man or woman because of what you're going through now.

Hey, that hole you feel in your heart, that will be the exact same space. The best things in your world will occupy someday. Hey, the loneliness or exhaustion or fear will teach you to truly appreciate the other side as soon as you emerge from this valley. You don't need to see it. You don't need to completely understand it. But you need to know it's there. And you need to know that the difficult times, more than any others, are taking you to where you need to be.

So keep moving forward into the dark. Keep reaching out for that light switch, you'll find it. And when you do, because of the darkness from which you emerge, that light will never feel so bright and so beautiful. Because of the hell you fought through, the present moment will never feel so miraculous. It's all worth it. You just need to remember that.

There's a saying that what you water is ultimately what grows. that where you place your attention ends up guiding your feelings, your perception, your actions, and your life. Focus becomes identity. And change comes from bringing awareness to what we're focusing on. I remember when this light ball went off for me. Like so many epiphanies, you know what happened during a difficult kind of a trying time. It wasn't where I wanted to be. And I remember, you know, sitting down and asking myself, you know, dude, are you on your own team?

here? Are you helping yourself? Using the metaphor, the question was, am I watering the weeds in my life or the flowers? And by the weeds, I mean, am I allocating energy to thoughts that are detrimental to what I want? Am I keeping myself in places I don't want to be and in relationships that are counterproductive? Am I thinking about what can go wrong instead of all that can go right? Or am I watering the flowers, the positive, highlighting the possibilities, The things I'm appreciative for, the seeds, the potential that can grow a mile high. See, I've always known the value in choosing to see the possibility. But the million dollar question is, how do you remain aware?

Because that's the thing about weeds, they're sneaky, they'll take control of your life without letting you know they're doing it. So I'm thinking this through and it dawns on me, this is not complex. This is simple. It's one identifying where you want to be and two analyzing your actions Based on those priorities right. That's it and so for every pillar of my life health relationships career finances I made two dots One for where I am and one for where I want to be Everything in the middle is life the ups the downs the joys the sorrow Everything in between is the path the line

And it's simple. You start on point A, knowing that you can always get to point B. That what you want exists. It's there. It's available. And your attention, all of your energy should be allocated to the thoughts that reinforce that truth. That's your path. That's what you believe. That's what's important. And it's going to happen. Anything beyond or outside that line, anything that tells you you're not good enough. Anything that accepts not achieving that priority suggests it won't work out. That is where the weeds live. That is wasted space.

Why exhaust that energy? To think, you know, I'm not good enough to get this promotion. How does that help you get to your point B? It doesn't. Eliminate that thought, right? Point B always exists. Just that notion pushes a lot of things to the side. You have to be good enough.

you just need improvement. Maybe it's enhanced skills. Maybe it's more effort. Maybe it's changed approach. But tackling these things will water the flowers. It moves you along the path. And progress is happiness. For me, health is a big thing.

I run all the time. But I'd like to be more fit. I'd like to eat healthier. There's room for improvement. And I know it's possible. Because that is my point B. I know that saying I don't have time or I don't have the right body type or genes or

Trying to convince myself that fast food just this once will be okay. No, all of that stuff is watering weeds. It exists outside my path. My time should be spent realizing how incredible the human body is, taking care of it, pushing it, being proud of it, taking accountability for it. That's me. I only get one of these things. Even if it's just a little at a time, that's the beauty.

Simply existing on a path and revolving around your ideals, your vision, your priorities brings about joy. Negativity, it truly is a learned thing. It's manufactured. All there are in life are circumstances. Circumstances that are neither positive nor negative, just pieces. And you decide what to do with them. Do you focus on the negative?

You can. But that won't put you in a position to change your circumstances or bring about happiness. When you decide to see the opportunity, you free yourself from the shackles of fate because destiny never put you in the situation you did. you did, but guess what? You can take yourself out of it. A field of sunflowers grew one root, one stem, one pedal at a time,

the same field that was at one point nothing more than dirt and weeds. It was always possible and so was your ideal life. You just need to water the things that matter. I was recently in Dallas visiting some old friends and was chatting with someone that I've been friends with for a long time. and he was mentioning that he's gone through some pretty big light changes over the past few years and was excited about the fact that after a pretty rough stretch, he had recovered or found his workout routine again,

sort of a revival in his old identity. Because for context, he'd always been a pretty athletic guy growing up. But just like it happened to anyone, you know, other things emerged and took priority. They swept in and, you know, kind of consumed. him for a period of time. And I guess, you know, in a way that part of him that used to fire on all cylinders was buried. He lost him. And so anyway, we're talking and he's saying that he had been a little down, you know, put on a little weight. And the struggle was, according to him, making time for fitness in his now incredibly busy life. He's got a toddler running around, a very time-intensive

job on top of that he's remodeling houses he's doing a lot and this is the part that stood out to me he said eddie i've tried everything i went through you know quick phases where i was motivated but i couldn't you know maintain that consistency i was working and then after work i'd be with my son who was you know just too little to leave alone for 45 minutes and this is what's funny because it sounds so simple but uh you know he says i found a jimmy with a daycare so I could bring my son and work out for 45 minutes. And that's when I was able to establish a routine. And that one action or decision allowed my entire life to get back on track, right?

That was the rock I had to move, which is the phraseology that I want to focus on here. I think it's brilliant the way he said it. You know, basically once I could figure out how to work out on afternoons when he's with me, I was able to make it go from sometimes a thing to. always a thing. That was again the rock that had to be moved. And now I can clearly see from the conversation, right, the guy's happier, feels better about himself. And you know how it is when you're in that space. It starts to carry over into all aspects of life. And I'm thinking this is so powerful, right? I told him I'm going to steal this rock metaphor and share it on the podcast on

YouTube because that, in my opinion, is the way to look at meaningful change. He nails it. It's not what do I need to get or acquire or add. Like, you know, we tend to think in those situations. No, it's what's preventing me from leveling up. What do I need to move to get rid of? Where is the boulder I have to push out of the way? And sure, there's a temptation to perhaps oversimplify, but I think that's exponentially better than the alternative, which is making things unnecessarily complex. And in a way, that's what humans do best anyway, right? The world is infinite numbers and data points and variables. Humans just pick a few and create stories with them. Right? So to me, there is value in truly simplifying and saying, okay, that's where I want

to be what's the one thing I could remove that would free me up to start moving that way. Where is my rock that has to be relocated? And it's funny when we find those things, right? It's like turning on the light in a dark room. Everything begins to make sense. You feel momentum. You feel like you're in it. And again, how you feel when you go to bed at night becomes your identity.

