Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - THE POWER OF DEDICATION | Best Morning Motivational Speeches Compilation 2024

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

In this episode, we dive into the idea that growth and progress aren’t something we owe to others; they’re a commitment we make to ourselves. Mornings are the perfect opportunity to start small, taking consistent actions that build momentum and set the tone for the day. We don’t need anything grand to move forward—each tiny step we take creates a "snowball effect" that fuels lasting growth. This episode reminds you that you already have everything you need to be your best, not for anyone else’s approval, but because you deserve it. Embrace each morning as a chance to honor yourself with the effort and dedication that brings your goals to life. By focusing on those small actions within your control, you’re not just building a successful day; you’re building a life rooted in self-respect and the understanding that each step is an investment in your own growth. Eddie

You don't owe it to them. You owe it to you. To that 10-year-old version of you staring out at a world of infinite possibility. You owe it to the person you can become inside your soul waiting for permission to emerge. Because who cares about the externalities? What he'll say or she'll do? This isn't about them. This is about that feeling that arises from

asking the world for more, and then stepping out and answering the call. See, we talk a lot about life without actually experiencing it. We're here. We're breathing. But life isn't something guaranteed to materialize. Life is the product of a deep breath in, a head nod. It's a willingness to take a step forward into that adventure that awaits. Life is fighting for that which is meaningful to you. When it's hard, when it hurts,

when you could look around and easily justify the comfort of the mediocrity that surround you. Life is asking for the road less traveled and finding the courage to walk down it. That's life. And see, many will attempt to tell you what's right, to sit you down, explain to you what's meaningful to point and show you where you belong. But this is your journey, which means it's up to you to identify that North Star. It's up to you to find the courage, to carry forth into the night. Not because you owe it to them, but because you owe it to you.

And in a world where people so easily outsource personal agency, where they outsource strength, outsource heroism, You owe it to you to become your own hero. And in the process, embark upon the greatest story ever told. Quite some time has gone by since the last letter I wrote to my younger self. A few years actually. And I think we're due, because older me continues to learn to both enjoy and be humbled by life,

to experience hello and endure goodbyes, to win and to lose, to acquire, and to cut away. The world is a maze of complexity to navigate. And maybe we should start right there. Because look, kid, there are some fundamental ideas about life that you just have wrong. There is no door that you walk through where you suddenly go from not understanding

to finally having all the answers. Part of growing up is realizing how little human beings know about anything. And that's okay. What you'll understand is it's not a reason to run, it's a source of courage to draw from. Oh, but adults are wise. You might think.

No, adults are just children with mortgages. You'll learn that. And as we all become renters, even that's changing, right? Oh, but him over there, or her, wait, them, they have it all figured out. No, they just walk with conviction into their individual unknowns. That's all. Oh, but there has to be some certainty. We have to know some things for sure, you might think.

Well, certainly we do, or at least we think. think we do, but you have to understand 150 years ago, science said bleeding someone out would cure them of their illness. Our pursuit of truth is crucial, but it's a work in progress. Life is a work in progress. You are a work in progress. So what am I talking about? Why does this matter? Because I don't want you to think that you are ill-prepared to venture further into your potential. I don't want you to think that other people have what you don't, that you're not enough.

The world around you is chaos. It's a mess. It's clay. Some people use it to build and create and shape the reality, and others, well, others don't. The kicker here is that nothing is built if you don't first give yourself permission. to take the unknowns and make something with them.

Once you understand that there is no secret code that must be figured out, you free yourself to explore and capture the essence of being alive. Again, life is messy. So go flail around, wander, go get lost. Who cares? You see what I'm saying? You can watch from afar, succumbing to the illusion that the world is some a meticulously constructed orchestra where everything's playing in unison.

Or you can dive in and make your own music, dance to your own melodies, because there is no perfect. There are people who stand still and people who pick up the pieces as they go. Next, and very closely related, younger me, give yourself a chance. Try things. No, more things, bigger things, terrifying things. You see those posters of people you have hung up on your wall? They're not of a different world. They're people like you.

But they decided along the way that they would try, that they would step out a line, break some rules, push life, and see how hard life pushed back. Younger me on my college essay, I referenced one of my favorite quotes, I attributed it to Mark Twain. Turns out it wasn't even by him, but hey, life goes on, right? It said, 20 years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sales. Explore, dream, discover. It's a beautiful quote. And here's what I gather

from it. The biggest mistakes I've made over the course of my lifetime ended up being my greatest teachers, leading me to something new, to where I most needed to be. I mean, a lot of my mistakes are even funny stories, right, that I joke about with buddies over a beer. The vast majority of things you're worried about, they either won't happen or they're reversible. But what gets you, younger me, what truly hurts is wishing you have the courage to apply to that thing that you instead let the deadline slip away. Or talk to that person you walked right by. or audition, or train, or travel, or follow your intuition, your heart to someplace new.

Those are the things we tend to carry around. The second you learn that not going is far scarier than stepping out into the unknown, you'll possess a perspective that's incredibly valuable. It will change your life. And lastly, this one's kind of hard to articulate. but let me tell you, it continues to resurface. Here it is.

If your intuition is telling you something, listen, trust it. If something feels wrong, let it go. If it feels like it's where you need to be, you're being pulled in that direction. Explore, move towards it. When you know in 30 seconds that someone isn't a good person, don't give them your time.

When something doesn't align with your goals or objectives don't feel bad walking away when something excites you, trust that feeling. This is all intuition, and I've come to find that initial response to be more and more valuable. What that feeling is telling you matters. Don't turn your back on that.

Now, of course, there's a line we have to walk, or an element of pragmatism we have to hold on to. Sometimes, when we're particularly upset, it makes sense to let the emotions subside and allow rationality to enter. But this is more about being aware of who you are and what you want, right? Don't talk yourself out of what you know you want and into what you know you don't. Life gives clues.

It's not always 4D chess. Sometimes it can be simple. What's needed is right there. But you have to look around. You have to listen and trust yourself, and no one will ever know you better than you. But if you tune yourself out, then how can you have a shot at living a meaningful life? One on your own terms, be impossible. So younger me, trust yourself.

