Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - STOP SETTLING FOR AVERAGE - Powerful Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

This episode explores the journey of discovering your purpose; the “why” behind your existence. Inspired by Mark Twain’s timeless quote, it’s a reflection on the difference between simply living and truly being alive. Through storytelling and perspective, this message invites you to look inward, to chase curiosity, and to trust that your calling isn’t found in one moment, but uncovered through every step you take toward what sets your soul on fire.More from Eddie Pinero:Wear the Mindset: www.agns.lifestyleMonday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletterYour World Within Podcast: https://yourworldwithin.libsyn.com/Stream these tracks on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - @your_world_within and @IamEddiePineroTikTok - your_world_withinFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/YourworldwithinTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/IamEddiePineroBusiness Inquiries - http://www.yourworldwithin.com/contact#liveinspired #yourworldwithin #motivation

Mark Twain said the two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. The first gets you into the show. And the second asks, what will you do with your time here? What will you make of this sunrise? Because we only get so many. I think there's immense value in understanding that each and every day, every one of us are here to lead this place better than we found it. To stand up when we could be sitting down, step out, and make something of the chaotic

and often hard to understand world around us. When you realize the miracle that is your existence, when you understand the almost impossible odds of you being here, thinking, feeling, breathing in the air around you. you begin to see the value of today. Because it's not an obligation, it's a currency, the most precious of commodities. Today is your time to step into that new version of yourself, to see something more so that you can begin the process of creating something more. Because the truth is life will always be what you decided. is. If you walk up to your window, look through the blind and decide what you see is the finale,

the final script, that's exactly what it will be. But if you see right now as a beautiful beginning, the initiation of the ride of a lifetime, a transport to the next version of you and the next and the next, then you are signing up for a world without limit. A world. A world. A world. A world. A world. where you can feel what it's like to be tested and endure, to be lost but finds your way, to build something meaningful out of the seemingly meaningless, that's why you're here, that's what it means to truly live. Today is your day. Your chance, don't let it slip away from you,

don't be fooled into thinking it's less than it really is. It is your ticket to infinity. A journey that starts when you decide it does. When you look out at that vast unknown and say, I'm not going to settle for anything less than a life of adventure. I want the challenges, the turbulence, the losses and the battles. They will bring me to a place I could never have arrived at otherwise. You get from life what you give. So give it all. Leave no path unwalk, no stone unturned. Today is the most important day of your life because it will connect the you of yesterday

to the limitless you of every day that comes next. In a way, the world is a mirror that reflects how you feel. And if life is consistently mirroring back images that aren't ideal, ideal. Perhaps it's time to chip away, not at the world, but at yourself. It's time to work. And sometimes, that's roll up your sleeves and be better work. Let's get up a little bit earlier work. It's at the gym or study or give more work. But sometimes it's acknowledging that if in this chapter of your life, you find everything around. you intimidating or too distant or out of reach. It's not because the world is too big,

but rather you've let your own image get too small. It's the identity that needs the maintenance. We do things because we see ourselves as doers of those things. Soccer players play soccer. Writers write. Painers paint. No one who's ever identified or introduced himself as a runner, has ever broken a world deadlift record.

No, runners do runner things. Bodybuilders do bodybuilder things. People who view themselves as small do small things and people who see themselves as capable or strong, daring, adventurous, larger than life. Well, you get the point. We're out there over-analyzing all these details, trying to decipher code

without realizing that we've already won or lost. You gave yourself permission to run 50 yards and then became Sherlock Holmes trying to figure out why the world wouldn't let you reach yard 51. We go as far as we allow ourselves to go. We do as much as we allow ourselves to do. We become who we allow ourselves to be. They're not saying the other variables don't matter.

Of course they do. I'm saying over time those variables become blocks for us to build ourselves up or build walls around ourselves that keep us down in one place. If the world feels bland, give yourself permission to seek out the beauty. Be someone who finds joy in life. If the world feels lonely, give yourself permission to connect with others. Be someone who brings people together.