It's not because you're solving the problem right away, but because you feel that progress. Progress equals happiness, right? Human beings are invigorated by meaning, the pursuit of purpose. When we're stuck, the painful part isn't necessarily being stuck as much as it's that we're not moving towards what matters.

We need that growth. And for my buddy to see that, it was moving the mental rock of I can't have a good workout when I'm watching my son. Those two things are mutually exclusive. Remove that limiting belief and boom. And maybe in your particular situation, there are numerous rocks that need to be moved.

Incredibly plausible, right? But we can only move one at a time. And like Domino's, you have to push the first one down before the other start to fall. So where can you push? Which I also like because it emphasizes the power and control we have in our own lives. Again, situations are messy and complex.

I get that, but if you can simplify it down to what is one thing that's preventing me from going or changing or stopping or whatever it is for you, what's the big obstacle? Okay, there it is. Let's chip away. Let's move this thing. It's as if your frustration over immobility is a dam.

And what you need to do is an add more water to the reservoir but find out what you can remove to start letting that water flow. Right? You want it to move freely. Because I believe life is a momentum game. It really is, like you win when you feel like you're progressing, when you feel like you're taking steps. That's when you're excited. That's when you jump out of bed invigorated.

That's where you look for solutions. So look around you. There's always a step to be taken. In fact, I simplify to the extent that you that my mantra is, number one, know that change is possible. And number two, know that the next move is within an arm's reach of where you stand right now. Understanding and believing those two things is power. Right?

Don't get disillusioned by how far the top of the mountain feels or how long you've been in one place wishing things were different. None of that matters. The goal is to manufacture momentum and that's what you do. So do it by initiating one small action. that frees you up to start walking that way. And it's amazing, when you're in motion, things seem to make sense in a way that they simply didn't

when you were stationary. That's why it's important to understand that you don't need to have all the answers. In fact, it's impossible to have all the answers. The journey provides them. Right? The path contains the secrets. Therefore, the goal should be to get yourself stepping down that path. No over-over-examines.

harsh out of this world, unrealistic expectations. No, simply be your own biggest ally here. Remove what you don't need and free yourself of that unnecessary minutia. It's go time. I go back and forth often, as you've heard me do here, right? It's like, yes, life is messy, it's complex. That's true to culmination of infinite variables and data points. But guess what our job is?

Guess what your power is? to hone in on the select few of them necessary to tell your story. Human beings have survived for thousands and thousands of years because we are masters of simplification. Masters of ignoring what we don't need and distilling the complex down into what's actionable. And perhaps that's where you are now, what you need to do most. It's like, I'm not where I want to be.

Okay, in simple terms, where do I want to be? What does my mountaintop look like? What am I doing now that's getting in the way? And what rocks do I need to move that will get me started down that path to something new? There are some pretty basic themes that consistently reemerge in most of my videos and podcast episodes. The idea of us having control, agency, the idea that fear can be an ally. As Joseph Campbell states, the cave you fear holds the treasure you seek.

the idea that you're not your past, right? And there are a few more. But essentially, today's episode takes them all and places them in the palm of your hand. It reminds you that in totality, this is all about you being the author of your story. And you don't need the whole book written. Ideas, character development,

and all that stuff will come into your head as you write as the pen hits the paper. You just need to find that starting point. Self-assess. Identify that little piece of opportunity that was hidden beneath the excess and begin. I'm going to share something that over the years I've come to know to be true.

And that's that generally the answers that we look for tend to fall between the extremes. So for example, you have two people. One person is adamant that option A, is right. It's a no-brainer. It'll take you to the promised land. Then on the other side, the other person saying, no, it's option B, and it's not even close. Option B is the way to go. And well, generally speaking, the answer we're looking for falls somewhere right in the middle. That's where the winning formula lives. Not always, but most of the time. The other stuff, the

detail, the A's, B's and C's, the stuff that gets the flash that we spend most of our time talking about unnecessary noise and nuance. To win is to trust your instinct. It's being comfortable with your authenticity as the foundation. And then once you have that, you can choose to sprinkle the other stuff on top as flavoring. But I want to talk about this idea because I've fallen into the trap, and I think others do too, of looking for answers in the wrong places. trying so hard to replicate success to meet other people's guidelines.

We're so busy asking what the other people want to hear, that we're not asking ourselves, hey, what do I want to say? And in the process, we lose what's most valuable. We end up rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Imagine if Malcolm Gladwell only wrote about what was trending on Twitter or what was popular. It's like, no, he writes about what he's interested in. That's why he's so fun to read. His curiosity and passion always comes through.

Or if J.K. Rowling spent her time researching, what works? What sells books? What do I need to buy? What's been done before me? Before she created Harry Potter? We probably wouldn't have it. Her brilliant imagination wouldn't have been shared with the world because, let's be real, wizards and boarding school weren't exactly on everyone's radar. There was no roadmap to that. Or I think of Jordan Peterson's lectures. Imagine if he crafted his message around YouTube. or Instagram algorithms. We lose all its power and meaning. He's authentic. He's raw. He's real.

That's why we watch him. But the reality is, every day, we're told in Taylor-Made, strategically located advertisements, that, hey, John Smith achieved success, happiness, and fame with this product or this service. And without that, you can't get what you want. Or we turn on our phones.

We go on social media, and it's hearts and likes and double taps, and we're not saying what we want to say. We're reverse engineering how to get that validation. For those with brands or those in the marketing space, I mean, you know it's always about trying to understand this mysterious algorithm where your posts will be buried. What we're being asked to do overall every day is manipulate ourselves to meet the demands of the platform

or of the external criteria. I'm not saying it's morally wrong. There's no atrocity being committed. Part of life is adapting. But what I am suggesting is there's a danger that we're not aware of. Amidst all this chaos and confusion and manipulation, we tend to lose ourselves. And when we lose ourselves, it doesn't happen all at once. It's gradual.