Beyond what anyone else tells you is best or most beneficial. Again, those are answers only you know. So listen to you. One of my favorite messages is that you are your own experiment. That as we move forward into the haze of the unknown, we understand that at times we'll fall. At times we'll see our plans disintegrate right in front of us. But this is, when we step back and really examine not a cause for alarm,

But a chance to celebrate. Celebrate because the world's pushing back at you implies that you are moving forward. And that is strength. As the saying goes in the broken places, the light shines through. Younger me, promise me you won't be scared of breaking. That you won't fear leaving the harbor.

Because nothing out there is bigger than you. you or too much for you to handle or navigate. The funny thing is, younger me, that your journey is reliant on you giving yourself permission to go, to see, to explore. All that starts with you greenlighting your own adventure. But remember what I'm telling you. There is no rubric for life, it's trial and error. Remember that if you don't give yourself a chance, you simply watch the opportunity slip by.

And remember that you are the only one who knows what's best for you. So trust that intuition. The world will be whatever you choose to make it. And my hope is that you realize you are strong enough. You're bold enough. You're capable enough. to make it whatever that might be. So younger me, go pave your path.

Go blaze your trail. And remember along the way, as you navigate the ups and downs, highs and lows, remember to look up and enjoy the ride. When I first started my podcast, and at that point it wasn't technically a podcast. It was only YouTube video. at the time. I would sit down. I would open my notes and start planning that particular video.

And sometimes things would come to me. Sometimes they wouldn't. And when they did, you know, I would turn on the mic and I would go. And when they didn't, I would shut down the computer and say, well, some other day then, right? Not today. And in theory, there's nothing wrong with this. I've always considered myself an artist, and while you can't force art, or can you? Because there is most definitely a shift that occurs when you look at this situation from a different angle. It's not about, quote, unquote, feeling it today, as much as it's about getting done, which you have to get done in tight windows. Because sometimes that's all life gives you. a narrow window of opportunity to go or not go,

to start or not start, to create or not create. There's an idea that's admittedly a tad cliche here, but it says you practice how you play. And I've spoken about this before. I think there's a ton of truth to it. Because those big picture values, they're hard to flip on and flip off. most likely you either do them all the time or you don't.

They're either indicative of who you are or they're not, right? If your house and car and closet are a disaster, probably accurate to say that your Google or Apple calendar, if you even have one, probably isn't pristine. It's most likely in disarray mirroring everything else in your life. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not likely. And same thing with health. When I'm not eating healthy and trust me, I've gone through periods where I've just mailed that in, right?

I give a little less on my workouts. Place a little less emphasis on my sleep. It snowballs, right? You get the idea. It's all related. And that's why I can honestly say in my personal and in my work life, how I do one thing is generally how I do all things. And this brings me back full circle to those right. writing and recording sessions.

If I can close my laptop and go, eh, not today, the muse, as Stephen Pressfield calls it, just isn't flowing through me. Maybe tomorrow. It's setting a precedent for everything. If you train your mind to create off-ramps, it will gladly take them.

Because oh, how our minds love off-raps. And this reality, it highlights the power of shutting down that possibility altogether, stopping it in its tracks, making it simple. This is a window of opportunity to execute. So execute. And will it be the best thing you've ever done? Maybe not, but maybe.

The reality is you condition your mind to show up for yourself. There's a shift that occurs when one looks at the task in front of them and asks Not can this be done today, but rather it will be done, how do I execute to the best of my ability? Not I hope I have it this morning, but rather good ideas flow through me, so sit down and string a few of those ideas together. The expectation that you will produce something valuable, it has a way of ensuring you do exactly that. My personal best for a half marathon was run with the flu.

I could have closed that metaphorical laptop and said some other time I don't feel well. But I repositioned the question to how do I find a way to execute in this window of opportunity before me? Lo and behold, it was the right move. I've gone to events where I had a million other things happening in my world.

I wasn't particularly thrilled about going, but I did because I committed. I met some people that changed my life, right? Small window, execute. When there is a task before you and you have committed to it, when leaving or turning around isn't even an option, that is a superpower. Now, obviously, there's a line reaching that sunk cost fallacy.

I'm not advocating you continuously hit your head against the wall. You know, when something's bad for you, you should be doing something different. I'm talking about those things we know we should be doing, right? The ones we're better off for, but life has presented friction in one form or another. It's very easy to identify that friction as an enemy, as a reason you can't. It's tempting to say, you'll wait until things are better or easier or perfect, but life doesn't provide those situations.

it gives windows to execute. So train your mind to identify and capitalize in those moments. Understanding that, well, technically, yeah, you could walk away. That option is no longer available to you. Some people do what they feel like, they do what they want to, and others do what must be done. And it's the latter that creates meaningful, sustainable progress in life. As far as I'm concerned, it's the ladder that brings about contentment.

You could have waited for a perfect moment, but instead you said yes, consistently sat down, and in the meantime chipped away at something more important, something real. And that real thing is exponential growth. Exponential growth waits for you to capitalize. It waits for you to commit. It waits for you to sit down and execute. It doesn't wait, though, for you to feel ready. Brne Brown has said,

courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen. It's one of my favorite ideas. because to me it's symbolic of a building process. Taking what would otherwise be blank space, nothingness, and stepping into it. Believing yourself enough to say, there's a void here and I can fill it. I'm strong enough to show myself to the world, my ideas to the world, my work to the world. I have, in Brunay's words, the courage to be seen. Years ago, in 2016, I wrote about my first experience with this epiphany in a video called

Fittingly, Courage. I talk about my light bulb moment where I'm walking down the street and realize everything around me, all of it, was built by people with enough self-belief to think I can add value to the world. I can, in one form or another, take a blank space and create within those parameters something beautiful, something meaningful. I, not him or her, I, can be the reason things change for the better. You know, that's a hard notion to grasp.

Because it's overwhelming to put faith or stock into ideas. You're just writing yourself IOU notes. And it's particularly difficult when things take time or don't go the way you want them to. Immediately, you start to feel crazy. And you know for a fact those around you can't see it, understand. How could they? This is a you thing, right? It exists in your head and your head only. But that building to your left, that song you're listening to, the book you're reading, that car you're driving, these things exist because those who brought them to life survived the storm.

They believed and hung in long enough, pushed beyond the self-doubt. They escaped that maze that chews up and spits out so many. And a few weeks ago, I was in Vegas for a podcast and doing some marketing for a new venture. It's with a friend and business partner. We're on the balcony looking out over Vegas. And we're both inspired in that moment because we're reminded how big the world is

and how everything below us is a product of courage. Opportunity captured and acted upon by those who believe, believed in themselves to do it. And Tyler's pointing down to different things. Those offices were built by someone. Every light built by someone. Every car going down the road, built by someone.

