Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - VALUE YOURSELF 100% | Best Motivational Speeches Compilation

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

"The moment you value yourself, the whole world values you" - Anonymous 

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making a mistake doesn't mean you need to connect. continue making it. There's an incredible advantage in life for those who can separate past and future. Who can recognize sunk costs and walk away, walk away from the past, move on to new things. But here's the challenge, right? Like so many things our instinct is to preserve. It's, yeah, but I've invested so many years. I've spent X amount of dollars and maybe I don't like where I'm at.

like where I'm at, but look how long it's taken me to get here. Well, here's the reality. That time is gone. That money is not coming back, no matter what you do or what direction you take from here on out. There's no reason to think you have to maintain the same trajectory or hold on to a specific identity or pattern of behavior. Yesterday isn't the focal point here. The goal is simpler.

What matters now and how will you get there? Now, you've grown, you've evolved, you've changed, and your targets have shifted, so why shouldn't you? The idea of sunk cost is so important because it's essentially realizing that you're not indebted to the resources you've spent or exhausted. There's no need to be a slave to previous decisions that you've made. No, just chalk it up as an integral step in your learning process, an aspect of growth and move. forward to what matters, to what you care about. If that seems obvious, I challenge you to think about the decisions you've made over the last year, and I guarantee you you've let factors affect your decision-making that are irrelevant to your goals.

Because we feel this camaraderie with yesterday, like there's a debt to be paid, but, man, life is too short to run in place. If it's not pushing you forward, drop it. If it's not what you need, forget it. In other words, don't be one of those people that wakes up and makes the same mistake every single day because you've spent a long time making it. See, reality only exists in your head, and that's why it's beautiful. You can unlock the cell door and walk out. Don't lose sight of the greatest gift you have.

The new beginning that lives in every second where you can take a turn you've never taken before. Remove the mask and play a role you've never played. Let that sense of excitement pull you to new things. Let go of what you can't change and pursue what you can. Forget the time spent. Think of now. Where can you invest now? Your surroundings didn't magically arrive.

you chose them and you can just as easily take that wheel and leave. Simple formula, what is best for you and how do you get there? Not where you feel obligated to be or expected to be or pressure to be. Where do you need to be? Everything else is noise. Everything else is a rope keeping your ship on shore and you are not confined to that harbor or yesterday's destination. You're built to chase the horizon, follow your curiosity into the sunset. You don't make decisions based on yesterday's story. You sculpt it with tomorrow's possibility. Today, we're going to talk about keeping your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground, simultaneously managing the big picture and the small stuff, nonstop belief that things will work, that there's an answer, that you're ultimately going to get there,

and that you won't quit until you do, while also being brutally honest with the facts on the floor, the reality around you. A lot of times I think there's a tendency to conflate positivity with the detachment from reality. But they're very different things. You need them both for success to unfold. You need the big picture, and you need the minutia, the steps, the little things that add up over time. In the book, Good to Great, Jim Collins calls this the Stockdale principle. Or Admiral Stockdale, I think at the time Commander Stockdale was shot down during Vietnam.

He was prisoner of war for over seven years in Vietnam, and it was just obviously a brutal experience. And, you know, one of the things that helped him survive was being painfully pragmatic, while also knowing in his soul, right, with every ounce of his being that he would ultimately get out, that the men he cared about and helped so much would ultimately get out. And so when Jim Collins is interviewing him, he says,

Admiral Stockdale, what differentiated the ones that made it and the ones that didn't? And the answer is incredibly surprising. He says optimism because the people that were overly optimistic said, we'll get out by Christmas. And Christmas comes and they don't get out. And then they say, okay, we'll find we'll be out. We'll see our families by Easter. And Easter comes and they're still there.

Okay, maybe next Christmas. Next Christmas comes, nothing changes. He says, those are the people that died of a broken heart. There was too big of a gap between the reality, the components needed to progress the way they wanted to progress and the way they were thinking. You know, you have to be willing to look in the mirror and diagnose a situation.

You know, that's applicable to business. applicable to your personal life. Dream big, step small. Believe, but act. Be cognizant of the world around you, the reality that you're living in. You can't change something that you don't understand intrinsically. You can't progress if you haven't analyzed something. And this is not about your capabilities.

This is never a call to doubt yourself. It's to be strategic. This is just saying that you need to understand the reality so that you can improve upon them. If you want to be the next Michael Jordan, that's a huge ask. That's a lot. It's possible. You can do it. And you need to believe with every ounce of you that if that's what you want to do, it's a pursuit worth taking.

But you also need to know what it means to be Michael Jordan. You got to understand the commitment. How he sacrificed relationships. He sacrificed, you know, his friends, his love life. He got up every single morning. All he did was basketball. How he took thousands of shots a day. How his mentality and his aggressive,

behavior, right? His mindset, the way he looked at life and approached life on and off the court. It required that he was so intense and so obsessed with winning that some people couldn't handle it. It meant that everything stopped except being the best. That's a big ask. A lot of people can't do that, don't want to do that, but that's what it takes. And to think you're going to be, Michael Jordan, without understanding, one, the commitment that's required and how you stack up. It's going to be in vain. I remember the CEO of the company that I worked for at a college, he used to say, look, you have to be able to be honest and say when your baby's ugly. Look at what you have and be able to draw a line from where you want to be.