It happens little by little, one concession at a time. We don't snap our fingers and disappear. We slowly slip away, not by what we do, by what we don't do, in order to fit in. You know how everything in our solar system orbits around the sun? Well, what if you thought of that son as who you are, right? When you're with your friends or family, when you're writing, saying, thinking what matters to you. Without social media, without brands and marketing and societal pressure, just simply who you are.

That should always be the nucleus of your world. Your North Star. That should be the measuring stick to whether you're on the right track, not the externalities that ask you to change your key so that it fits their lives. What have you re-engineered the way we look at things? What if we built a world where people expand upon who they are and what they care about? Where we have the courage to say no to the latest trend or item or advice, because it's just not who you are?

What if you were that confident? And then if we think some of those externalities will help us, then sure, sprinkle them on top. But they rotate around you. you don't rotate around them. That's the difference. To be content, you have to be the center of your own universe. Living by your guidelines.

So instead of looking around and trying to decide your strengths, based on what will be accepted or promoted or what's been done before, do yourself a favor. Take a deep breath. Step back and just simplify. You know what matters. And that's enough. You don't need the world to tell you that.

While the masses fight over solution A or solution B, maybe you'll understand that both of those solutions solve the wrong problem. And while the masses argue, you know, which car goes zero to 60 the fastest scream about the features, debate which brand is the most reputable. Hey, you'll at least know why you're driving, which is more than most of the world can say. You'll know where your car is headed before you upgrade to that sunroof. those top-of-the-line speakers yourself first. Before we can influence, before we can ever persuade or change anything externally, we have to first lead ourselves. And that means delivering on the promises we make to ourselves.

It means showing up when we tell ourselves we're going to show up. It means putting ourselves in an environment conducive to growth. There's an old metaphor from Wayne Dyer about an orange, where he essentially says that it doesn't matter what you do to an orange. It doesn't matter how hard you squeeze it, or how many you have, or how you manipulate it. Grapefruit juice will never come out of an orange. Only orange juice can be emitted,

and similarly, we can never give or contribute what we do not have inside ourselves. We can't expect our lives to look like anything other than a culmination of the tiny action, steps, and decisions we make on a daily basis. The external world is a product of the internal world, and the internal world is not realized until we learn to rule over ourselves and our lives with conviction. You can break this down in many different ways.

Jock O. Willink says discipline equals freedom. John Maxwell talks about a leadership lid where success levels can never exceed leadership capability, and sure it applies to teams, but it also applies to self-leadership. Are you searching for and committing to the little hinges in your life that, as W. Clement Stone says, swing big doors. That make the difference. Are you taking responsibility for your shortcomings like leaders do?

Are you learning to trust yourself? Are you seeing past the trap of perfection and committing to progress? Are you taking the little things seriously? Because at the end of the day, all things are comprised of little things and only little things. The bottom line is that we master nothing until we master ourselves. Trust ourselves. The bottom line is that we win when we lead ourselves. To hold ourselves accountable for the little things that matter even when it hurts or retired.

Even though no one's going to come up and reprimand us for falling short. There are often no visible consequences when we let ourselves down. So let's manufacture that urgency. If you promised yourself you'd get up when that alarm clock looks at, off, it becomes no longer optional. If you promised yourself you'd go down the road that scares you, it becomes no longer one road of many, it is now the only road. Even though it may be scary or intimidating,

it's the darkness that must be confronted. You are more powerful than you know, you are more capable than you are more capable capable than you understand, but you must lead yourself to your potential. Those little things matter. And so while the temptation is to brush them off is insignificant, while the rest of the world ebbs and flows through life like jellyfish with the tide, your superpower will be to see, harness, and multiply those little decisions like they are gold. Your strength is that when it's easier to run,

You'll be the one that instead stands up and leads yourself to greatness. Sometimes the most important things we do in our lives are the product of sheer will. Of taking little nothings that surround us and making something out of them. In other words, the greatest opportunities, often the ones we need most, they simply aren't. aren't obvious. They're hidden. Hidden behind what looks like difficulty, what appears to be hopelessness. The reason I place so much value on a single step forward when we're overwhelmed or at a low point is because a single step means you're in the game. You're giving yourself a chance to find and obtain those little hidden away pieces that can't be able to be

found when we stand still and dwell on a situation. Mobility is empowerment. And when we move forward only with what we have, we're continuously reminded that what we have is enough. We have the tools, the resources, and the ability. We just have to somehow remind ourselves that with those tools we are capable of building, of creating the incredible. story about what I believe is the best song ever written, certainly one of them. And it's a little bit

older now, but in 1998, a band called The Goo Goo Goo Dolls released a song called Iris. And that song changed my life. It was the first album I bought. It introduced me to music. I listened to it probably thousands of times. And even 24 years later, it gives me chills listening to it. And so I wanted to find out a little more about the song. And I came across an interview from Johnny Resnick, who is the frontman and songwriter for the band. And in this interview, the interviewer is asking Johnny about the song. Basic questions, how it came out, how he wrote it and stuff like that. And there's a few points that I think are amazing.

I want to share them with you. First is the state he was in prior to writing the song. He just came out of a divorce, personal life sort of in shambles, coming off of a bad record deal, where the label from his previous album had done what record labels are notorious for and ended up keeping the vast majority of the revenue. He had writers' block, you know, just felt down, and it left his home to stay at a hotel in Los Angeles. Bottom line is it's not a dream scenario by any stretch of the imagination.

And then gets a call from his manager about potentially writing a song for the City of Angels soundtrack. And he says he went and sort of auditioned with what he had, which was two lines of a song and a guitar with two broken strings. It was evidently good enough. He gets a nod from the label and starts writing. and the verses, according to Johnny in the interview, they align perfectly with the movie, right? It's an angel willing to give up anything, even his immortality to be human so he could be with this girl, right? And it's this deep dive into, you know,

what it is to love someone so much, you give up everything for them. And then, and this is the icing on the cake for me, That's when I realized that I wanted to write about this. The interviewer says essentially, okay, Johnny, the verses align with the movie, but the chorus, this revolutionary, big, beautiful, powerful chorus, it seems to take a left turn.