Emphasizing just that beautiful reality, it's all possible, but you have to initiate it. And it's incredible how things come full circle. Seven years ago, the scary thing was putting my voice out there. You know fast forward a little bit, same game, just different stakes. It's like it will always be true if you want to increase your impact do not forget two things. One, it's possible for you and two it takes courage. Sure self-belief alone it won't get you through the finish line but without it there is no race to begin with. There is no starting point.

Only dreams, only wishing, only hoping. Courage says everything around me was brought to life by people with the strength to convert nothing into something. And those people, they are not gods. They are no different or better or greater than you or I. They see blank space and ask why not me? Why couldn't I leave a mark or make a change?

And that's just it. You can be the one. Not some other guy, not your neighbor, not the folks on social media, you. But you have to believe it and be willing to trudge through the storm. You have to be willing, as difficult as it might seem at first, to be seen. To step out of the darkness and into the light, you have that courage within you. So remind yourself that, one, it's there. and two, it's who you are.

And I promise you, the world will change around you. When I was younger, posters of the Boston skyline were plastered all over the walls in my room. Something about the city, it pulled me in. It was a portal of sorts. Encapsulating many of the things I loved, right?

My favorite sports teams. where I saw some of my first concerts, was a place where anything and everything happened. As a young kid, it was representative of what life could be. The possibility. Now I reference this now, because my day-to-day is obviously more complex than it was then. My cognitive mapping of the world looks a lot different today than it did when I was 13.

I've seen a lot of possibility become responsibility. And in many ways, that's just part of growing up. Matured, it's a great thing. But I also believe we are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. I think we're capable of being present and dreaming simultaneously. And when we let go of the ladder, we forfeit something innate, beautiful about our time on this planet. This thought was prompted by my looking around the house the other day.

I'm realizing there's absolutely nothing on the walls that resembles that world. You'd never know it was the same person. There are no rock bands, there's no fast cars or cityscapes. Not now. And the point is not that I need those things or even want them. The point is, without a doubt, a doubt, their existence symbolized a hope, a sense of excitement. Their presence reinforced that there is something fun and invigorating out there. They reminded me of the world's breadth,

beyond my going to school and soccer practice. And I don't want to lose that. I don't want anyone to lose that. See, our imaginations shouldn't be inversely proportional to our age. Taking down the poster shouldn't leave a void that's never filled again. And I guess I wanted to pass that reminder along. Just how much of life is unexplored. Simply because you've drawn parameters around yourself over the years and called it your day-to-day existence doesn't mean that's all there is. And you used to know that. When you hung posters and played with your friends, you used to know that. We all did. What makes life incredible is that we are always one decision away from recapturing that magic. We've never gone too far to adjust a situation we aren't happy

with. We're never too old to explore that idea that we've had in the back of our minds. we're never too far in to change direction or pick a new path. What you see around you isn't all there is. That's what we need to remind ourselves. In so many ways, reality isn't a set of instructions we have to adhere to. It's something we build. And when you stop dreaming, when you stop growing, you also stop building. When you stop building, you stop living.

Maybe I don't hang those pictures on my wall anymore, but now I have the ability to actually, physically, step out my front door and immerse myself into the upside of life. We all do. If this world does anything, it extends its hand and invites us to step further into it. It asks us to remember that which has been taught. tucked away in our imagination, to bring it to life one step at a time.

When the run got difficult, I would often count streetlights. Why? Because at some point I realized that it wasn't so much the immediate moment that was painful as it was the idea that I had to continue on, a fear of the unknown. Our minds are brilliant because they have the power to gaze into the future, to anticipate, to predict, and sometimes that prediction materializes in the form of stress and pain in the present. A pain that, let's face it, is manufactured. See, the present moment may be uncomfortable, but it's manageable.

It's always something we can harness and adapt ourselves to. But make-believe scenarios, the imaginary monsters we let in, well, I don't know how well-equipped we are to handle those, so I've found solace in simply keeping them out. See, counting streetlights, it brings me to the now. I can always get to the next street light. In fact, it's always visibly in front of me. It's tangible. It's real.

There is no space for tricks or scary stories when I count streetlights. My mind's job is to focus on those tall metal fixtures. And the body's job is to listen and move accordingly. And while sure, there is pain, it is manageable. When you look it directly in the eyes, not with regard to what it can be, but as it exists now in this moment, we can always rise to be more than we once thought possible. These streetlights simply remind us of that fact. And so beyond this moment, when the running shoes are off, long after the finish line crossed, it's imperative that the idea remains that yes life will be painful and life can hurt but it never gives you in one

instant more than you can handle and sometimes it might seem so sometimes it might appear overwhelming but when we remind ourselves that we're simply borrowing pain from a future that has not yet arrived when we refocus on what is within our control We empower ourselves. Our greatness expands and our strength intensifies. Because look, there's a time and a place for everything. And in our moments of duress, when the world is weighing down on us,

I've found the answer to be thinking less and trusting more. And the next footstep transforms into not the detail but the story in its entirety. Sure, sometimes life is about planning and calculating and strategizing, but sometimes life also calls us to put our heads down, shut our minds off, and find a way to move towards something greater. It's step, step, light post, step, Step, light post, demoting the discomfort from the star of the movie or the main character to a subtle observer.

Sitting quietly in the background as you do what you were going to do anyway with or without it. Never forget how much control you have over the current moment, and that our greatest pain is often masked. in a fiction, a delusion, when we find ourselves stuck. It's because of a future that has one not arrived, and two is outside the scope of the task at hand. It's not because of what's around the corner that we survive life's trying times,

it's because we dig deep enough to get to that next light post. That next day, that next stop, that next chapter, look, you will emerge victorious. Not because of the future, but the now. Because you realize your strength, shut off the world, and conquered your next step.

What is the complex, but an accumulation of that, which is simple. What are big things if not just a multitude of little things. There's comfort in the understanding that all we have in life, all there is, is simplicity, easy to understand pieces. It's just that sometimes we stack them so high that they start to take a new shape.

