Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - THE REAL YOU | Listen To This Every Day And Change Your Life | Morning Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: January 30, 2023

"The real you is not a puppet that life pushes around. The real deep down you is the whole universe" - Alan Watts

A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week. That's from George Patton, General in the United States Army, integral to the Allies victory in World War II. So why? What makes this statement so powerful? Well, it rings true because we have to move beyond the idea that we can manufacture greatness with one swing of the bat. one stroke of the pen. That if we wait for the right moment, perfection will come.

The light will turn green. The stars will align and the path will emerge. I feel like I could scream this from every mountaintop, and it wouldn't be enough. Life is not a perfection game. Life is an adjustment game. And I'll speak anecdotally here. In my experience, looking over my sense, looking over my shoulder reflecting, you know, those times that I'd clung to perfection, rationalizing my

immobility by saying, hey, you're not ready, this isn't good enough. I'd only have to dig a few layers down to see that my not moving wasn't out of some loyalty to excellence. No, I was standing still because of fear, a fear of going, of starting, a fear of the unknown. Perfection is the biggest It's a con there is. It's a scam. It says, wait here. Your perfect moment will arrive. Hang tight. The right time is coming. No, there are no perfect beginnings. There's merely the courage to move into something new or the regret that will ultimately come from wishing that you did. And sure, a part of it's almost counterintuitive. It's like, why isn't it beneficial to wait? Why would you want to take the leap before you're ready?

Here's how I see it. One of the most important distinctions to understand is that between the thinker and the doer. The thinker who ponderes, who reflects, who studies and studies and studies, thinking he or she can create for him or herself a perfect jump-off point, thinking they can obtain for themselves all the necessary information, all the answers before they begin the journey. The truth is, greatness is forged through repetition via wheels on the road, and yes, you are terrible at first,

completely unsure at first. You get lost at first. But this becomes the knowledge that shapes the journey. When you go before you're ready, two important things happen. First, after falling down and feeling embarrassed and insecure, you get back up, you look around and you go, wow, okay, I'm still here. That sucked, sure, but it wasn't as bad as my brain told me it would be. Next, you learn from the exchange.

You can start doubling down on what works and eliminating what doesn't. And eventually, as you take this confidence and wisdom onto the next step, repeatedly the curve becomes exponential in doing you begin stacking bricks creating a foundation those experiences that humbled you become what you lean on they're what turn into the experience the knowledge the credibility and see thinking you can skip all that ugly stuff by waiting on the ledge for perfection to arrive in your hands that will be your undoing that's just as crazy is a sailboat waiting for the wind to stop.

It's like, no, you need that friction, that resistance to reach your destination. And no, we cannot control everything. Yes, there are powers beyond us. But if you go now, you learn to use and navigate them. The greatest gift we can give ourselves is permission to go. It's looking a year ahead and dreaming of the moment. We pause and say, wow, what a year. and turns, the lessons, the highs, the lows, the peak moments all brought me here.

And how different here is from back there. How far I've come. Knowing, by the way, that life was never asking me for perfection, but rather a willingness to start, to dive in, to adapt along the way. I know a lot of people with businesses that exist in their minds, but not in reality. A lot of people in shape when they close their eyes, but not when they look in the mirror. A lot of people living their best lives when talking about the future, but not when they pull up to work on a Monday morning. We shorten the gap between our ideal existence and the present moment by going, by stepping now.

Even when we can't imagine how the process will unfold. Because let me tell you, life will bend and twist in ways you can't even fathom. It'll take you places that ignite your soul, show you things you never dreamt of seeing. But you have to put yourself in position to receive that from life. The world wants to help people who help themselves. So give yourself the gift of progress, of momentum. If a dream is only worth the action one is willing to take to bring it to life, let that action start now.

Move beyond the illusion of perfection and towards the opportunity to take the imperfect every single day and transform it into greatness. Every time your mind says you're not ready, let that be your invitation to step forward. See, life may not be a race, but that doesn't mean time will politely wait for you. We must say goodbye to perfection as we evolve, as we grow. I can guarantee you it won't be missed. One of life's greatest lessons is that yesterday is only as powerful as we allow it to be. Yesterday is an idea, a story, a movie that started and ended.