If the world feels chaotic and confusing, give yourself permission to break it down. Be someone who turns big things. into small manageable things. If the world feels sad and disheartening, give yourself permission to uncover what makes you smile. Be someone who in the darkness of night can find that light switch. Because for every reason to be sad, there's one to be happy. For every reason to be weak, there's one to be strong, so on and so forth.

Of course, it's not the easiest to remember when we look out and don't like what we see. But knowing that the solution is internal. knowing that you decide who you are, where you're going, and where you stop. As much as humanly possible, it puts fate in your hands, which is right where it should be. The difficulty we face in life is not personal. If you remember this, you disarm every adversary, obstacle, every complication you'll ever face. So quick story.

Recently I was renewing a lease for my apartment. Something that usually is pretty simple, right? Only this time things were not simple. Confusion, chaos, misunderstanding after misunderstanding. I received emails and letters saying, you know, you need to provide these documents in order to renew. You need to have XYZ information submitted to as a sap. And I'm sitting here thinking, guys, you have all this info. I've lived here a year, same guy, let's put two and two together.

And after a while, I started to get truly annoyed, eventually to the point of taking it personally. So I stopped what I was doing and go down to the front office thinking I'm going to go scorched earth here. I really wanted to emphasize how absurd and ridiculous all this was. I opened the door and just kind of stopping my tracks. First thing I see is a crowded room filled with tenants asking for things, making requests, looking for info. And the people that worked there were so patient and kind running around doing their absolute

best to make everyone happy and get everything done. And almost immediately I realized Eddie, you made this about you. This is not in any way about you. Basically, I created this fallacy that because things were weren't working the way I wanted them to, then there must have been some universal resistance, right? There's an idea I heard a while back that very rarely steers me wrong, it's that two things can simultaneously be true at once. So in this case, is there opportunity for these guys to tighten up a bit, bring more clarity to their operations and best practices? Yeah, certainly true. But on the other hand,

was building this up as a them versus me match in my head dumb and counterproductive. Yes, also true. The world will always provide adversity, right? That's not news to anyone, it's just what the world does. That adversity will take a thousand different shapes and appear an infinite number of ways. But here's the deal. Life is neutral. Things just happen.

They aren't good or bad. they just exist in the ether. We as storytellers decide to put a charge into things. We decide whether it's happening to us or for us. We choose. And that's the takeaway here. There's power in remembering not to take things personally

in any aspect of life. Because when we do, we actually lose our grip on reality. We become emotional and not rational. And this is visible everywhere. Take rejection, for example, something we all deal with. It's not personal. The person on the other end is thinking about themselves. They're locked in on their own incentives.

They're not thinking about you. And however you feel about this, it's just the truth. So assess the situation. Sure, maybe find some areas where you can improve and carry on. Being mistreated. Again, not about you. As the saying goes, hurt people, hurt people. Same goes for criticism and hate online.

It's something that a lot of people truly fear. It will almost always be true that people who are more accomplished than you or further along in their career trajectory won't waste time bringing you down in the comments section. No, it's people saying things hoping that their comments will get approved, and attention so they can feel validated. Their actions are being carried out for, ready for this, themselves. And to misdiagnose or take it as a shot to the heart,

well, that's creating a battle scenario that doesn't need to exist. It's not them versus you, it's them versus them. You're just in the crossfire. Now, does this perspective or point to not take things personally mean that we abdicate personal responsibility? Does it mean we say, well, it's not me, it's the world, so not my problem? No, of course not. This perspective gives you the power to do the right things and the necessary things

because you understand that the problems you face are not a giant indictment of you as a person. Getting angry creates a scenario where, you know, you really, reallocate your energy from doing what's best for you to instead being mad at him or her or this group or that circumstance or the world in general. You know, bad things happen. And by the way, they happen to everyone. Everyone gets rejected at some point. Everyone gets let down by people close to them at some point. Everyone loses their way at some point. Everyone has their expectations fall short. Everyone has pushback. It's not just you.

