Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - STOP WISHING START DOING | Best Motivation for Success

Episode Date: May 1, 2024

"We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us." – Joseph Campbell Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube  Join Eddie Pinero in this profound podcast episode as he delves into the essence of life and the importance of perseverance through adversity. Explore how preparing for challenges, focusing on the big picture, and embracing consistency can lead to growth and resilience. Get ready to be inspired to navigate life's journey with courage and determination.

Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway. Now through February 25th, stock up on your favorite self-care items and save up to $3 shop in store or online for items like Old Spice Deodorant, always ultra-thin pads, Gillette Fusion Razors and Refills, Old Spice Total Body Spray, Tampax Pearl, and Gillette Mach 3 Razors and Refills and Save Up to $3. You won't want to miss out on these deals. Offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit Safeway.com for more detail.

on new tech. Upgrade the whole team at Lenovo.com. Unlock AI experiences with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, powered by Intel Core Ultra processors, so you can work, create, and boost productivity all on one device. When the tech search for business PCs at Lenovo.com. It's when we most want to turn around,

that we must keep going. When all we see is darkness, that we must have faith in the light. It's when we feel most vulnerable, that we must become unshakable. See, there's a misconception that strength implies a total absence of weakness or doubt that courage means never feeling fear or uncertainty.

When in reality, these things are human. They've been wired into us. As Ernest Becker has said, we are simultaneously worms and gods. Worms in that, sure, we're animals, flesh and bone, unable to avoid death or misfortune or tragedy in life. But most importantly, gods,

in that we have the divine ability to transcend these inevitable circumstances, to find hope in the seemingly hopeless, to see opportunity in life's obstacles and growth when we fall, to take the meaningless and give it meaning. And one of the most important things I've learned is that when life knocks me down,

pushes me to my limits, it's not some indication that I walked the wrong path. It's no referendum on who I am. No, it's a hand-extended offering the chance for me to be more than I've ever been. And in a world of delusion and distraction, it's a reminder that we have the capacity to turn life's hardship into a better tomorrow. The difference between facts or fiction, possible or impossible success or failure, is

the decision to get up when life knocks us down. This world, it's not easy. tests us, challenges us. It makes us think we are but a cog in the wheel of life. It can be tough. But your weapon, your strength is knowing that you are tougher. And look, I know that adversity hurts, but I also know that you're capable. You are strong enough to turn that struggle into something meaningful. Where most would turn back, you have a, in you to take one step forward. Let the walls crash down.

The skies open up and the ground shake. See, this is minor detail in your world. Transcend. Transcend the average, the earthly constraints and the mental limitation. Remember who you are. Why you started. Remember that when your surroundings attempt to pull you back down to Earth, You have no interest in the narratives they offer to you.

You are unshakable. Everyone wants to be great. Everyone wants to be the best, the top, the 1%. Or as the saying goes, everyone wants to be a beast, until it's time to do what beasts do. See, what life has revealed and continued. to emphasize is that our most vital decisions, they present themselves in the dark of night. The chaos of the battle, they show up amidst our discomfort. We know these moments. The ones that

seek to stop us in our tracks and turn us around. They are what must be prepared for. They are the gateway to excellence. So let's look at it. the big picture for a minute life in totality because consistently doing this simple easy things they're important consistency of that which is simple is the foundation it's what we build the structure upon but it is far from everything moving right along we have the difficult things that push us to be more that show us who we are that hurt that test us the temporary storms, they are the armor we come to wear. They're what prepares us to endure the trials and tribulations of life like a muscle that must be grown and developed.

But the difficult things are far from everything. Because lastly, we have our defining moments. The moments that put it all together, when the sky feels like it's fall. like it's falling, the body feels like it's failing, the mind feels like it's dwindling. Presenting the question, will you do the hard thing when you feel like you can't do the hard thing? It's doing what's difficult when the situation around you is screaming at the top of its lungs. You've gone too far. You've separated from normalcy.

See, you are wandering into something that can no longer be deemed predictable or safe. See, running is hard. But running when you're tired, when you didn't get a great sleep last night, you don't feel good. When you're busy, when your schedule's full, when you have things to do, when you're in the midst of your workout and your lungs are screaming for air, the cloud of pain is hovering over you. as you make your way forward for no other reason, then you told yourself you would. That's not hard, that's transformative. Going to the gym is hard.