But like Greg McKeown references in his book Essentialism, the power isn't always in acquiring answers. You already have them. They're in front of you. The power is in cutting away the things that don't need to be there. Removing all that stands between you and your ideal existence. And I think that's one of life's great misunderstandings. We don't need to find more.

We need to remove the excess until we're face-to-face with what matters. And to adopt this principle, it's not something. nothing short of liberating. Chaos, confusion, disorder, they don't imply that you lack the right things. They suggest you haven't stripped life of the wrong things. You have not simplified. A thousand miles is intimidating when you look at it holistically. It's a long journey.

But it's just a collection of steps and well, shouldn't we find solace in the fact that But anyone can take one step. It's not a game of complexity. It's a game of understanding what's in front of you. And what's in front of you is always manageable. So much of our stress stems from forgetting what that journey is made of. Whether it's a change in career, mastery of an art, some kind of personal transformation, the result we want.

When looking at it from the starting line. It's too complex to understand too many pieces stacked up. So let's break it down. Let's find the foundation. What's really there? What are the one, two, three things we need to do? What is that golden question? What matters?

If you lose sight of that, then you will stumble through life. I've learned this. I've lived it. The time I take to myself every day is invaluable to me, because I ask myself those two questions, what matter and what are the simple steps I need to take? What can I remove? I was talking about this during an interview this week,

my personal growth. And one of the most important aspects has been the understanding and zeroing in on what's important. I used to take so much pride in composing the background music to these speeches. End to end. I used to love to be able to say I did it all. That was so I thought the great differentiator. But ultimately, I learned to take a step back and ask what matters here?

What do you care about? It's the storytelling that I love. It's the impact. And let's be real. No one cares who wrote the background music. It's holistically, how does the piece make you feel? And this understanding allowed me to cut away. License the music.

Save two days a week, a choir, clarity and realize my goal is not to be Mozart. My journey is to be one of the great communicators, storytellers of our time, and if a day goes by where I'm not taking a little step towards that, it's the wrong move. Small example in the grand scheme of things, but right on point. It's the power in understanding what matters that makes a difference that allows you to grow, evolve. And I'm confident that this not only applies to long-term pursuits, but also our challenging

times, the dark moments, the periods of uncertainty and discontent. Same concept. Where do you want to be and how do you get there? What's the simple thing you can do to close that gap? Because you are never helpless. You can always do something. my friends, those little somethings ultimately evolve into everything. And when we put our phone away, step beyond the noise, spend time with ourselves,

we can see how much of life is running in place. Stacking and stacking pieces that aren't even part of the masterpiece we're trying to assemble. If you want answers, start with the understanding that they're buried under Mount of things you don't need. So cut away. Cut away the people and places and things that convolut your story. Cut away the exhaustion of time that provides no value in return. Cut away the thoughts that make life more complex than your journey

from where you are to where you'd like to be. As you stand right now, you have everything you need and need and there's nothing greater than that, nothing more powerful than that understanding. So why not step outside the complexity that you've manufactured that you're living in into a world of clarity, simplicity. Capture what matters. Stop apologizing.

Stop apologizing for who you are. what you believe and how you see the world. Stop apologizing for your failures. They lift you up. They push you to be more. Stop apologizing for being different, unusual or unique. There's just saying that if you are lucky enough

to be different, don't ever change, embrace that. Hold it. Stop apologizing for taking, a path less traveled for breaking away from the pack. It's not an insufficiency. It doesn't mean you couldn't go their way. It means you have the courage to be yourself in a world

trying to make you someone else. Stop apologizing for words that don't align with someone else's ideology or worldview. Your job isn't to appease or conform. It's to grab hold of what lights a fire. in you and use it to brighten the world around you. Stop apologizing for your dreams. It's okay to not be content where you are. It's okay to want to grow, to become more.

The roots planting them to the ground, they are not yours. And why waste the opportunity beyond the horizon of your current existence? See, having the opportunity, The courage of your convictions is like unlocking your mind. Realizing that, yeah, you have the key and you've had it all along. No one else gets to set your parameters. They don't get to tell you what's right or what to believe. The people around you are not moral arbiters.

They're not protectors of truth. Remember that. Remember that no one knows better than you what's best for you. That's why there's power and intention. intuition, in following your beliefs, your strengths, in doing what makes you happy, relentlessly pursuing what makes you feel alive. The thing about dreams, ideas, potential,

they're always meaningless until they're not. See, everything is crazy until it exists. So protect it. Don't bow down to pressures of now simply because you have not yet built tomorrow. You will. If you want it, you will. Some messages, they are incredibly simple. And this, my friends, is one of those. You have everything you need to become who you want to be. Right now, as you listen to this in real time, you don't need approval or permission or acceptance. You don't need to belong or be told it's normal. You simply need to start to know, to know,

that you will pick yourself up when you fall and keep going. Not apologize, but continue placing one foot in front of the other. Not look externally for a will to carry on that only exists within you. See, the second you begin rewriting the rules, changing the game, you put yourself in position to emerge victorious. There are a handful of recorded lectures online by Jim Rohn. who has definitely become one of my favorite thinkers over the years. And I found this little nugget the other day that I wanted to share.

He says, there are four emotions that will change your life. Disgust, decision, desire, and resolve. And I want to talk about the first one because I found the story to be incredibly powerful and also relatable, right, in various aspects of life. over the years. So he frames it by talking about a Girl Scout walking up to his front door to try and sell him some Girl Scout cookies when he's 25 years old. And he's broke, doesn't have any money at the time, and tells her what I assume to be a white lie as to why he can't buy the cookies at that particular time. Right. So he tells her that he can't, she walks away. He says after he

closes the door and goes back inside, he felt something that completely changed his life. Disgust. An overwhelming feeling that he simply didn't want to live like that anymore. He didn't want to lie. He didn't want to be broke. And I'm quoting him. He says, the day you can say I've had it may not be the day it ends but the day it begins and that feeling which of course on the surface seems like a terrible thing

right no one wants to feel disgust with their circumstance but it's ultimately one of the most powerful indicators life can present to us there has always been and I assume will continue to be that point in many different facets of my life where I say enough is enough. I just never thought to categorize it and label it like he did, but that's what it is.