Like, can you explain that to us? What were you thinking? And he just kind of pauses blankly for a second. And I'm thinking, no, don't you dare say what I know you're about to say. And sure enough, he does. He basically shrugs and goes, I don't know, the words just kind of worked.

And, you know, I'm paraphrasing. That's not a direct quote, but that's the idea. You know, one of the deepest, most powerful, beautiful songs I've ever heard is patchwork, right? Even the song title, he says, was named after a country singer on the cover of a magazine laying next to him, Iris. That's patchwork.

pieces put together, right? And then, as I thought about it for a minute, it's like, of course it is. How perfect, how absolutely perfect, the whole thing is an assembly and construction, a metaphor for the human spirit. Conceived when its author was down and out, right, taking L after L, called to present an idea, didn't have some crazy budget or equipment to pitch this song, nope. forward only with what he had in the moment. And that was enough. Then the song, a beautiful depiction of, you know, the movie's theme combined with elements of real life,

his personal situation, what he goes through, maybe even components that mean nothing other than an ability to encapsulate a feeling or an emotion. Words that allowed him to put a bow on all these little pieces himself and get it out the door. And millions and millions of millions, of people listened to that song and were changed by it. Not because of what it meant to Johnny, but because it gave them a chance to take it and fit their own worlds and struggles into those

same lines. It became a vehicle to inspire others to push forward, to find things in themselves they didn't know were there. This has become one of my favorite metaphors for finding the hero buried deep within yourself changing your life changing your world changing the world around you the lives of others can truly be and in fact often is the result of just moving forward with what you have right realizing that even when the mountain seems too tall to climb there is a way we just require that mental shift listen to this question right because I used to ask myself all the time, is this possible?

Can this be done? Well, then that becomes the question that I focused on. And everything that occurred around me became evidence that would either support or invalidate that possibility. The second I came up against an inevitable barrier, I'd think, ah, maybe this is telling me the answer is no. Right? Life will always be evidence for or against the questions that you choose to ask. which is why it's so important that you're asking the right questions. Because the second, you change that question to, look, I know this can be done, but how will I do it?

You start looking at life as a puzzle that must be solved. That same obstacle that was once interpreted as a stop sign is now merely an indicator that the path exists, just perhaps somewhere else. You've extended the pursuit. you've given yourself permission to keep looking, and it's because of these self-created expeditions that we find more in ourselves. You know, things won't always go perfectly, but when you look at those imperfections through the right lens,

you see that this isn't about you. It's about that particular door being locked. All you have to do is believe in yourself enough to move to the next one, to continue knocking until you find a door that opens, until you find that bridge to whatever comes next. And that's why I love that story about Iris, why I wanted to share it today.

It's crafted during times far from ideal, with resources, far from abundant, with words, far from perfect or related or self-explanatory. But you end up on the other side with this masterpiece, This song that certainly changed my life indefinitely impacted many others. And it's like we have to realize when we're sitting on the edge of the bed, you know, maybe it's not divorce or writer's block, but whatever it is holding you back, that's not the end.

It's your reason to keep going, to begin again. You don't have to know how things will be, but you do have to know how they won't be. They won't be like that. won't be like this because you won't let them stay this way and maybe it's not two written lines in a broken guitar maybe it's moving forward when your strength is not at a 10 out of 10 when you don't really have that spark or you're longing for some resources some finances wondering where they'll come from but pushing forward one little step at a time until things start making sense and maybe

Maybe it's not a combining and restructuring of song lyrics, using your personal experiences to fill the gaps on the paper before you. But it's trusting that your own story will ultimately tell itself if you don't put the pen down, that the heroes will rise, the villains will fall, and the adventure will continue on. After all, that's what life is. giant adventure, testing us, pushing us and transforming us when we're at our lows, while reminding us during the good times, why we're lucky to have been gifted that same adversity

we once looked at with contempt. Why we're lucky that when everything's made to be broken, as the lyrics suggest, we get to make something imperfectly beautiful with the pieces. We all enjoy the prospect of perfection. Everyone has an ideal outcome. We all make plans. But very rarely do they unfold as they were drawn up. Why?

Well, because life is predictably unpredictable. It's mysterious. Yet for some reason, we march on toward the acquisition of a flawless existence. distance. Scared of anything but an undamaged, untarnished, immaculate reflection staring back at us in the mirror. But in the real world, you know, our happiness, contentment, growth, progress that are not a product of perfection. They're built from the imperfections that we collect along the way. The trials, the tribulations. You know, when you piece all that together, like little puzzle pieces, they depict beauty.

They show the image that's always been so highly coveted. In other words, the process of rebuilding creates something more valuable than the same pieces before they were broken down, when they were untouched. In Japanese philosophy, there's a concept known as Kinsuki, which is the art of repair. wearing broken pottery with a golden lacquer. It's the idea that we don't want to hide the damage, but we want to rebuild it into something more meaningful, more valuable. Embrace the imperfect, own and cherish it. There's an old story about a tea master known as Rikyu.

And he was attending a Japanese tea ceremony with one of his followers, and the follower tries to impress Rikyu by buying this fancy clay giant. jar and making it visible during the meeting. But Rikyu never, you know, once acknowledges it. The praise never comes. So the student, you know, obviously upset by the lack of recognition, he pushes

the jar off the counter. It falls to the floor. It breaks into a bunch of pieces. And another student ultimately repairs it using Kinsugi. He puts the pieces back together with a gold lacquer. And next time

Rik Q attends the T ceremony as a guest of honor, he sees the jar, rebuilt, and says now it's beautiful. Now it has character. He acknowledges its value. And this story reminds us about the myth of perfection. Life's not about dodging and avoiding the difficulty. It's about facing it head on. Because when we come out on the other side, we transform into something that was previously unobtainable and rise to a world beyond imagination. See, we change not by running around life's obstacles, but by running directly through them. Like a muscle being repeatedly broken down and built back up, the pain, the exhausted energy is the vehicle. The micro creates the macro. The difficult becomes the exceptional.