But going to the gym when you don't want to, when you don't even feel like stepping into the car, when your mind is trying to rationalize a day off, when you're asking yourself what the point was to begin with, That's not hard. That's transformative. Growing your business is hard. But growing your business when you've experienced a monumental letdown,

when you went all in and were left empty handed, when you were chewed up and spit back out, yet you showed up, kept your eyes locked in on that win, that's not hard, that is transformative. See, these monumental moments, the ones that break so many of us that we've all come face to face with over the course of our lives, they're not about easy versus hard. They're about doing the hard thing when it seems as though you cannot do the hard thing. The world is saying no.

Your body is saying no. That chirping in your head is saying no. Can you separate yourself from that hurt and that anger and that disappointment? Can you segment the negativity knowing that you will do what you can to remedy this situation? But that life's curveballs can't stop you from moving forward for the simple reason that you won't let them. When life gets hard, you have to be harder. The one who gets bolder. You have to learn to surprise yourself.

Here is what I believe to be the goal. It's a pinnacle. It's what I aspire to become when life puts me through hell. To dig deep and find the emotional IQ, the awareness, to know that right now is the invitation I've been longing for. My chance to level up. See, you might be wondering what brought this concept to the forefront of my mind. And well, it was one of life's inevitable setbacks.

And I had to look in the mirror and say, I'm not going to think about the technical issues. It just cost me thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of my time. No, I'm going to one learn, but put parameters in place so it never happens again. And two, find the opportunity. See, when we build back, we tend to build back stronger, clean slate, new lease on life. Where can I be better than I was? Where can I pinpoint and capitalize on the value I once walked right by?

When we adopt this mentality, we become unstoppable. Someone on the outside looking in might say it's over the top. And it is. But so are the things that I want. They might say it's not that simple. Correct. Running away from our problems is simple. I'm not about that life.

They might say it's impossible to do all the time, to think that way every day, and perhaps so. But if we bow our heads and retreat every time life isn't perfect, we'll never attempt anything. I'm not aiming for perfection. I'm aiming for progress. Those who aim for perfection tend to spend the entirety of their lives doing exactly that, aiming, planning,

speculating. Wanting more for yourself means receiving more rejection from the world. It means elongated valleys of despair. It means deeper treks through the heart of the vast unknown across distant lands and through turbulent waters. It means doing the hard thing when the circumstances are what mere mortals call impossible. At some point, we must transcend the versions of ourselves we once were. We must recategorize and redefine the adversity we face in life. Be the ones who find something where others see nothing. Find value in the seemingly valueless.

Let us start from the premonition that there is always a solution. And if there is always a solution, there is always a way to bring it to existence. Some will stop it easy. Fine, let them. Some will stop at hard, great to each their own. But if one dares to push further, to trudge forth into the night, they will be tasked with doing the hard thing when the circumstances are devastating. They will be asked not just to sail the ship, but to sail it through the storm, to not just build the tower.

But to build as the skies open up, the wind blows and the ground shakes, that will be the difference. That has always been the difference. So what will you do when the time arises? Who will you choose to become? A lot of people ask me, why running? Why the 5 a.m. wake-ups? The grueling mileage. Why the hours under the summer sun?

And well, my answer is simple. It reminds me that life becomes what we allow it to be. Because absolutely you can sleep in, but you'd miss that crisp morning air. And sure, you don't have to put in the miles, but then you'd never really know how far your legs can take you. And yeah, you can sit and watch the world from the shade. Just don't be surprised when it runs right by you. See, to me, it's more than running.

It's about inverting the commonly held belief that would other otherwise narrate our day to day, rule over our lives. The belief that showing up is enough. The tendency to slow down when life hurts. The misconception that the crowd's direction is the right direction. See, I can tell you that in my battles with the pavement in my solitude, one step at a time I've learned a few things. I've learned that anyone can show up, but there's a direct correlation between the work I put in in that time on the clock.

And I've learned that what separates the few from the many is not an ability to avoid pain, but to be your best when that pain inevitably shows up. And as far as the crowd, well, that's just the last place you want to be. Common is antithetical to greatness. And well, when I get home and I put my feet up, I want to know one thing. I want to know that when most would have stopped, I kept going. When most would have doubted, I was certain that in a world of crowds and rules and conformity, I was uncommon. And so it goes that each step is about training the mind to see that alone is not incorrect.

alone is going where most won't see the word exceptional carries with it and understanding you're paying a price most would refuse to pay and pushing through is about carving into your soul the truth that discomfort is not a reason to stop or hide it's a gateway to the good stuff it's why you're here and each breath is about carving out a place for yourself in a world that that needs what you have to give it. It's making a mark, leaving a legacy. It's not the road or the trail or the feet on the pavement.