You know, getting to a point where you look around and realize you've conceded too much. You've strayed too far beyond what matters to you. You've left too much on the table. That feeling, again, well, uncomfortable, is often what becomes the first. step towards that which is truly meaningful, a better version of yourself. A realization, by the way, that's not some denunciation of who you are, right? It's not saying, I'm not good enough, or I'm inadequate. I would describe it as the exact opposite. It's thinking enough of yourself to acknowledge that you're better than this. It's saying, yeah, there's a reality where I stay

the same, where I don't change, where I allow this to just be my life. But that's not the reality I'm going to choose, because I respect myself too much to continue living with that dissonance between my actions and who I know I truly am. And I think at a deep level, we all understand this. So many times in life, funny enough, we don't change until we have to, until our backs are completely against the wall. It took me years in my previous professional life to say enough is enough, but ultimately got to that point.

I've been there in relationships, been there with my creative work, been there with my finances. And what's especially interesting is that as you grow, evolve, and your goals change, what you expect of yourself changes, grows along with you,

you'll find yourself at that place again. And again, and again, and that's good. Listen to it. Right, that's your intuition telling you you're ready for more that something else awaits, that the status quo is no longer sufficient. And there lies the opportunity, right, to recognize and associate that feeling of disgust, as Rohn calls it,

with a need to change or an opportunity to change before things blow up or become more difficult than they need to be. Everything in your life has been allowed by you to some extent. You know, that's an important thing to understand. If there's someone in your life that's making it hell, you, to an extent, are responsible for that, right? No one gets your time without your permission. If you're doing things that don't move, motivate, or inspire you,

well, the reality is you're choosing those actions. Now, the circumstances may be specific to you, They may be difficult, and I understand that, but are you asking yourself how you can begin moving away from it? How you can put walls between yourself and the things that drag you down? Because the bottom line is it's very easy to become accustomed to things that are a drain on our lives. The old frog in the boiling water. You throw a frog in a pot of hot water or jump right out. But you put it in a pot of cool water, and you see.

slowly but incrementally increase the temperature until it's boiling, the frog won't realize it's burning alive. I think in the same way, we learn to live with that situational disgust. The things we're unhappy with just become the baseline or normal. It becomes regular. And what I love about this Girl Scout cookie story is that light bulb moment where it's like, no, I don't have to accept this. I can take back control.

I dictate how I'm going to live, and I know this isn't it. Now, you don't need to have all the answers right away. In fact, you most certainly won't have them. But every journey as the saying goes begins with the first step. That's precisely why the moment is so powerful. You don't start moving to that new place until you realize that you want to start moving away from where you are. Rhone talks about disgust being a powerful moment. motivator, that's why. It's the initial leverage you need to create that momentum. To see the gap between

where you want to be and where you are. And this is ultimately a call to that realization. Do an audit on yourself and your contentment, the places you find lacking. They're calling for your attention. And it's normal. It's okay. It's part of life. But it's also your opportunity to begin making that change. I like very simple, very straightforward notes to help me parse through this. Simple list, two columns on the left, everything that brings me some level of anxiety or that is a drain on my piece. And on the column on the right, directly across from it, simply what I plan to do about each item. Nothing major, but a tangible manageable step because as Jim Rohn says, you begin to utilize that feeling of disgust or discontent

to act. You turn that message into something beautiful, an adventure, some variation of growth. That's where the good stuff is. By the way, it also changes our relationship with those emotions when they emerge. It's no longer, poor me, I'm stuck, my life is hard, and the list goes on and on. No, it's, oh, this doesn't feel good. How can I use it to connect me to something that does? Let's listen to that. I don't like the feeling of making excuses as to why I can't buy the cookies. I don't like the feeling of not having the financial resources. Obviously, can't fix it overnight, but let's make a plan. Let's allow the wheels to hit the road, right? Which, hey, who knows? Might be more than I've ever done. This is the magic.

beginning he alludes to, the confidence being earned, the purpose, the meaning, and ultimately being that we only get results will replace our attention, the outcome we've been looking for. So when you find yourself at that point, when you experience a repetition of disappointment or frustration with your circumstance, let that be the gift it's trying to be. Let it be the reason you will soon wake up a different person. moving towards that which aligns with who you are. Life is perspective. So during the good times, find gratitude.

And during the difficult times, find the opportunity. When you have the answers, when you know, be proud of your knowledge. And when you don't celebrate all the wisdom to come. When the sun is shining, cherish the warmth on your skin, and when it's not, learn to run in the rain. When you're focused, appreciate the clarity. And when life feels chaotic, embrace the chance to manufacture order. When people come into your life, value the ride that you'll share.

And when they leave, take note of all they gave along the way. When you win, reflect back on all the hard work that made it possible. And when you lose, take in the lessons that even winning can't provide. When things go as planned, revel in your ability to execute. But when your plans and life's plans diverge, Remember that some things are simply outside of your control. And now, this moment, is a chance to identify and utilize the things that are in your control. Henry David Thoreau, it's not what you look at, it's what you see.

So see the world as you'd like it to be. Never turning a blind eye to reality, but realizing how much control you have, overmaking reality your own. We are the builders. The world around us merely provides the components and the pieces. And if one were to live as though there were value in every moment, they would inevitably find themselves looking for that value, perhaps even when it was difficult to find most elusive. When most would hang their heads and walk right by it, I looked at I look out my window and see a world that is neither valuable or valueless, I see a blank canvas in which we are tasked with making that decision.

Life is a roller coaster ride. It has ups and downs, the obvious and the unexpected. And while some think nothing of the high points and dwell on the low points, there are an abundance of resources, of beauty, of joy, of joy reserved for those who understand how great the highs are and how valuable the lows, who take what comes, not as walls to live within, but as parts to assemble, not as antithetical to their hopes and dreams, but as the very foundation they will build those hopes and dreams upon. This world is not for you, just as much as it is entirely yours.

It calls for you to be that arbiter. For what you decide will inevitably take. There's a haze that circles around our most important moments. And I say haze, because often the things that will be most meaningful, in our lives or that will best position us for future transformation or success, they don't accurately depict the value that they ultimately provide. In fact, a lot of the time we get the opposite impression. The answer is deceptively masked as the problem.