Now it's quite possible that story or that ending is disappointing or it hurts to look back on. Perhaps a reminder of something that wasn't ideal, something you want to break away from. So the question is, why do we give that old story power? Why do we relive it, create this self-inflicted wound? See, the past undoubtedly played a critical role. It brought you to where you are now. It, in many ways, shaped your worldview, constitutes your beliefs. It was the very road to this moment, and there's value in that.

But imagine this scenario. Imagine stepping into your car, turning the keys, and thinking to your circumstances. yourself that you can in this very moment only drive down the roads you drove on yesterday. Only associate with the street signs you know, the places you've already gone. Your reality now is determined by what you've already done. So adjust and get used to it. You would say that's outrageous, right? Yesterday's path has nothing to do with where I'm going now.

Just like a boat's wake, trailing off behind it, has nothing to do. with where it's going next, the person holding the wheel controls that. We are saturated with freedom. There is so much opportunity and possibility and potential in front of us that we fail to see because we can't stop thinking about that fictitious story we call yesterday. We confuse the path we took then for the one we need now, the wake from the steering wheel. what is and that story about what was. The gateway to change is unshackling ourselves from those imaginary monsters. And more often than not, the answer isn't in finding some solution.

It's in cutting ties with those things that no longer serve us. Then we see the world as it truly is. Then we see the magic laid out before us. And I get that it's easier said than done. Leaving a part of us behind hurts. Looking in the mirror and being vulnerable enough to say, I can be more than this. It's not easy.

But it's possible. And everything starts with how we see ourselves. And when we remain captives to the past, everything about who we think ourselves to be outdated we're neglecting one of our superpowers the perpetual ability to restart one of the most important conversations I've ever had was on this topic seemed trivial at the time but I was having lunch with a friend and we're talking and I mentioned to her that I was full and she goes well then why are you still eating and I'm

like because I paid for it right I wanted to get my money's worth and she says in a very you know pragmatic way Eddie just because you paid for it doesn't mean you need to eat it, right? It's a sunk cost. Why don't you move on? And the whole thing seems silly, right? It's like, yeah, if you're not hungry, don't eat. Move on.

But in the grand scheme of things, how many of us keep on consuming that which doesn't serve us? How many of us stay too long when we should be letting go? We let the path behind us dictate the one before us. See, there's a tendency to overvalue what we know, to feel so invested in how things are, even when we're not happy or it's not healthy, that we'll take the pain of now over the potential for something greater.

And that's precisely why the unknown is so terrifying. It's not concrete. It's a world unsettled. And man, do we hate being unsettled? But what we fail to realize is that every time, we close our eyes, take a breath and work up the courage to step into that unknown, to leave yesterday behind us. Life gives us new pieces. It resets the stage. It provides new tools to build something incredible, something more ideal, more conducive to our goals, our hopes, and our dreams.

And the thought is, well, but what if things become worse than they are right now? What if I'm forward and I find myself more confused, more lost. What if things are more chaotic? And that may, for a moment, be true. But what we do is we adjust. We learn things we never knew. We see things through a lens that we never could. Touch things that we never thought existed.

It wasn't in staying, but in leaving, that we readd discovered who we were meant to be, that we allowed our truest selves to flourish in worst-case scenario. Contrary to popular belief, it's not that the world ends. No, the worst-case scenario, should you find the courage to move forward, is that you end up right back where you started, a little more confident, a little bolder, and better prepared to live this life like you never had. All that's needed is for you to convince yourself that there is more. You just need to taste the fruit, step into the sunlight. That's the difference between reality and the story in your head. Reality is that this world has for you everything you need to change, to grow, explore,

build a light that means something. It has the support structures and the resources for for you to pull yourself back up every time you fall. To say, okay, that hurt, but now let's try a different angle. There is undoubtedly what you need. And the question is never whether the X on that treasure map exists. Trust me, it's there. The question is whether you can pause that story in your head. The tales of a dark, mean, and scary world

trying to hold you down. Pause the idea that you're nothing more than the you of yesterday. You're nothing more than how people knew you to be. Pause the idea that you're nothing without that job title or that relationship. Pause the idea that you need him or her or them in your life. Every day you wake up, you are a blank canvas.