It's about taking what's in front of you and converting it into something more, something greater. That's why I run it. That's why the accusation, odd, crazy, abnormal, and uncommon gets the same response. Good. Today belongs to the architect. He sees towers before they pierce the sky,

an opportunity before it transforms into the extraordinary. He knows that what he wants most cannot be given. It must be sculpted. So he builds. He builds because those skylines don't raise themselves from the earth, the extraordinary does not appear on its own. They are dreamed into existence by the architects of reality, the ones who seek not to take from the world,

but to contribute to it. Today is the beginning of something new, something better, something worth remembering. And it's existed long before the present moment waiting for your vision, your courage, your persistence to bring it to life. Too many times we fail to reach into the realm of what we know and get more of ourselves. It's okay to struggle, to be wrong, to have to rebuild a thousand times, but the great tragedy is closing our eyes and walking by life's opportunity.

Everything you need to rebuild the life you dream of is around you. Your every move. If only you'd reach for it, see it before your eyes. You become the architect of change. Nothing is impossible when you are the one setting the rules, when your hand draws the guidelines. You are not at the mercy of the world. You are creating it.

this is yours and there will never be a moment like it again so don't run from it or hope life gives you what you want take the pieces in front of you and construct your masterpiece ready to prioritize yourself in the new year your skin is a great place to start dime beauty founded by a master esthetician

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Revive your skin and give yourself the routine refresh you deserve by visiting dimebeautyco.com. That's dime beauty, co.com. Your best skin awaits. Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway. Now through February 25th, stock up on your favorite self-care items and save up to $3 shop in store or online for items like Old Spice Deodorant. Always ultra-thin pads.

Gillette fusion razors and refills. Old Spice, Total Body Spray, Tampax Pearl, and Gillette Mach 3 razors and refills, and save up to $3. You won't want to miss out on these deals. Offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply.

Visit safeway.com for more detail. 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 anticipated, you did two things. You reinforced the value of an effective, committed team, but you also emphasize that if that candle is 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 or uncertainty.

You reminded me that 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, but 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. 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. Falling through the air, a million thoughts came into my head. Would this be the end of my journey?

Was it the wrong decision? Did I not appreciate what I had enough? See, just a moment before, peering down at the ocean below, I could see just how long the fall would be. Watching the waves crash against the rocks, the birds glide through the sky, well, it makes a human feel awfully small. Detached. I couldn't help, but think maybe there was something more that perhaps with all this seeing, this wishing, this wondering, I'd feel. forgotten to feel. I'd become a spectator in my own life, a silent observer. Because years and years had gone by and nothing changed. I'd waited, I'd hoped, I'd believed, but the goal escaped me.

And at some point, enough has to be enough. I walked up to the ledge, looked back one last time, held out my arms and I stepped off. They say that if you wait for the perfect moment, you'll be waiting all your life. And while that was a possibility I couldn't entertain, I was scared, unsure, ill-prepared, but as I forced my eyes open, they were greeted with the promise of a destination unknown,

the beginning of something new. For the first time I didn't hear the wind, I felt it. The adrenaline coursing in my veins took hold of every move. My fear became my wings. My free fall evolved into a calculated flight. I was in control. I'd traded every fear I'd ever had for a freedom I'd never known. This is what it means.

to live. Learn to fly on the way down. It's never the fall itself, but the idea of it that scares us. The what-ifs that corner us and lobby for our submission. What I've come to realize is that having no wings was simply my excuse. Finding them was my solution. Every step in the journey has taken you here.

Triumph, the defeat, yops, and the downs. The times you went through hell because you knew at some point, at some time it would be the difference and now is that time. Someday is knocking at the door. they'll talk numbers. They'll speak in absolutes. They may even question your right to be here. Here is when most falter.