We need the very things we're inclined to avoid. Our shortcomings, they not only precede and establish our greatness, they are our greatness. Being broken is not a tragedy, it is a step along the way. It's the beginning of something new, a launching pad, a chance to be better than you have ever been. Because look, here's the reality. If your status quo has never been shaken at its foundation, if you've never stopped and questioned the way things are, reality as It is, if you don't take risks, there will be no fragments to take and rebuild. You won't have the tools or capacity to change the world around you.

And that is the thing of note. Beauty is not fearing the rebuild. It is the rebuild. It's not feeling sorry or hopeless, but hopeful. Seeing your situation for what it is, an opportunity. It is what you need, a blank canvas. to make art while redrawing creative boundaries. If perfect is the goal, why take the step?

Why take the chance? Why risk messing things up? It's never been about perfect. It's about picking up the pieces and rising again. This morning I went down the street to go to this class. It's basically 45 minutes of body circuits in a heated room, which I love. I love mixing that in with the running that I do.

and basically the thing kicks off. And somewhere in, you know, maybe the last third of the class, we were doing some weighted squats. And right at that point where, you know, you're in the thick of things, your legs start to burn, heart rate's elevated, and you can start to, you know, really feel the temperature of the room. The instructor said something that I thought was absolutely incredible.

She goes, and I'm paraphrasing, the discomfort that you feel right now is a privilege. It's a privilege to suffer through this. It's a privilege to be here working on yourself when most people are at home. It's a privilege to be in a position to move through the resistance you feel right now. And that message moved me. And how can you even think about discomfort after that perspective had been laid out? How can you see a few minutes of fatigue as anything other than the small price of improvement? It's funny how the same things we consider to be torture or punishment,

if they're externally required of us, they become empowering when we know that we deliberately chose them. You know, in this feeling, it was definitely self-induced. It was chosen, right? I decided to be there in class that day. It was what I needed. To become just a little bit better, to obtain just a little bit more.

And what a privilege. I've learned over the years to manage pain. You have to. You have to immerse yourself in an often less than ideal short term so that you can bring about results of greater magnitude. I've always accepted this. I've always known it to be true. I believe, you know, in my own world, I've sacrificed accordingly.

But I don't recall the last time I was overtly thankful for the obstacles in my way. I don't remember the last time I saw my struggle, not as a necessary burden, but a gift. There's something not thrown at me, but presented to me. Think for a second about the finitude of life, the one in four. 400 trillion odds of being born, a number that I came across somewhere that I certainly can't validate, but I don't think you need to to get the point, right? The odds of being here are incredibly slim. Yet somehow we won. We all received winning lottery tickets. Here we are. On a strange planet with options to choose from, paths to decide between and a

giant ticking clock. And given these circumstances, aren't we doing a disservice to ourselves to not at least see what we're capable of? What we can do, build, create, and become? I certainly think so. And what is the cost of that evolution? It's discomfort. It's forging our future by walking through fire.

It means intentional hardship. And to not see that as the gateway to life's infinite opportunity is missing the mark. Why shouldn't you feel lucky about yourself transforming in real time? Why shouldn't you feel proud of paying a steeper price for a better view? Why shouldn't you be delighted to unpack the mystery and the adventure contained in life? This isn't something you have to do on your way to point B. This is something you get to do on your journey to become whoever you choose to become. So when the pressures of life press down upon us, test us,

perhaps solely acknowledging its utility is insufficient. Maybe it's more. Maybe it's something that should be celebrated, adored. Today was a reminder to be thankful for the body that can endure the turbulence. Thankful for the mind that can manage and overcome the chaos. Thankful for the opportunity to be here to begin with and the freedom to choose the difficult thing. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for the opportunity to live in the future. such a way that as I place my head on the pillow each and every night, I'm grateful for the privilege. What's the difference between simple and easy? Well, simple is straightforward, uncomplicated. Easy, on the other hand, means achieved without great effort. The difference between those two words is subtle, but essential to understand. One deals with the complexity of an outcome.

The other, your will and determination to achieve that outcome. Becoming who you most want to be is simple. But becoming who you most want to be is not easy. Just like walking is simple, yet hiking up a mountain is not easy. The procedure didn't change the context did. So let's talk about context. Let's talk about this cyclical nature of growth because it's not that most people can't. It's that most people won't.

It's not that most people don't get how. It's that they don't have a strong enough why. The path is laid out before you. You just have to be willing to walk down it. Will you? Step one, realize there's more out there. It's not that what you're doing now isn't amazing. It's just that yesterday's act of courage is now today's status quo.

What was the spectacular is now the mundane. What was once the ceiling you had to jump to touch is now the floor you walk on. So at the very least, it prompts you to ask, well, what's next? Simple. Not easy. Step two, the acquisition of courage. Yesterday's courage was a fight. It took a lot out of you, and it's ultimately what got you here.

But it dropped you at the curb, it waved goodbye, and went on its merry way, and here you are. You can stay here, a lot of people do. You can reminisce of the glory days, the old path, yesterday's triumphs. Or, you can do that perpetually uncomfortable exercise of vulnerability. vulnerability. Stepping into tomorrow's unknown, reminding yourself that life's greatest rewards have a hefty price tag, and that price is discomfort. But I've already played this game, one might think. No, what you did was learn the rules.

Now it's time to apply them to a new setting, and around goes the merry-go-round. It might seem like a replication from the horizontal, but here's the secret. You can't see the vertical. yet to look down and see your ascent, see what you're becoming. Just by staying on, holding tight, just by believing in yourself enough to begin again, you are fanning those tiny flames of courage in your soul that wait to be spread like a wildfire. Simple but not easy. Step three, mistakes.

Now of course, it's not the mistakes. themselves, you fear. It's what you think those mistakes will mean. Ridicule, embarrassment, lack of direction or identity losing what you have, but here's the catch. When you realize the upside is greater than the downside, you liberate yourself. When you realize there's more to gain than to lose, your potential for greatness is born. How does one act on this mistakes? By making, mistakes by injecting yourself into the turbulence of progress. Our biology has not yet learned that the uncomfortable thing is the right thing and that's why you get resistance, that's why it hurts and it's why few people will

accomplish what you will. When it comes to your climb every day is opposite day. When they run out, you're running in. When they play safe, you play for the victory. To become who you might be, you might be. You must learn how to get there. Mistakes are your curriculum. Simple, but not easy.