The thing we are most inclined to run away from, it's often unclear to us that the pain we're experiencing will become the purpose. The loss will become the strength. We can't always see that losing the job will become our reason to find ourselves and the work that will be most meaningful. We don't always understand that losing someone that was a big part of our lives will ultimately create a little space that will bring about connection with others who will lift us up and make us better. We aren't always aware that falling short is incredibly powerful

because it's what most often prompts us to look in the mirror and ask that magical question, how can I be better? Again, we see it in a million different ways, different contexts, the solutions masquerade as problems, or as has been famously put the way often presents itself as the obstacle,

which means we have to operate with a sense of awareness and understanding that often alludes us. Sometimes the reality is that it hurts to let go, but if it's not right for you, it hurts to hold on as well. The difference is, when you do find the strength to let go, you simultaneously create space for the things that will make your life better. And I've noticed, you know, as I've navigated this crazy place well into my 30s,

that the discomfort I've experienced in the past, it rarely utilizes my future as its benchmark. Right? When I'm uncomfortable, it's because something has gone awry in the now. This moment hurts. In this moment, I feel less than. In this moment, I feel lost. In this moment, I am X, Y, or Z.

It's all generally immediate, emotive responses to what's happening, which is why I advocate so strongly for pausing, pulling back, taking a breath, and assessing the whole picture in totality. See, I've made decisions in my life that have set me back a year, right, that destroyed me emotionally, totally altered my plans. And I look back on some of those decisions now with all the pain they brought, and I think you know, was there another way? Did I make the right move?

Did I need to endure all that? And I'm not going to pretend, you know, I know how some parallel universe would have unfolded if I acted differently. But as I reflect back, I still think that I made the right choice. I don't see another way. Sometimes there are no easy decisions.

Sometimes life is about choosing the least bad option. I've talked about having to step back in order to leap forward, or stepping sideways in order to ultimately advance. Sometimes the thing we need just looks like discomfort, the sheep in wolves clothing, where you have to seek out monsters in order to destroy the ones that live inside of you. The reason, one, I think this is so important,

And two, I'm so passionate about sharing it with others is because, again, our instincts drive us away from the things we need most. It's just how it is. Humans are more emotional than we are rational. And there have been plenty of times where, you know, just being reminded, Eddie, I get that this is challenging, but where do you most want to go? Eddie, you're playing defensive, which I'm sure minimizes problems now, but will never propel you forward with your career.

Eddie, you're dragging your feet and calling it perfectionism. Could it in fact be fear? I've had a lot of these little, and sometimes not so little, epiphanies over the course of the last decade. When people ask me about speaking, which being that I do it for a living would make sense, right? Tips or insights, whatever it is, I'm being completely sincere when I say that I wish I had some formula I could propose, right,

that would make you go from zero to 60 in three months. But the truth is the biggest bang for your buck is stepping right into the terror. The thing you're most inclined to run from. And that was it for me, right? Shear terror, actually shaking nights where I stayed awake, reciting keynotes into hotel mirrors. could need. And I'd wrap up, the event would be over,

I'd just go back to the room and collapse in bed because I hadn't slept the night before, right? That's how it started. And the more times I didn't give myself a way out, the more I saw past the fear, put emotions aside, and reiterated to myself that underneath all that discomfort was value, the better I became.

The less dramatic each speaking engagement became. And the terror evolved into excitement. Eddie, please get through this, eventually evolved into Eddie. How can you make this speaking engagement more exciting, more fun, more captivating than the last one? I recently spoke at the MGM Grand Arena and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. And I'm sure you can imagine, not necessarily because of the event. But it prompted me to think back to all those times I wanted to say no so badly with all my heart, with every fiber of my being, but didn't. It was just a proud feeling. Like you get those moments from time to time where everything becomes a single snapshot.

It all makes sense. Because over times I truly didn't understand why I was moving forward. I just did. I just knew I'd burn the boats. There were no other options. And when you collect that W, you quickly remember. And so all this, to emphasize the very important point, that it may not be speaking at the MGM Grand Arena that you're North Star,

maybe it's something totally different. But I want to remind you that the road to wherever you most want to be is not perfectly paved and decorated with flowers. It won't always be sunny with clear blue skies, clear blue skies, and to take it even further, the paths that are paved with flowers and clear blue skies are often the wrong ones. In a world of trade-offs, we know that the best things often require the greatest sacrifice. The beautiful things are often derived from a willingness to endure prior turbulence.

And should you find yourself amidst all that in the thick of it, It's essential to know that should you choose to do so, you can transform the chaos into something incredible. Realistically, that pain of loss, we can't do anything about, right? Nature has made it so that we feel every sense of what's been taken away. But nature doesn't do such a good job of reminding us of the infinite value that can now move into our souls, be used to open our eyes. so that we may see the world as we've never seen it before. There is such power and the ability to view that fleeting emotion, the discomfort of now in terms of what it will ultimately become.

As the saying goes, the hardest thing and the right thing, are often the same thing. So be your own judge, your own critic. Decide what best points you to that place amongst the stars you long to be. Just understand that the road won't be pain-free, and those who try to make it so miss out on a lot of the brilliance available to us. That haze that tries to conceal what's most important is only effective if we keep our eyes close, if we aren't honest with ourselves.

But if you know, one, what's most important, and you know what's most important, important and two are committed to one day arriving there. The short term obstacles become a relatively small price to pay. Understanding what you want sometimes requires learning in 1,000 different ways what you don't. Uncovering who you are means first experiencing who you are not. the right person or people in your life calls for initially letting the wrong ones in. Life seems to demonstrate that there's a price to pay in order to get where we need to be.

Patience, exploration, they're expensive. They exhaust energy, time, resources, but they are the only way as though one needs to dig a hole in their heart before fully understanding how to best fill it in. It's stepping back to leap forward. I've always believed the knows teaches more than the yeses, the chaos, more than the calm. We are tasked with taking our hurt and from it better understanding ourselves, holding our losses and with them finding answers we once overlooked, embracing our fears and along our fears. alongside them becoming courageous. That's why maintaining perspective is everything.

When we find that we've been slighted by life, we have to recognize that, yeah, maybe we didn't get the answer we wanted in the short term, but still picked up something beautiful, something necessary. We still learned what didn't work and saw where not to go. Because every step taken in one direction is a simultaneous decision. to not go another. To embrace one option is to neglect its inverse. Every loss is a data point.

Every time we fall, our worldview is shaped. And that's not just helpful. It's imperative. It's a brush stroke just as valuable as the ones derived from our successes, all culminating into one all-encompassing masterpiece. And I look back at the mistakes I mean. The time spent learning where I shouldn't be, the days with people who didn't lift me up, and I'm incredibly thankful for them, they brought me clarity.