When the fearful run and the timid hide, but not you. In fact, it's from these very ashes of improbability. You will raise your flag. From their doubt, you will be. build your empire. Yes, you will be tested, but you've proven you'll find a way, and you will feel pressure, but you know you're made to rise to the occasion. See, that feeling in your chest, that life coursing through your veins, it's your body coming

to terms with what your brain already knows. You were put on this planet for right now. You sacrificed for now, fought for now. You bled for right now. This is no coin flip or testing of fate. It's a coming out party. One where the answer need not be constructed. See, you've already built it.

Brick by brick, day by day, night by night. It's not a time to rebuild, it's a time to be who you know you are. And if you can do that, if you can find the courage to do that, it will be more than enough. The most feared warrior knows that victory is not dependent on those looking at him across the battlefield. Their swords can't pierce what you've built. Their shields can't deflect the inevitable. This is your day.

It's your time, the will that lives within you, it's the preparation, the self-belief, and the heart. It's why you will arise. It's why normal does not apply to you. Because normal was a stepping stone along the way. Normal was the discipline to show up. It was the commitment to trust in the process. Normal was every second you wanted to take the easy road and, didn't. And from those moments, from the normalcy of the day to day, from the very heart of the

unspectacular, the extraordinary is born from this process you have emerged. Gizzled from stone and prepared for anything this world will put in front of you, you'll find a way. Look, I'm not asking you to become something new. I'm reminding you. who you know you already are. Our lives require failure. Like our lungs require oxygen. And when I find the world around me lacking in the resources that I need, it's because in so many ways I have forgotten to breathe.

To step out my walls of comfort and breathe in lessons waiting to be taught by the greatest of teeth. features life. Life, the unpredictable and often unremarkable miracle. The book that reveals itself through experience that tells tales only in hindsight. Our world is a book in which we choose our own ending and so we must fail. Because failing means living and we were meant to live. We must fail because every failure is the mark of a poet, an artist, or an author bringing this story one step closer to its resolution.

Continually walking up to a blank wall and making a mark. A single trivial mark. A mark that's misunderstood at best, but lightly scoffed at, ridiculed. But each mark. gives meaning to the one before it. These marks, they become chapters, become narrative shifts, become stories. Every failure you throw against this wall

becomes part of a mural. It's an element of beauty before the work can even be deemed beautiful. Yet we continually misunderstand. When you hang your head in disappointment, when you see only the smudge of paint you through against that wall, You are oblivious to the fact that you're making something meaningful. So here is my challenge to you. I dare you in the midst of the Mona Lisa you are creating to see it before it's done.

I dare you to be strong enough to fail not just once, but over and over and over again. I dare you to keep your eyes focused, locked in, on what's in front of you. When everyone you know hides their failures, when they scream of every little wind for all the world to hear, I dare you to understand what they do not, to cherish your failures. To maintain trust in the unseen. And when all you want is to get there,

I dare you to see your greatness before you arrive. I dare you to look in the mirror and see the hero inside you right now. I dare you to do that. I dare you to take your struggle and see amidst the pain your purpose, your purpose that will lift you up when you've fallen and will carry you forward when you're lost. I dare you to see light when there appears only. darkness and when none presents itself I dare you to light the spark to be the answer

you need I dare you to stand up to the human tendency to embrace security over adventure and predictability over growth I dare you to walk into the darkness of night knowing that today's unknown becomes tomorrow's foundation and when it hurts Like truly hurts when you look around and can't remember why you began or what's pulling you forward. I dare you to close your eyes and imagine looking back and thanking yourself for taking this path. Every low is a courageous step towards transformation and if you've forgotten that, I hope this reminds you why it all matters. I hope you remember why this mark, the one you're making right now,

is part of the masterpiece you've been longing for. It's taking you exactly where you need to be. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year? Your skin is a great place to start. Dime Beauty, founded by a master aesthetician, is more than just a skincare company, with four skin-conscious categories, skin care, beauty, body care, and fragrance,

Dime offers simple, spa-worthy products that will help you enter 2025 with confidence. Whether you're revitalizing your regimen with nourishing products or building one from scratch, Dime makes it easy. The work system, our all-in-one best-selling routine, includes a cleanser of your choice, toner, serums, and moisturizers, taking the guesswork out of skin care

for your healthiest, happiest skin yet. Dime's commitment to clean ingredients and sustainable packaging ensures every product is as gentle on your skin as it is on the planet. With thousands of glowing five-star reviews and a loyal community, the results speak for themselves. Revive your skin and give yourself the routine refresh you deserve by visiting dimebeautyco.com. That's dime beauty co.com.