It's the world doing what the world does. And there's 8 billion of us running around operating in our best interest, trying to navigate a big, crazy world that's often incredibly difficult to understand. So with this perspective, right, going forward, you know, my lesson from a few weeks ago, what would I have done differently during all that chaos

with the apartment? a handful of things. First of all, remind myself that in the grand scheme of things, it's trivial. It's just not that important. Two, understand incentives. These folks aren't trying to make things hard

for me. They're trying to do their jobs well so they can live their best lives, which brought their attention to other things. It happens. And three, when you're calm, you can actually solve the problems at hand. when you don't stack your problems up

to look like adversaries working against you when you instead see them as merely a challenge or puzzle to be solved life starts to look a lot different it just feels different to walk around as though life is on your side as though hardship is nothing more than the water necessary for the seed to grow as though all those challenges you face are opportunities being presented to you. Because I'm not sure you can simultaneously fight and solve. I think one of our most important decisions is to select one.

You can make the rejection an opponent, the criticism, a rival, you can make the disorder your nemesis. Or you can realize that all of it falls squarely into the same. the box that is like pieces to be taken out one by one so that you can construct the ideal. Life comes down to the advantages that exist all around us, the choices we make, to live freely with the wind at our backs or confined by the walls we build around ourselves. And sure, your current obstacles might be because of decisions you've made, maybe even decisions you wish you could take back. But the current moment right now in this second is neutral. It does not hold a grudge

or have an agenda now, right now is simply right now. In the same way that two plus two is four. Four is not good or bad. It doesn't want you to win or lose. It's just four. Same goes for the crossroads before you. And that puts the onus entirely on you. to decide what you will make it all mean. Will you slow things down to find clarity? Will you open your eyes to see the value? Because look, there will always be a delta between reality and the stories we tell ourselves about reality.

That's just how human beings work. It's how we've managed to survive for millennia. So understand that and gift yourself the narratives that bring you closer to the place you want to be. The road before you will be challenging. Not because its pushback is personal, but because amidst the resistance, you'll find the components you need

to live your very best life. Peter Drucker has said that what gets measured gets improved. And this insight's been incredibly valuable to me over the years. I want to explain why. Until you measure something, you're operating in somewhat of a black box. You're essentially guessing, aiming at targets you can't see, which ultimately means you're leaving life up to chance. But once you begin to gauge your progress in a specified area,

you now have information to work with. You have an increased sense of awareness and the ability to focus, which, as I've said before, and believe wholeheartedly, what you focus on becomes your reality. So here's a quick example that I think adequately paints a picture here of what I'm talking about. Way back when I first started my business, I was chatting with a friend about wanting to grow my YouTube subscribers. Add value to as many people as I possibly could with my work.

Back then, it was all YouTube. That was the crux of. my business and so the first question he asked he goes just out of curiosity how many subscribers join the channel daily and i realized in that moment you know i don't know i knew the total amount like i kept tabs on that but not the sort of daily fluctuation how much grew on monday versus friday you know that type of thing uh and this guy he had a tracker he's very big on that basically a sheet with the most important things that he's trying to change in his life and every day when he would wake up, he'd record a quick measurement in each of those categories.

My first thought was, eh, you know, that's a little over the top. It's a little extra. But hey, one of my favorite mantras is that you are your own experiment, and I was happy to try something new that could have a positive impact. And so I did. I started recording daily the net subscribers that join the Your World Within Community. And what I found was incredible. They say it's the simple things that make the greatest difference in our lives, and this would certainly be no exception, right? First and foremost, just seeing that number every day kept growth at the forefront of my mind. It kept me aware and excited and thinking through that lens, as if I were on a journey or mission to outperform the me of yesterday.

Right? If on some random day you grow 30% more than you usually do, it's only normal. to see that and ask, well, why can't this happen every day? Why can't this be my reality? And next, and probably more obvious, it armed me with the tools to tactically improve my performance. Those daily metrics helped me find critical answers, arrive at important conclusions. You know, what days of the week and weeks of the year have the greatest impact?