Like marble being slowly chiseled away, piece by piece, they have left an understanding, a self-identity that takes shape one day at a time. So as we make our way through life, let's not fail to see the value in these short-term misfortunes. For in many ways we are fortunate to have them. Perhaps the value lags. Maybe you don't see why the mistakes saved your life while you were making them. But they are contributing to the building up of a greater you. They are mitigating the noise and lighting up the path.

So hold your head up high. And not just for the sake of doing so, but because you had the courage to step out into a world that you knew would at times bring you to your knees. Hold your head up high because every time you stood back up, you made a statement. You declared that you wouldn't let discomfort and obstacles deter you, but rather shape you. You were willing to learn where not to go in exchange for the privilege of taking your road. Through the haze, across the war-torn ground beyond the hills,

and toward a distant horizon, your horizon. Around 2011, I hurt my left arm and had to get surgery. So for a while, I was pretty limited as far as what I could do with my upper body. And that's really when I fell in love with running. I started doing it almost every day. Sometimes those long runs outside, clear my mind, sort of reset a little bit. bit and sometimes I mix it up. Hop on the treadmill and do my favorite workout, which was a pyramid, right, where you break 10 minutes into four segments, four, three, two, and one, increasing

in intensity with each segment and then you start over. And that's where this whole idea comes from. It's this treadmill workout that I want to talk about because there's a little ritual. I kicked up that I still implement to this day, and it was simple. At the very end of my workout or my run, I would always add 22 seconds. My lucky number twice, two and two. So, for example, if I told myself, you know, the workout's going to be, you know, three pyramids or 30 minutes, I would stop running at 30 minutes in 22 seconds. And if I told myself it was going to be an hour, I'd stop at one hour in 22 seconds.

Always tacking on that 22, and I don't really remember the first time I started doing it or even why. But like so many things that 22-second period organically became a habit, sort of evolved to take on a life of its own, and would come to symbolize for me a little challenge. The idea that the end is never really the end. And no matter how tired I was or how bad I wanted to stop, especially when you can see that finish line in reach, I could always squeeze out a little more. But there's always something extra to give.

And you could certainly go down that 22-second rabbit hole, right? Just 22 more seconds. And then you finish that and you realize you can do just 22 more. And just 22 more. It's like this never-ending spotlight into how incredible we are as humans. that our stopping points almost always are constructed. Rarely is there not an extra 22 seconds or 22-somethings we can endure.

And not only that, I think there's a case to be made that our growth occurs in that final push. There's a ton of value hidden away in there. The stretching of the mind and body, the last rep, that breaks down the muscle, the last few seconds of that run that forced the lungs to work their hardest. Exhausting that last bit of energy and focus,

you know, studying for an exam. Maybe that's where you confirm your comprehension and understanding of the subject matter. It's like when we are pushing ourselves, just outside the limits we drew up, we are simultaneously expanding those limits. And so over the years, I've adopted that mentality. And I look at myself in the mirror now and I can see it.

I'm not the same person I was a decade ago. Those little decisions to add on 22 seconds, they stack up, and they stack up in a unique way. Because it's not necessarily about the time. It's not the same benefit that say an hour every morning that the gym would bring. You know, obviously that would be incredibly valuable, but in a different way. I'm talking about mentally, an armor that we come to wear, an identity that gets materialized. It's how you see yourself and how you see the world. You understand how manufactured our parameters are.

And I get it. We have to stop somewhere, sure. But it's an acknowledgement that those somewheres are fiction. They are arbitrary. You weren't made to exist within them, but to stretch them, to recreate them. And that's an endeavor that is always uncomfortable. But as far as I can tell, always worth it.

The strength to go a little bit further than initially intended or designed is what will place you in a league of your own. And that's where I wanted to start. start by bringing attention to the idea that there's always an extra 22 seconds and you are always capable of obtaining it that is yours whether you choose to see it or not it's an option it's always an option which sort of connects us to my next thought if i know that's who i am someone that fights for that 22 seconds if i know that's that's what i'm someone that's what

what I'm capable of, and that's what lights me up. What about those times in my life when I had no desire to reach for the extra 22? Because sitting here, I can think of plenty. I can think of times when there was dissonance between my identity and my actions. Here's a quick story, right? This was a shift in my life and my understanding of reaching for that little bit more. When people ask me about my process, what I'm building or where I see myself in X number of years, I tell them I'm playing the long game.

Like I'll sacrifice some short-term wins now to continue forward with a plan that I believe wholeheartedly will transform from linear to exponential. It's like Gary V's motto, you know, you're young, you have time. And impact is not about succeeding at 34. It's about flourishing at 45 and 55 and 65 and 75. Like, that's fun to me. That's the exciting game to play. And it's methodical. The challenge is, you know, as you're locked into this big picture plan,

you have to pass a lot of shiny objects along the way. A lot of, hey, look at them over there. Maybe I should be doing that too. That worked for her. Will it work for me? Right? Sometimes you forget to trust yourself and stay the course. And so a few years ago, I felt this pressure to pivot, to adjust focus.

I'd been, you know, talking with some mentors of mine who were, you know, very successful in their individual fields and passions. And I thought, hey, you know what, it's time for me to start focusing less on the craft and more on monetizing the craft. Right? The De Niro side of things, which is great and it's healthy, but here's the catch. As long as you're doing it in a way that aligns with who you are. And so a few months go by, and I found myself living in this overly sized and priced condo on the beach that I was going to use to impress clients. You know, making products that didn't excite me, talking to people I didn't really want to be talking to, living a life that was not my own, I'd lost myself. Right?

My love is storytelling. It's capturing life's seemingly overlooked secrets. That's what I get excited about in the morning. That's the value I want to share with the world. And look, money is important. It's necessary. It's freedom. But for me, it can't be about the money or I lose the drive.

right and here's here's the point i'm making where it all comes together what i found is that when you're a stranger in your own body there's almost no incentive to push for that little extra it's like who cares about fighting for 22 seconds i'm so misaligned i don't even want to be here right that is the red flag that's the indicator that it's time to adjust because if i'm someone who wants more who pursues an equate requires more. And I don't feel the urge to do so, you know, it's time to change.