Your best skin awaits. Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway. Now through February 25th, stock up on your favorite self-care items and save up to $3.00 shop in store or online for items like Old Spice Deodorant. Always ultra-thin pads. Gillette Fusion Razors and Refills. Old Spice, Total Body Spray, Tampax Pearl, and Gillette Mach 3 Razors and Refills

and save up to $3. You won't want to miss out on these deals. Offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit safeway.com for more detail. Living is easy. It's my inability to die that kills me.

My hesitance to lock my old persona. up and place it within the ship's cargo hold, watch its sail away to some far off place. Maybe for a minute, maybe forever. But the bird has to be uncaged. It must unlearn its constraints. It must metaphorically die to transcend that which it knew itself to be. I think we all have wings.

I think very few of us put them to use. And isn't that the challenge? Perhaps we're too busy living. I've always had the ability. Now I've captured the fleeting awareness next. I must obtain the courage. Because the rule, the truth, the beacon of light to be followed

is we're always one decision away from a totally different life. If dare I decide to take the mask off, It's been so effectively fooling others that I begun to fool myself. Dare I decide to play new games with new rules to see life with new eyes? Perhaps upside down. But when your sight is finally, finally set on infinity, when you're looking at the clouds while lying on your back, who's right, them or you?

Who gets the honor of deciding? And sometimes I wonder how far we need to walk to understand that the danger isn't stepping into a new pair of shoes. It's thinking you need to walk the same path down the same street in the same pair of shoes you've had on your entire life. Strange, peculiar, according to the previous cognitive. mappings, but maybe they're crazy is your oxygen. Maybe crazy is pure. It's desirable. It's been the goal all along. And, well, where I thought I dedicated my life to its pursuit, I see how wrong

I was. To think something new could emerge. No, not without the death of the old. Not without that caricature of myself slipping away. Not without that ship taking everything, every last thing. I want roots ripped from the ground. I want new heroes and new villains, new street signs telling of new roads, new tears from eyes stimulated by that which I've never seen, the increased rhythm of a new heartbeat, in anticipation of all that lies ahead.

New beginnings, maybe for a minute, or maybe forever, I'll let you know once I learn to die. Greatness comes from humble beginnings, from grunt work. It means you're the least important person in the room until you change that with results. See, ego tells us that we need success now. It replaces action and progress with a false. sense of reality. We fall to pretend stories and made up visions of who we are, but they mean nothing. Talk means nothing. Even a child knows how to gossip and chatter. Anyone can do that. What's rare

is silence. The ability to deliberately keep yourself out of the conversation and subsist without its validation. Silence is moving forward and creating every single day. Ego is the enemy of what you want and what you have, of mastering a crap, of real creative insight. Because it takes what's most important and deems it insignificant. The struggle, the uncertainty, the doubt,

the things that not only light the path to success, they are the very foundation success, stands on. These things keep us humble. They make us students. They show us that the best never stop learning because with certainty comes the death of creativity. As Richard Feynman states, you must not fool yourself,

and you are the easiest person to fool. When you fall into the trap of seeing recognition as the goal or status as the finish line, you will fall short time and time to fall short. and time again. Triumph lives in a purpose much larger than yourself, from a focus not on being but doing, on driving toward a target,

revealing a simple question, are you doing what you set out to do? Are you willing to endure what most aren't? Put in the hours and hours that go unnoticed, the struggle that goes unrecognized, and the incremental progress that goes unseen. Are you willing to let go of ego and become the best possible version of yourself? Failure, by definition, a lack of success.

The definition of success, the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. According to these very guidelines, failing is to be marching toward an end point, and for one reason or another, not getting there. Is failure a possibility? Of course it is. There are no definites in life. But failure is also self-induced. It is not an outside occurrence. It's not a coin flip or an event that we helplessly watch unfold before us. It's not up to chance. Failure is a decision. The decision to end that same march that you once started. Just like putting on your shoes is a decision. Just like traveling or running or eating, these are decisions that we make. And when the word is all too frequently brought up in everyday conversation, what's evident is that there is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to, quote-unquote, fail. It's spoken about as though it's something that's projected onto us.