Step four, trust yourself. Okay, sure, no problem, easy. Well, yeah, it's easy when you're getting what you want. But evolution takes time, and there's nothing quite like giving and giving and giving and not getting. There's nothing quite like stepping up to the plate again and again and again and bringing no runners home. So how does one find the strength to continue walking up to the batters box?

Well, growth is exponential, and those swings and misses matter. The infield singles matter. Everything matters. Because it's all chiseling your future self out of stone. Nothing is dependent on the next at bat, as much as all at bats in the aggregate. That's why success is so often considered to be sheer will, dependent not on the home run, but on the discipline, the self-belief, to keep walking up to the plate.

Repetition and adjustment. Repetition and adjustment. Repeat and refine, repeat, refine. Those are the materials from which all things are made. Simple, but not easy. And then we have the finale. The ending, step five. Celebrate and adjust.

At some point, you'll be able to look over your shoulder and notice something that perhaps you hadn't before. Space. Space between where you are and where you started. It's not sudden, but gradual. And undoubtedly, with enough persistence, it will emerge. These moments, they are precious. They are times to acknowledge what you've accomplished,

the sacrifices you have made. They are life's way of reminding you what you are building and who you are becoming. It's a time of celebration. Every little wind means something, every small victory matters so relish in it, and then transform it. Normalize it. Recognize that that mountaintop is your foundation now. Your starting point has changed and so have you, which means so have your expectations. With an increase in ability comes an upgrade to what's possible, what's expected. And look at that. We have arrived at a new step one.

Realize there is more. This is the process for capturing that which life has to offer. If you can fall in love with that, appreciate it, respect it, while simultaneously understanding it's not scary, it's dependent entirely on your ability to push forward. If you can understand that, there is nothing you can't do. Nowhere you can't go. Simple, yes, easy, no. But you're not in this for easy.

You're in it for the journey, the growth, the adventure. You're in it because it's not easy. You'll see in time, as will the world, that this decision to endure was simply the best one you ever made. Sometimes I wonder, why does this season of life feel like it's just of life feel like it's one undesirable outcome after another.

What happened to the law of averages? When is the wind? Where is the light at the end of the tunnel? Why would I continue going in this direction? When it feels like that spot on the horizon I've been chasing has eluded me. Why? Why are my results not aligning with my output? It's hard to wake up and do this.

It takes all of me to give this much. Sometimes I wonder where is the delayed gratification everyone speaks of? Where's the fruit of my labor, the arm on my shoulder that says this is why it was all worth it? Why hasn't the payoff shown itself? Why? And why does it seem like every curveball materializes at the worst point? possible time. Why won't my body cooperate now when I need it most? Why does my mind play with the worst case scenarios? Why does an already challenging path have to be more difficult

than it is now? How many ways do I have to feel pain? Why does discomfort follow me around? Why won't life let me shake this? Why? Just maybe it's to show you how strong you are. What you can endure. Because deep down, in your soul, you know you are the 1%. Because if you can push through this, you can push through anything. And I don't know why life gives us its lessons when it does. Why the world seems to stack it on.

when we're at our most vulnerable, when the ground beneath us is most unstable. But if you can find the courage to step back and see this for what it is, if you can hold on to the idea that this is happening for you, you'll come out of this a different person. You don't need to perform a miracle

when you're at your lowest. No, the courage, the power the strength is in showing up. You need to continue forward. Let go of the week, the month, the year. Sometimes we are tasked with pushing through the moment, the hour, surviving the day. And sometimes there is nothing more courageous than that,

nothing more powerful than seeing what it turns into down the road. When we look over our shoulders and are grateful we never stopped. So yes, this season might seem like a non-stop barrage of obstacles and misfortune. Why? Perhaps because it's life allowing you to plant your seed now so that when spring comes around you are provided something you've never had before. You arrive at that spot in the horizon you've been aiming at. And yes, the results might not feel like they're aligning with your output.

Why? Perhaps because when the compounding reaches that magical point, that point of statistical significance, and the desirable things happen then, as quickly as the difficult ones do now, it'll all make sense. You'll appreciate it, value it, and be equipped to handle it. And yeah, life might seem to be throwing you curveball after curveball. Why? Perhaps because if you can trudge forward now, when your body's tired while navigating the trials and tribulations of life, when you can bring greatness into existence under duress, just imagine what waits around the corner.

Imagine how you'll perceive those seemingly impossible obstacles that slow everyone else down. There'll be nothing more than a cool breeze and a sunny day as you move towards your best self. Look, it's hard to understand when we are in it. It's hard to make sense of the dark and the chaos and the hurt, but find a way to remember. No matter how hard it seems that this life is happening for you and not to you. This is the seed in the palm of your hand that will mean something that will mean something that matters. So hold on. Hold on to see that sea begin to rise from the ground. Hold on to feel the warmth of the sun. Hold on through the storms of life. They will be why when you look back years from now.

You'll have gotten from life that which was once merely a dream. You have to see it before they do. You have to believe it before they will. You have to be the architect of your plans and your goals because no one will build them for you. And that's just it. in a world where victimhood is becoming currency and blame is becoming the norm.

We have a choice. Create a temporary fleeting escape or create a life that matters. You know how much easier it is to project out at the world? To never have to look in the mirror and address the things you could be doing better? You know how much easier it is to hate him or her or them over there? To make up stories and scenarios about how much different life would be if it wasn't for A, B, B, and C holding you back.

I mean, short term, it's like winning the lottery, right? You don't have to take any accountability. You don't have to have tough conversations with yourself. You don't have to reflect on the painful memories or decisions. No, you can put your feet up. Sit back, point at the world, and say, look what they made me do. If only.

But here's what's not being said. Every time you point your finger away from your own chest, every time you project blame, you're letting yourself down. Why? Because we only grow when we take accountability. And yeah, accountability can be painful, uncomfortable. But in that discomfort exists the only bridge to a better tomorrow.