What trends lead to increased viewership? my daily average subscriber count is X. I wonder what it would take to bring it to Y. And so basically, instead of just showing up every day with my fingers crossed and hoping I'd hit it out of the park, I had a more informed approach. It's like taking a blindfold off. And all of this prompted by writing one little number down in the morning. The more I did this, the more it became obvious that it should be implemented in other

aspects of my life. If this is important to me, if I say with conviction, this is an area I want to improve, how can I afford to not know the extent of its growth? And now I do track the handful of things I'm most invested in growing because those will be most impacted by my giving them attention. There's a saying that what you water grows. Well, your focus and your attention is what will water the seed, what will give it life. If you're looking to lose weight, but you never look at the scale, you're hurting yourself.

You might say, well, I don't want to be all about the numbers. It's a lifestyle change, and I certainly agree the point is not to track every single step you make. It's to realize how often we operate blindly. It's to show you that with 100% certainty,

your increased awareness and attention dedicated to any pursuit will make you more effective. and bringing about your desired result. Knowing your daily progress keeps you in the game. It keeps you excited and also arms you with the tools to make the necessary changes. See, we are brilliant creatures capable of incredible things, but it's critical that we position ourselves so that we can win the game.

It's critical that we not only look but see. To be simplified, to condense life down to only what's important, And to monitor those things that are important to you will give you a tremendous advantage. And again, this is basic stuff. But we skip the basic stuff. Because we think the big changes come from complexity. They don't. They come from choosing a target and working to get closer and closer to.

to its bullseye. Like Greg McCune says in essentialism, growth often has nothing to do with the acquisition of more. Sometimes it's about eliminating the things we don't need and focusing on that which we do. Now I'm suggesting we take it one step further and measure our growth as we take those meaningful things into the great unknown.

Life can be challenging, that's no secret. So why not arm ourselves with every advantage available to us? Why not keep yourself excited and invested and knowledgeable? Often we look around at what we don't have and think, man, I could never have what they have. I could never do what he or she does. The reality is they identified what matters and brought it to life one small step.

at a time. And guess what? You can do the same. It's not a miracle you need, it's awareness. So here's to keeping your eyes open to not only looking but seeing. And in doing so, getting results from the opportunity we otherwise would walk right by. I think a substantial amount of life comes down to self-trust, to believing in yourself. Right, but here's the thing, it's not blind belief. It's not toxic positivity where you close your eyes, cross your fingers, shut the world off, and just assume things will work out because you're entitled to a great result. No, what I'm referring to is an active and deliberate trusting of yourself to learn, to make the necessary adjustments, and to keep moving forward. When we have faith in our ability to step forward and improve simultaneously, there is no defeat.

When you know you won't stop until you land where you want to land, then limitations become a choice. Success in any capacity is a you thing, not an outside thing. And this popped into my head a few days ago during, of all things, a game of axe throwing. So, quick story from last weekend, a friend of mine. mine and I, after a day of working on the podcast, went down to Fort Lauderdale, to this axe-throwing place, which is, it's random, but it's a great time, simple concept. There's this giant target, and you take turns throwing little axes at the target, basically darts, right? If you think along those lines, and there were eight of us in the group. They divide you into two teams of

and you play various games until the end. Right? The end, there's this final session where it's every person for themselves. It's like a free-for-all. Each person gets three rounds to throw axes at the target and whoever has the best score wins. So think of the target just in a traditional way, right? The bull's-eye or the little point in the middle is worth five. then the next smallest circle outside of that is four,

then three, then two, and then the biggest circle along the edge is worth one. So whatever you hit with the axe, that's the points you get, except they put these two little blue dots on the top third of the circle. And they say, if you can hit one of these blue dots, you get ten points.