And I broke the lease, put everything I had in a car, went on a little three-month excursion, re-aligned. And if I'm not willing to suffer through that little extra, to go above and beyond, it's not for me. And so that's a big example. But it obviously manifests in smaller ways as well. Yes, you are someone who can and will

chase down the beauty in life, who will transform that little extra into something meaningful, but you also have to position yourself and the world around you to make it possible. And when you don't feel that hunger inside, and this is the point you need to understand, it's not you,

it's not broken hardware, it's not that you innately lack drive or confidence, It's that you need to rearrange this scenario. You need to find alignment. Because I promise you if you want something enough, you'll be willing to fight for it, to hurt for it, to break boundaries for it. But you must first make sure that you're pointed at something you want,

something that moves you. And here's the part where I remind you of all those things you've already overcome in your life. Of all the times you thought your tank was empty, but you found a way. All the times you were hurting but kept moving. All the times you were broken, but put yourself back together. We are not told in school or at work how resilient we are. We're not told that we often stop thousands of 22-second period short.

We aren't told that we're living at a 30% capacity, operating at a fraction of our potential, we don't even realize the little miracles we've created along the way. A strong purpose and a willingness to stretch yourself as you pursue it will change your life. And that's not hyperbole, that is fact. If you want what you've never had,

then push yourself further than you've ever gone. And we're talking little stressors, expanding one step at a time, until you eventually look over your shoulder and see the miles you've traveled. Until you look at your reflection and see the evolution that has occurred. It was never just 22 seconds.

It was a consistent and sustained shot at the walls you placed around yourself for the opportunity to see them crumble. I find it interesting that what we want most is often brought about by the inverse of what we'd expect. It's a paradox that's amazed me for much of my adult life. And what do I mean?

Well, here are a few examples. The best way to achieve freedom in your life is to be incredibly disciplined. Two things that are seemingly opposite in a sense. Or the worst of times often open the door to the best of times. Or it's from a position of strength that one is best able to ensure peace. Or from our suffering, our pain comes our purpose and contentment. And you get the point, I could go on and on and on.

But the reason this is so important why I think it's worth discussing is that it sheds light on the value hidden within our struggles. You know, when you realize the paradoxical nature of growth, the discomfort makes a little more sense. It's easier to wrap our hands around. So let's say getting up early. Perhaps you weren't a morning person, but you're trying. You're trying because you think those few extra hours in the morning will add some lift. The alarm clock goes off. the last thing you want to do is open your eyes maybe you even start thinking who cares right this isn't that important you begin rationalizing ways you'll go back to bed and just make up for the time

throughout the day but when you simplify the equation you realize what you have is an opportunity and you're either going to say yes and capitalize on that opportunity or say no and stay where you're you are. Discipline, even with the small, seemingly trivial stuff, becomes freedom. And if you want to position yourself for a life on your terms where you're at the wheel on your schedule, it means facing demons just like this. It means you fight your fight now so that you can mitigate it later. Rather than saying, I wish, or beating yourself up for not being

a little bit tougher in the moment, you instead get that sense of accomplishment. You get the luxury of time and freedom. And I think that's a simple but perfect example of how discomfort in one moment becomes contentment in future moments. Not a very intuitive trade-off. Or how about our low points? We all know no one escapes low points. I've always found them easier to handle and internalized when I know that it's bringing me closer to something valuable, when I know that there's something good on the other side in that the pain I'm feeling, the thoughts that are inevitably going to pass through my mind like clouds on a windy day, they're obviously not ideal, but they're not a waste either because something will come of them. And the

goal in that moment under the duress is not to move the immovable. After all, you can only control, but you can control. But it's to simply put one foot in front of the other until you emerge from the storm because we all eventually emerge from that storm. It's when we get into the habit of trying to do what is outside the scope of our control that we do ourselves a disservice. Because look, we're human. Equipped with human biology and human emotions, navigating a tough world that is indifferent to how we feel or what we think. And while we can certainly strengthen and fortify that emotional IQ,

the reality is no one is on a high all the time. Life is ups and downs. And when we realize our superpower is not to fight the down times, But to accept them, take them in stride, learn from them, and extract the value we empower ourselves. We're giving ourselves permission to live life just a little fuller after what we've experienced. The human experience requires many seemingly contradictory puzzle pieces, all working together in unison to create that final illustration we're looking for. Not just discipline and freedom, not just low points and high points, but countless others. Jordan Peterson, of course, famously discusses chaos and order and how both not only exist,

but are pivotal to a fulfilling life. We are designed for chaos. We must step out into unknowns, situations that feel bigger than us. The courage to do so ultimately becomes the path to. way to order. As we get used to the change, we acclimate, we find our answers, and ultimately create a sense of fulfillment. The challenge being that now we have conquered our demon, we must prepare for the next. Because just like too much chaos isn't good, too much order is equally destructive. Another example of something we'd assume as negative. Chaos. Being the thing in

actuality that paves the way for better days. It's a staircase. I've heard Tony Robbins say something similar when talking about our need for both certainty and uncertainty. We must have some elements of everyday life mapped out, but too much creates a mundane existence without the adventure and growth we've been looking for. It's from the unknown we capture more of ourselves. It's from the uncertainty, we get growth. And I say all of this, not just because I think it's fascinating in and of itself, but because it's incredibly easy to forget, especially in the thick of things, that it's all essential to life working the way it should work.

Those losses become gains. The disappointment becomes growth. The downtimes become launching pads to evolve experiences, greater adventures, and new. chapters. It's certainly not intuitive to look in the mirror when amidst life's chaos and say thank you to the universe. I get that. I'm not implying that you should. But I am saying it helps to know, it helps to be aware of the paradoxical nature of your journey. I look back at the times I was most fearful or angry at myself. And if I could go back and tell that version of me one thing, It would be that all that adversity is going to push me forward.

That I'd never have the things I wanted most if I didn't step into all that discomfort. That it's going to be okay. That I'm going to be incredibly thankful for it all and so will you. This is the push pull of life. The chaos and order of the day. It is not in spite of, but because of those moments. you'll be more than you've ever been. The human experience is a paradox.

And the quicker we get that, the quicker we let it work for us. No more fighting unwinnable wars, but rather taking all that we can control and using it to lift ourselves up, to be our best selves, to make tomorrow the miracle that it can be.