Who cares about yesterday? What do you want to paint now? When you walk out your front door, Where do you want to go now? Step outside that circle of familiarity. See how artificial and in some cases ridiculous these boundaries are that we place around ourselves. Life is an invitation, not a set of requirements. And when you free yourself of that, not only will you feel like someone new, not only will

you experience life as it was meant to be experienced, but you'll see that this world will conform to your new definition. This world wants to support you. It wants to lift you up. And yeah, it may be challenging and strenuous. It may force you to work harder and be braver than you've ever been. But it is at the end of the day, your ally.

You just have to see your future self before it materializes when no one else gets it. So move on from all that does not serve you. Break away from the old rules, regulations, and guidelines. Maybe you exhausted time and energy into creating this reality. Maybe it feels like a monumental piece of your identity. Maybe right now is the only security you have. Fine.

But my hope is that you can respect it and walk away. See it as the sunken cost that it is. Just because you paid to get there doesn't mean you need to keep paying to make wrong decisions. Just because it took your time doesn't mean it's entitled to keep. stealing your time. Just because it's part of your identity now doesn't mean it must be tomorrow. Just because it creates security doesn't mean it's right. Jails and steel bars are also incredibly secure. No, today we are breaking free, leaving the past in the past and setting our sights on the horizon. Today is the end of yesterday and the beginning of the rest of your life.

life. If someone were to tell you life is easy, they'd be incorrect. If they were to tell you there's a specified path to contentment, they'd be misinformed. If they were to tell you there's a book of answers to every question you'll come across, they'd be misled. The point is not that life is easy, predictable, or defined. The point is that despite the fact that it's It's none of those things. You're capable of making something from it. That from a seemingly endless barrage of unknowns exists the pieces to build something truly extraordinary. I came across a quote a few years ago from Abraham Maslow and a concept that was in Ernest Becker's book, The Denial of Death.

And the idea is we are simultaneously gods and worms. Every once in a while, you come across an idea that changes the way you see things. That's definitely one of them, right? A duality that is perpetually under tension. Gods and worms. We're animals. We're flesh and bone eroding by the day. We're given a temporary stay on a giant rock rotating around the sun.

while simultaneously equipped with the power to not only be aware of that finitude, but to transcend it, to dream, to see things that are not yet there. Our minds are miraculous. We are both gods and worms. So what do we do about this? How about use the fact that we're going to die, The fact that in many ways we don't have control, the fact that life is messy and unpredictable and often a maze of complete chaos, to, rather than shrink because of it, take off the guardrails and reach for the heavens.

To put things into existence that do not yet exist, why not go all in? After all, the thing about living is the saying goes, is that no one makes it out alive. No one hops on the roller coaster to constantly look at their watch to dwell on its temporary nature. No, it's to enjoy the ride. And what is our time here? But a few short rides around the sun.

So when it feels like life is too big, when the day overwhelms or to see, integrates into chaos. Don't fixate on the rocky nature of the world around you, but on your ability to take it all and make it mean something. Cherish the idea that although everything around you is dictated by natural laws and constraints, your mind is bound by nothing. And where you seek answers, you will find them, where you pursue more, you will unlock it.

Our finitude, our challenges are essential to our existence. They remind us that we have nothing to lose, that the song will end, so why not dance like it's your last time? Because sure, in time we will be dirt for worms. But that's exactly why, as long as we're here, We'll live to, in our own unique way, bridge the gap between the ground we walk on and the heavens above. What's one thing I wish I knew when I was younger that I think people could benefit from today? What single piece of information could have the biggest impact? I spent some time thinking about this question and the more I think about it, the more the

answer becomes incredibly apparent. It's that you are in control of your own life, your own destiny, your own future. And when you take accountability for yourself, life changes, period. And if you thought that was obvious, I would advocate taking a look around. a stroll through social media, the Twitters and Instagrams and TikToks of today. And no, that's not the real world, but it's certainly a microcosm of the real world. What do you see? Well, you see chronic blame?