So high risk, but certainly high reward. And my friend and I is super competitive, right? He looks at me, starts telling me how he's already got this in the bag, and I'm like, all right, we'll see. And it's been arguable, but I probably had been the more consistent of both of us up to that point in the night. Nothing fancy, just straight away aiming at the middle, aiming for those bull's eyes and fours. Not even attempting to go for those hard-to-reach blue dots. No need straight up the middle. And here's why this is important.

We step out to take our first shots of the finale here. My friend goes first, immediately hits one of those little blue dots. Boom, already, I'm down 10 points. So what do I do? I completely leave my strategy. And I start thinking, no one behind, I can't let this happen. I spent my next nine shots, and the only nine shots I had, right, trying to hit those blue dots and missing every time, just get killed, right?

He won handedly. And then I realized when the scores were read out at the end, that if I just ignored everything my buddy had done and stayed true to my game, aimed for the center of the board, average 3.5 or 4 points of throw, I would have won, and by a substantial margin. But I let the outside world impact my strategy. I started chasing those long shot blue dots when I knew they were a distraction. Now, I'm sure the last thing you expected to hear today was the recap of an axe throwing contest. But if you bear with me, there's value here.

So let's step beyond the axe throwing. Let's take it up a level. Let's talk about when you know what's best for you, you know where you want to be and what's where you want to be. working, but you're pulled out of your lane because of what someone else says or does. You hear him or her over there accomplish something great. You look in the mirror and go, man, I haven't accomplished anything like that. Maybe I need to change what I'm doing, my approach.

Maybe I'm wrong. See, and the beauty of that little game was that it reminded me that there will always be outside circumstances trying to redirect my course. But we have to trust in ourselves that we are doing what's best. We have to know our own game and our own strengths. Now, don't conflate this with a stubbornness. It's not about never adjusting. No, we need to adjust.

But adjust when it's best for you. Not simply because other people are taking a different approach. It's hard to stay consistent with the world pushing other options consistently, right? people finding success in various ways, taking other paths, talking about their incredible strategies and how great X, Y, and Z is. But it's all noise. You have to trust you. And again, not blind faith, but an understanding of who you are and a willingness to continue

to grow with every step forward. There has to be some element of understanding that, sure, things will get challenging, life will push back. But that doesn't mean you are wrong. or in over your head. It's a compounding of little actions and trust in yourself. If you can do that, the world remains yours. It's day by day, or in my example, throw by throw, knowing your bull's eye and aiming steady up the middle. We all know how hard it is to see results before they exist. The mind tries to find every example out there,

out there depicting why you're wrong, why the finish line is too far away. Life is constantly creating off-rams saying, hey, if you don't want it that bad or you're unsure of yourself, here's a way out. Come with me. It's constantly sowing seeds of doubt, which is why we must dig deep for that strength. Life is a game of you versus you. If those around you win, good for And if they lose, well, hey, wish them well on the next go-around. But none of it has any bearing on who you are and the race you're running. Are you going to show up for you? Are you going to be your biggest fan when it takes every single part of you to keep going?

Don't let the loudest voices in the room dissuay you from what you know to be right. Don't let the blue dots hinder your direct line to the bull's eye, right? Block out that noise, block out the distractions, and do what is required of you. Win your race, because that's the only finish line of value. Walk your path because that will bring you where you need to be. And when you question the pursuit, remember what you've overcome. all the steps that brought you to right now and how, yeah, maybe they weren't flashier over the top, but they were consistent.

They've given life to the present moment. What you do is succeed. What you do is overcome. Just don't lose your bullseye. Sometimes it's not about the odds. It's not about things being perfectly aligned for you. Sometimes it's about making something out of nothing. It's about simply finding a way, or as the saying goes, using what you have where you are.

I want to share something with you that I've found pretty valuable. So the World Cup is on, and I really enjoy watching soccer or football, depending on where you're from and what you call it. And caught a handful of games over the Thanksgiving holiday. And one of those games was Argentina against Saudi Arabia. And for those who maybe don't watch or follow international soccer, Argentina is a powerhouse, right? Ranked third in the world coming into the tournament. Their team has some of the best players in the world.