That's it. You go to the gym, you put your muscles through stress. You break them down so that they can be built back up stronger. Personal responsibility cannot be the muscle we refuse to build. build, there's too much at stake. It can't be the thing you avoid. Why? Because it's what injects meaning into our lives. I'll never forget in the eighth grade, and I bet every single person in that class still to this day remembers. My teacher, Mr. Betancourt, walking up to the front of the classroom, he had his hands in a bowl shape and was holding it up to the ceiling,

explaining to us that you can't go through life asking the world to give you its scraps that if you sit and you wait and you hope and you blame you will lose that's the recipe for bitterness and resentment think of it like a fork in the road

where our two options are vastly different you go left at the fork and you enter a world of escape business refusing to confront your problems, finding reasons you can't do that which you know you need to do, hating others, those who have built, grown, or created themselves. Or you go right at the fork. You learn to do the hard thing, to humble yourself,

to take control of your life and your world. When things aren't the way you want them to be, you look around and you immediately ask, things outside of my control may have brought me here, but what can I do to fix it? Those of you have been listening to me for a while, you probably know my favorite articulation of this idea. It was explained by Will Smith. Basically, he said, look, you can't control where you start and how true that is, right?

Life's not fair. Some people are born into more resources and opportunity. Some people find themselves in social situations that aren't ideal, and that list can go on and on and on, right? Human beings are all different, so there will always be discrepancy. But, and this is Will Smith's point, where you go from here will always be your responsibility. What happens next is all you. You choose whether to complain, shake your fist at the sky, and blame the world. around you or pick the pieces up and move forward.

And like I said a minute ago, don't be fooled by the temptation to latch on to that fleeting moment of relief, of running from accountability. The only way to win in the long run is to face your demons. It's that whole saying, when you're riding shotgun, you can dispute the route all you want. But ultimately, it's the driver who's in. control. When will you take the wheel in your own life? Ensure the stakes become higher. Right? Now it's on you. Now you can get lost. Now you're responsible for the maintenance. Now if you don't end up at the right place or I don't know you're late to a destination, it's your fault.

But now you can also be the one overseeing the journey. Now it's yours and that's your power. And as our world becomes more and more one of escapism, it's becoming more prevalent, easier to avoid or not fix something but tweet about it. How easy it is to not confront our problems but rather open Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and mindlessly scroll. How easy it is to leave that message on red and go about our lives because that's easier than saying what needs to be said. Strength is being the one amidst all this escapism and avoidance to confront what must be confronted. Whether it's an interaction with someone else or that hard conversation with yourself, a personal change that must take place.

Life is such a gift, it's such an opportunity. But we have to move through it with our eyes open. We have to see things that matter and gravitate towards, truths that will shape us. Like Mr. B said, over 20 years ago now, we can't ever fall into the mentality of holding our hands up to the sky and asking life to give us anything. We can't only point it ourselves when things go the way we want them to go. No, let's be about accountability, empowerment, understanding that if I don't like

What's around me, the transformation starts now and it starts with me. That wasn't perfect, I never will be, but I can learn, I can evolve, and most importantly, I have everything I need to make that happen. It's all awareness. The victimhood idea is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I know that may seem harsh, maybe even lacking empathy. But dropping that narrative was truly the best thing I've done in my life and I know countless others who would say the same you can't be both a perpetual victim and be in control no life is tough it knocks us down and at times it brings us to our knees but this is a reminder that you cannot stay

there it's a reminder that those who contributed to the situation are now minor detail and background noise it's a reminder that the path forward is about you it's about you pushing all that aside and asking yourself what's required to move in the direction that I most want to go because you are that powerful you are strong enough to make that move and there will be a point where you look around you and the circumstances of change the people are different the environment is different you're different and you'll smile at yourself knowing it's not because of what the world provided. It's not because of what anyone

gave you. It's not because of what people out there did or didn't do. No, it's because when you were at your lowest, when life was presenting curveball after curveball, when you looked around and maybe even thought to yourself, there's no way forward here. You found a way to get up and and create something new. To life's adversity, thank you. To the challenges, the ones I hated in the moment, I am beyond grateful.

They became invaluable. Those moments that forced me to be more than I was, step out before I was ready so that I could arm myself for the path that was meant for me. Thank you to those times I was afraid. You taught me that the darkness is never as bad as our thoughts make them out to be. And when we learn to trust ourselves, we realize that fear becomes strength. Thank you to those times I fell short of expectations, the times I didn't quite hit the mark. You taught me that it's not about me.

It's not personal. It's about taking that awareness and going at it again more intelligently. Thank you to the times I felt alone. The times I didn't get the support I hoped for or anticipated. You did two things. You reinforced the value of an effective, committed team, but you also emphasize that if that candle's going to stay lit,

it's going to be because I commit to keeping it lit. And when tempted to point out and blame the external world, I must pause, reassess, and focus on the world within. Thank you to those times of stagnation, the valleys of despair, of uncertainty. You reminded me that momentary, The momentum has to be manufactured. And the answers we need are never big or complex.

They are small and they are simple. We are always one step away from getting back on track. Thank you to the unexpected setbacks. From Out of Nowhere obstacles. You taught me that the trials and the tribulations, they are not the exception, they are the rule. That success isn't running from them but learning to deal with them. with them. There's a saying that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.

Thanks for showing me to allocate my energy to the reaction. Thanks for the times I looked around and couldn't find a conceivable way. The times things seemed helpless and hopeless. You taught me that even in our darkest moments there is an answer that I am capable. I am strong enough. And who would have thought that all these things, all these situations I would have loved to run away from were a gift more valuable than any other? Who would have thought that predictability and comfort were wolves in sheep's clothing? That danger is never the obstacle. It's in thinking you've been slighted by life when the obstacle arrives. In reality, every setback is a chance to be more, to step into that future self, to live life.

It is from our struggle that we acquire our strength, from our pain we find just how far we can go. So to these challenges that made me who I am, thank you for the insight, the lessons, and the evolution. Thank you for showing me what no success could ever have shown. I'll never forget listening to Jim Rohn, was taking a walk in the middle of the day. I needed to get out, decompress, rethink, re-align. And this message came through my headphones. He said, we must all suffer from one of two pains.

The pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces. while regret weighs tons. And I needed that. I needed that because sometimes we forget why. In the midst of the day-to-day, the trials and tribulations of life, we forget why we endure.