I don't like where I'm at or things are, so that must be your fault or their fault or someone else's fault. You see people looking everywhere but in the mirror, actually seeking out victimhood. Because that's what brings the attention. currency. It's much easier to be the victim than the hero because being the hero means you have to sacrifice something. It's people saying the news or some institution or the federal government is the problem and if those things would only change then we'd be good. Let me explain why I think this mentality is self-sabotage and why I would take younger me by the hand and I would say listen

to what I'm about to tell you. Where you start is often outside of our control. Let's be real, life is not fair. We don't all get dealt the same hand. But this next part, as I once heard Will Smith articulate beautifully, is the same for everyone. What you decide to do about it right now is what matters. And that is the control that we all have. It's not your fault where you start,

but it's your responsibility to choose where you end up. You can shake your fist at the sky, or you can start building a life that matters to you. It's easy to blame the world, to be the victim, at least in the short term. But a fulfilling life is about meaning, about fighting for something. something valuable, about evolving into the version of yourself that you always knew in your

heart you could be. You just had to unlock. See, no one down the road was ever happy with themselves for blaming the world while they bitterly remained stagnant. I would say to a younger me, worry less about how you're perceived and think more about who you are, what you're capable of, because that you can always control. Stop losing yourself. in the news or whatever the narrative of the day is, that has nothing to do with your progression, has nothing to do with your very next step. So sure, be informed, but do more, consume less,

because by and large it's a distraction. And I would say the government, which has become the crux of our discourse today, transforming into a modern-day religion, look, the government's job is not to get, give you anything. It's there to protect what's inherent to you already.

Your right to live life on your terms. See, satisfaction, it will come from good habits. It will come from self-belief. It will come from taking risks and failing and learning. It will come from the courage to step out into a world

that's completely unknown. It will never come from a self-interested politician or body in Washington, red or blue. So stop whining about political optics and focus on where your two feet are taking you right now

because I promise in the grand scheme of things that's what matters. That is your strength. Expecting someone else to come along and change your life is like screaming into an abyss. I would say to my younger self when you start looking around and seeing what everyone else has in beating yourself up for not being as good or feeling like you're behind.

Look, it's great that their success motivates you, but dwelling on it won't make your life better. Life is a race between you and you. It's a fight between yourself and those thoughts that constantly knock on the door, looking to settle into your psyche. If you defeat that demon, you'll be where you want to be,

regardless of where others are. You're right where you need. to be, so keep your head up and keep moving forward. I'd explain that to become something more, to change, requires a sacrifice that feels so substantial, so big at first, that it bullies most people into staying right where they are. That to become something new, you have to learn to play the fool, to get humbled, you have to change your relationship with short-term failure. And that's not easy. But taking control of your life is not supposed to be easy.

Only worth it. They're different. And I can certainly look back at my own life. Think about the times where I was so busy pointing out that I didn't even think to point the finger at myself. I was so worried about life being unfair that I existed in this temporary state of paralysis. the whole time not knowing that I could have been stepping forward. Could have been tapping into the single greatest power I possess,

control over my own life. See, every time you feel anger or the need to blame those around you, you're taking the spotlight off of what matters and placing it on things detrimental to where you want to be, to your journey and your future. even the most unjust arbitrary things. Let's say you didn't get that promotion you were beyond qualified for, or you were mistreated by someone or things didn't go the way you wanted them to.

You can fill in that blank, but refusing to blame others and immediately taking responsibility. Again, even in a situation like that, it gives you one of the greatest advantages in life. It gives you that gift of control. You can now assess the situation. You can now ask yourself, hey, what can I do to change this? You can delve into the why, find the lessons and the value.

You can come back and re-approach this thing stronger. Because to blame others, to take on that role of victim, it's essentially living life in the passenger seat. It might be easier. It might be less work, less responsibility, but what you never have is control over. where that car goes. But when you own it, when you say, hey, maybe it's not my fault, but look, it's mine now. It's my responsibility. The good, the bad, every aspect of my life, it puts you

in position to change things, to take the wheel and reroute to a destination of your choosing. So that would be my message to the world. I know it's not an easy road. I know life is unfair. I know things aren't perfect, but the best thing you can ever do for yourself is say, you know what, this is mine to own. And I'm going to look around for that light switch that will create momentum. That little decision that will get the ball rolling, I'm not going to sit back, shake my fist, and blame life. I'm going to walk out that door and create life. That's where you'll find what you're truly looking for.