They're just incredible to watch. The Saudis, on the other hand, not so much, right? They're certainly not known for their soccer. So it's kind of a David and Gulles. Eliath-esque story. So what's the significance here? Well, let me share some stats. Argentina possessed the ball 69% of the time. Saudi Arabia, only 31% as expected. Argentina took 15 shots. Saudi Arabia, only three. Again, as expected. Argentina dominated with possession and had more attempts.

Saudi Arabia, however, won the game two to one. Shocker, right? Outmatched, outclassed, out everything, except outscored. Which happens to be the only thing that matters in a soccer game, obviously. They had far fewer opportunities, but what they did do is capitalize on them, made the most of them. Now, those two teams that could play 100 times, it wouldn't be outrageous to predict Argentina winning 95 of those matches. But this is my point. That 5% can be carved out, can be willed into existence.

What it comes down to is what you do with what you have. What you make of those few and far between opportunities that arise. here's the deal, there will be times when we feel simply outmatched by life. As though the universe is outshooting us in control, bending and shaping us to its will. And maybe at that particular point in time, that's exactly what's happening. To use the previous metaphor, maybe at that moment we are not the Argentina. we are relegated to a lesser equipped adversary. My message to you is that there is enough there to hold off the Goliath,

pressing and pushing. My message to you is that there is enough to be outshot, but not outscored. That when we must dig deep, we are capable of unearthing a strength, a will, an ability to rise. I'm not talking about making it through unscathed. No, I'm talking about making it through period when it seems as though we couldn't, when we had to crawl through hell

to reinvent ourselves or rewrite the story. There's power in knowing that despite the seeming struggle and despair that a way exists. In fact, a friend of mine often says to me, there is always a way to arrive at your ideal outcome. You just have to figure out how to connect the dots. In other words, that outcome you're looking for, it already exists. The question is, how do you get from point A to B, to C, to ultimately your destination?

It's not a matter of whether it's possible. It's a matter of arranging the pieces at your disposal to create that bridge. And the reason I love this World Cup metaphor is because that all or nothing mindset in the past has been an adversary for me. Those who've been listening to me for a while have heard me talk about it. It's like things aren't perfect. Fine, I'll wait until they are. And oh, I'm injured and can't work out. Okay, then who cares what I eat, what I do?

I'll wait until things are back till I'm healthy, until they're how I want them to be. But no, to win, sometimes you have to find a way when they're going. the odds are in favor of the resistance. Sometimes you have to step up when life is out shooting you 16 shots to three. Sometimes you have to be better than you thought you could ever be. It's easy to maintain momentum when you're healthy, right? But maintaining momentum when you're not at your best, that's something different altogether. Coming out on top when you're the underdog, digging deep and finding a way to win.

when the easy thing to do would be to submit to life. That's special. And guess what? It's always there. It's always available. Admiral McRaven, in one of my favorite speeches ever written, he says, if you want to change the world, you must learn to be your very best in your darkest moments.

It's beautifully said. It makes perfect sense. It seems reasonable. until we are knee-deep in those moments. It's easy to forget when we feel intimidated by a task that seems bigger than us. It's easy to forget looking up at an obstacle or situation that seems to be statistically favored by life. It's easy to forget when walking away feels like the more pragmatic option. But that's why, regardless of that.

of the hill to climb, you must remember. When you are outmatched or seemingly outclassed amidst the battles of life, there is a way to come out on top, emerge victorious. Your job is to find it. And the opportunities may be few and far between, but what will you do with them when they present themselves? How will you make the most of the resources? that you do have.

Because sure, life is largely determined by the small stuff, the predictable things, what we do day in and day out. But the pivotal moments, the times that shape our existence, they come down to finding a way when there appears to be nothing to cling to. You are down but never out, lost but never gone, as long as there is a heart beating in your chest. As long as there is blood pumping through your veins, there is a way. I challenge you to find it.