And there's a strange dichotomy that exists because, you know, you can't measure discomfort that hasn't arrived yet. You can identify regret that has to be. hasn't materialized. Yet in a way, you have to. You have to somehow make that tangible. You have to know that sacrifices of today deliver you from the anguish of I wish, or if only, or maybe I could have. I've heard it said that humans' ability to delay gratification is what makes us so unique, incredible even.

But that doesn't mean it comes easy. So as I walked, I became reacquainted with the trust that I had in myself in the future, in the steps I was taking. It wasn't that I'd reached some grand finale, but that I gave myself permission to stop constantly expecting one. Worrying when things didn't go as planned,

feeling disgusted with myself when I fell short. This is, after all, part of a process. And if one stays the course, builds a foundation of discipline to guide them towards what they believe in, things will evolve. We feel uncertain because new things don't have a precedent,

at least not a personal one. And that feeling of, I wish I knew, or had some reason. unpredictability. It's real, it's common. But if minimizing regret is what means the most, then it also means that we must have the discipline to walk steadfast into the unpredictability of tomorrow. A long-term sustained discipline. And one of my favorite interviews, Brani Ware, who wrote the top five regrets of the dying, was talking about surrender and how she mentioned in her book, Letting Go.

And I asked her, can you explain that? What's the angle? Because the way I look at life, there's always something you can do. You can always improve your situation somehow. And she basically said, it's not about what you can control, what you can do. It's about putting yourself in position to let me. live the life you want to live and then letting go of that which you cannot control. It's about not worrying over external forces as you walk your path because all you can do in life is walk your path. And that became the marker or the question, am I walking my path?

Right? Now look at it like this. First, a vision gives you direct. Purpose keeps you excited injects meaning into life. Second, discipline keeps you moving, becomes the tiny steps that transport you through your pursuit of meaning. And third, trust in the process. That you are here to give everything you have to give and then the rest, as Bruni says, must be surrendered.

But the reason I bring this up is because all of it fits together like a puzzle, like three pillars of a Parthenon. And when people reach out to me all the time, they're upset that they're not as disciplined as they'd like to be. And they're listening to the speeches, they're watching the videos, they're absorbing the content, trying to improve. But nothing seems to get the engine going. wondering, what is your North Star? What are you aiming for? Because as far as I'm concerned, it's impossible to be disciplined if you don't have a reason. You know, when Jim Rhone states that the pain is in ounces now, well, there's an implicit compared to what being asked, right? Compared to that top of the mountain that you'd presumably miss out on. So if the

mountain top's not defined, you're on a fool's errand. That's why I had so much trouble with my old career, for example. It's hard to be disciplined. There's no buy-in on the purpose. Using my previous metaphor, it's little steps, sure, but towards what? If you don't know, it's only practical then to look around and ask yourself, why am I taking them? Why not go drink with my friends?

Why not stream this series on Netflix until 4 a.m.? Why not skip the workout? You can listen to people on YouTube, scream at you to do more and be more and try harder all day, but without that piece, it will not get you very far. A vision, the discipline to pursue it, and a trust in the process. And you could say the same with someone who might have a clear vision,

a dream, a perfect idea of what they want, but never take action, right? The discipline never materializes. Makes the endeavor just as meaningless. Things don't change until you take that big picture, that vision, and you break it down into little things you can do every day. That's it. And isn't that amazing?

The greatest, most influential people, from the friends and family that inspire us, to the greatest athletes and entertainers, to our greatest thinkers, creators, world leaders, all they do is a handful of things consistently every day in the direction of something that is meaningful to them. A process that has been talked about since the beginning of time. The compound effect, as Darren Hardy calls it.

That breakthrough was huge for me. the realization that I don't need to leap any mountain. I just need to ascend one tiny rock at a time, and that is not a superhuman ability. That is a single decision. So here the question isn't, can you be more disciplined? Of course you can.

The question is, which few things are most meaningful to you? Which will you be focusing on every day so that they expand and inject value into you in the world? And then, lastly, there is trust, sometimes the most difficult. Seeing the unseen, maintaining confidence in that which is unknown. An incredibly challenging expectation in an instantaneous world, a world where, Things are immediate. Feedback is immediate. Messages are sent across the planet instantaneously.

Goods and services arrive within hours. We have forgotten patience because it is disintegrating before our very eyes. We are a society of now, but the best things in life, they take time. They require that we hold up our end of the bargain. and that we trust life will fall into place. Belief in a process that will come to mean more than anything that arrives in 30 seconds ever could. A vision, the discipline to pursue it,

and a trust in the process. So perhaps you're overdue for your midday walk, your little excursion into the soul, to ask yourself, what is it you are moving towards? Why are you doing what you're doing? Does it mean something? And if not, perhaps some adjustment is in order. Perhaps you've lost sight of that North Star that lights up our lives and illuminates the way.

Take solace in the fact that life is not as serious as we make it out to be. We don't live in a world of right and wrong, good and bad, yes and no, the continuum, an opportunity to seek out and find the beautiful ups and the meaningful downs to set our sights on the horizons that matter. See when the little things feel too complex or burdensome, it's because the big things are misaligned, and that is a powerful idea to grasp. never that life is too difficult, it's that we have closed our eyes. So don't be fooled by those selling you reality as some problem, some obligation that

must be dealt with. No, today is the greatest gift of your lifetime. And the same will be true every day moving forward. And to echo Jim Rohn, absolutely it is a gift comprised of of sacrifice, discomfort along the way. But that's a small price to pay for entry to the show. For the ability to embrace the mystery and embark upon the adventure when you're pointed to the right North Star, while the road, it feels less treacherous on your feet,

the hills less strenuous on your legs, what we often deem to be a lack of preparedness, ability, strength, well, might just be a lack of alignment. So adjust. Because this world, flexible and limitless, invites you to do just that. It invites you to explore until you've uncovered your vision. To pursue it like nothing else matters. To sidestep the obstacles, invert the setbacks, and invert the setbacks,

And lastly, to find hope when there appears to be none. To set your sails, walk your path, run your race and surrender to that which is beyond your control. And you'll find that with a vision, with discipline, with trust in the process, there is no situation or circumstance outside the scope of what's possible for you. you.