As though failure is an illness or catastrophic event, something that emerges and subdues its victims. And speaking of it in such a way, misdiagnoses the problem. It's easy to say, so-and-so started a business and it failed. So-and-so didn't make the team, so they failed. But there's more here. One does not fail until they take a step back, look at the situation and say that it's no longer worth it anymore.

You don't fail until the moment you raise the white flag and say, I cannot do this. Because if you're out there, if you're changing, adapting, stretching yourself and your abilities, if you're seeking help, mentors, learning, growing, embracing the struggle, being relentless in your effort, no one can bring that word into the conversation. It cannot exist. If you are moving forward, you are not failing. You cannot be working towards something and failing at the same time. It is impossible.

You can have your ups and downs. No one will refute that. You can get knocked on your ass, have moments of fear and doubt, but that is growth, not failure. Growth is taking the uncomfortable and adapting to it, overcoming the obstacles that inevitably get in your way. Failure, on the other hand, is deciding that growth is no longer worth the sweat.

Because I'll tell you what, there's always a way to win, and I truly believe that. Sometimes the cost is extreme, sometimes the price is more than everyone around you is willing to pay, but that's a conversation that you need to have with yourself. Just know that if you want it, somewhere there exists a solution.

And knowing that is the beginning of greatness. It is the start of success. And as for that question, what if I fail? Here's some insight. That thought is wasted time and it is wasted energy. Because as far as your goals go, you pull the source. strings. You are the writer, you are the director, and you are the actor. Failure only occurs when you write it into your script, when you choose it for an ending. And it is one ending. One of many.

It is one approach of many. Once you've started that march towards what's important to you, do not let failure be the choice that you make. Choose growth. Choose the advent of choose the long way home. Victory over defeat, the uphill climb over regret, choose to move forward when most wouldn't. It's the decision you'll always be thankful you made. I once heard a metaphor that our existence is like standing behind a curtain with tears or holes and reality becomes which holes we decide to look through when we're peering out at the world on the other side. What do we want to see?

And this message, well, it's for whoever out there feels like giving up or folding their hand. Whoever's been waiting for things to change but only sees the clock moving forward. This is a reminder that the very thing you need is on the other side of that curtain. And you don't need to change who you are. You just need to position yourself to see it. because it's there and you're ready. When life hurts, we might have every reason to be in pain, to feel lost or confused,

but I always find it to be a beautiful reminder that we also have every reason to seek out from that pain, something we've never been before. Why is it that our greatest accomplishments come when our backs are to the wall? Our greatest acquisitions after losing something dear to us. Why is it that we find ourselves in our way only after being lost? I've never heard someone say, thank God I never changed or left or tried something new.

No, it's thank God the adversity forced upon me, the courage to evolve into something more. Pain is to our potential what water is to a seed. It's the beginning of everything unshackling, opening the gate. in making us realize we were sitting on the answers. That adversity doesn't stop you, it makes you stronger. That the down times lift you up. That when you lose yourself, you find a part of you that can now become the bridge to your future.

See, I understand that things are difficult and challenging. I understand they're not easy, and I'm not asking you to pretend it's not happening. or ignore it or close your eyes. I'm asking you to find amidst all of this, that one thing, one thing that will get you to tomorrow. I'm asking you to find the courage to say, yes, this hurts, yes, I'm stretched thinner than I've ever been,

but I'm still going to find a way. I'm still going to make it happen. Because at the end of the day, you won't remember what hurt or what stood in your way, but you'll remember what you did about it. You'll remember how you arranged those pieces. How when your instincts said run, you stopped and built something you'll never forget. I often ask myself, what differentiates those who wish for better outcomes and those who do something about it?

What separates the dreaming from the progress and the wishing from the reality? Sure, life is complex. There are a lot of moving parts to understand. But I think this element is simple. Those who build things in life are willing to not only see a reality that hasn't yet materialized. But they also understand that in a world of no, they have to be the yes.

They have to believe in a world of no. They have to believe in their ability to drive towards finish lines that no one else sees. And see meaning cannot come to fruition without that discomfort. Or as Nietzsche put it, one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. And that's just it. Most people see what is. Most people conform.

They do not create. To change something means you have to be the metaphorical eagle amongst pigeons, flying above all that, everyone, everything else, superseding the limiting beliefs that shackle others to their one-dimensional realities. But most importantly, it means you can see. You can see what no one else can. You have line of sight to what no one else understands. See in this world, no one walks up to you on the street, puts their arm around you and says, hey kid, that dream, follow that,

because I can tell you're going to do big things. No one says, hey, that business idea, you're going to thrive next year, I know it. That relationship, it's going to happen. That level of fitness, oh, I can see it already. Nope. People see what's right in front of them. And as it pertains to you and your world, your life, people are those pigeons.

And so that leaves you with a choice. Do you accept that? Do you blend in, take the scraps you're allowed to consume the crumbs laid out in front of you? Or do you step back and acknowledge that this is going to be tough? This is going to hurt. It's going to push me further as a person that I've ever been pushed. But you know what I get in return?

That view. I get to live above the clouds with those who don't wait in line. No, they become the main attraction. They transform what is into what will be. Because the world, it has a way of ensuring that we really want what we say we do. Greatness in any area of life. is reserved for those willing to carry forward when most would turn back. To build a bridge to something greater.

When most people point out that your bridge is not connected to anything, that it's a waste of time, it's trivial, useless, irrational. Good. Changing your life in the world around you has to be irrational. Taking the status quo and shaking it, saying, I'm going to alter this landscape is irrational. But from irrationality comes the future. So when you feel like the world is against you, when you have an uphill battle to climb,

when there are a million reasons for you to turn around, understand that this is nothing more than an indicator that you are right where you need to be. Against the current, bringing something new to life. See if it were easy, it would already exist. But changing your life, that makes you an architect of the unseen.

So build. On the days you want to build. On the days you don't build. When they understand build and when they assume you've all together lost your mind, build. Sure, it's not easy, but it's worth it. And when tomorrow comes, and it looks a lot different from today, when you've grown, evolved, transformed, and you look back and don't even recognize the person you once were,

that won't be because you listen to the chirping of the doubters and the naysayers. It won't be because when strangers told you to give up, you packed your bags and went home. No, it will be because you rose above all that. They saw empty space and you saw a world undiscovered. They saw your head in the clouds while you built those castles in the air. You were always on a trajectory to something greater. You didn't need to convince them.

You needed to convince yourself. To unlock the shackles and take to the sky, leave everything that once held you down behind. This isn't about anyone else. It's about the conversation between you and the horizon that await. There have been times in my life when I'd been down. I've been out, I've been afraid, I've looked up at the road ahead and been completely unsure. And I can say firsthand when you're going through a situation like this,

that it essentially consumed you, right? It's all you see. It's all you think about, to the point where the good stuff, the opportunity all around you, it becomes transparent. You see right through it. It's the negative. It's misfortune for a period of time that becomes your narrative. Becomes the story. What if this is forever?

What if I'm not as good as I want to be or as they are? What if things don't work out? Never mind the fact that you've been here before and you've battled back. Never mind how far you've come. No, that takes a backseat to the discomfort that we feel right now, and that's the irrationality of the human mind we forget. We forget that the lows create the highs. That temporary isn't forever that you can't stand

with any type of authority if you've never before fallen. Accomplishing anything is never just walking up and reaching a goal. It's about getting back up over and over again. Taking the bad breaks in stride and seeing the losses for what they are necessary. What if I told you that the difficult times weren't just manageable, they were what you needed. Those moments when you felt helpless were a bridge to something better. A demonstration of just how capable you are and how strong you can be. Feeling lost, feeling defeated, sure, it's unsettling. But it's also a reminder that you are exactly where you need to be. In one

form or another, your struggle becomes your answer. Life isn't always calm seas and sunny skies, but if you let it, it will teach you to weather any storm to come out on top. Never lose sight of the opportunity. It's there. Hiding behind the struggle immersed in the ups and downs, and when you know that you will not let yourself stay down, that you'll get up. Struggle becomes a building block, not a weight around the ankles. With each stumble you become taller. With each misstep, you step forward.

The problem will never be tough times. It will be refusing to find that next level for fear of their materialization. Regret is a choice. And for those who refuse to stay down, it will be a choice that they'll never know. Valentine's Day is just around the corner and nothing says love like the warmth and comfort of a Miki Couture blanket. Whether it's for your sweetheart, your best friend, or even yourself, Miki Couture has the perfect gift to make hearts melt. From luxurious textures to stylish designs, Miki Couture blankets are the ultimate way to show you care. Plus, now through Valentine's Day, enjoy exclusive savings on our limited edition Valentine's collection.

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