So you can fix it. So that's the point. If you can juggle those two things, you'll be unstoppable. Unstoppable. If you can be the one to trust yourself enough to know that there is a big picture, you will pursue it relentlessly and you will get there. If you can take that and you can marry it to the little things, right, to the awareness, to promising yourself that you will continue to analyze, assess,

and do what needs to happen on the ground, that you will be realistic, you will be pragmatic. When things fail, you won't sugarcoat it. You'll dive in. You'll look at why it failed. So that you can pick up those pieces and build something stronger and continue to build and continue to build, stack,

and stand on what you've made. Those are the people that change the world. Those are the people that get things done that get results. Clean big. Steps small. See you tomorrow. Tired of the winter cold?

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Offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit safeway.com for more detail. I was watching a masterclass by author Margaret Atwood. It was on storytelling. And, you know, I knew going into it, it would be interesting. I'm not a particular fan of her work, at least from a content perspective. But look, we're talking about someone who's, you know, truly made a mark on the world. Right? There's a lot to be. learned from her, so I buckled in and listened to what she had to say. And unsurprisingly, there was a lot of wisdom there. And there was one idea in particular that really resonated with me, both as a writer, yeah, but also outside the quote unquote creative space, which I'll get to in a second. The idea was centered around finding the moment to begin, a story's true starting point. And it was interesting. She said, you know, people think stories start on page one.

But she'll pick up a book. And I don't remember if she was referencing new authors or maybe someone, a book just off the shelf at a bookstore. But she'll be reading it and she'll think, ah, okay, so this story really begins on page 10. That's the starting point. I think she even referenced her own writing process, being a few chapters in and thinking, ah, this needs to be the starting point.

Got to cut away the other stuff and move this up to page one. And, you know, understanding that's obviously important for those looking to entertain and captivate an audience. You need to give the reader a reason to stick around. But I can also very easily draw a parallel from that to, you know, a bigger picture, our real world. All I could think about was, you know, what story are you telling yourself and where did it start? Or more importantly, has it even? even started. There's something both liberating and beautiful about the fact that all of us in the stories we are living could at any moment recreate that metaphorical first page. And I believe that

with all my heart. Like we think, oh, page one started years ago. This is how things are now. This is where I exist in life. But what about the idea that beginnings don't have to start on page one? What about the idea that you you can cut away as much as necessary to create the right beginning. The story that feels right to you. We don't know anything to the words that were written leading up to now. We're not beholden to the chapters that came before. Robin Sharma talks about the idea of killing your darlings, which is an old saying that refers to that very challenging task,

writer's face of cutting away the things that aren't absolutely essential to the story's main narrative. It's hard to do. We place value and importance on these things because they feel like a part of us. We feel like they're too significant to dismiss. But in reality, the act of letting go is ultimately a value add because it ensures that what matters is what's It's the ability to understand that the story doesn't begin when thoughts become words. It begins when there's alignment.

When the story captivates, inspires. And in the one you're writing, the one that is your life, you can always make that moment right now. There's always a new novel that can be written with new objectives and characters and storylines. It's okay to chop anything that's like. led to this moment. It's okay to create a beginning as you stand here today, right? It's the idea of sunk costs that changed my life years ago. Just because you spent a long time making a mistake doesn't mean you need to continue making it. Just because you've been writing

this story of your life for years doesn't mean the beginning is behind you. You can start this novel here. You can begin this epic adventure. now and i think there's tremendous power in looking at life like that it's never too late for a new beginning it's never wrong or impossible to even at chapter four put your finger down on a new starting point and say this is where it all begins where the new ideal takes shape we are all authors. And if authors have anything, it's control over the narrative. It's the ability to design a world that aligns with the one they imagine. I want to share a theme with you that continuously re-emerges in my life. And every time it does, I'm grateful. I'm a little bolder, a little wiser, a little more

grounded. The idea is simple. It's creating a low barrier to entry. Let me explain what I mean. The other day I was on a call with Ashley, who was a brilliant member of the team here, and we're talking about social media. And as we're talking, I'm going on and on about the end state, how I think things should in a perfect world be with our platforms and the output. And it's important to know for this particular project, we're kind of on the ground floor, right? So in reality, I couldn't possibly know what the end state's going to be. There's a lot of epiphanies to be had. There's twists in terms that I couldn't possibly anticipate.

I think it's great to have a North Star in a vision, obviously. But winning in the long run requires observation and reflection and adjustment and on and on. So as I'm speaking, you know, she's listening, nodding her head, you know, agreeing with the vision. But after some thoughts as well, why don't we just start with what we have now, right? Keep the barrier of entry low so that there's less friction and we can start seeing how, you know, things evolve. And I thought that was just incredible, right? That's what I temporarily lost in the moment for sure. you win by going and then evolving.

So many would be amazing pursuits were never started because, you know, we make initiating them too complex. Same thing happened on another call that same day. I'm talking to Tyler, a business partner for another project coming around the corner. And, you know, I'm sending them videos, talking about ideas for rollout, different avenues we could take, which again, it's great.

It's better to have a large vision and trim it down than no vision at all, but the convo is the same. You know, Ed, I love it. It's great. But what if we start with one thing, though? One idea. Let's get the gears turning.

That needed to be the theme for the day, and I appreciated it, right? So a few thoughts. One, surround yourself with sharp people like Ashley and Tyler that keep you grounded, but two, and perhaps the main point, stop creating friction for yourself when you're beginning new things. I've talked about this in different contexts, you know,

and I've hammered it into my day-to-day in many ways, right? Like if I'm going on a run, you know, I have the running stuff by the door and ready to go with a glass of water the night before so that when I wake up, the process feels so easy that to not go would seem stupid. But life is complex, and so are we. It was a great reminder that your handle on something in one area of life doesn't mean you'll implement it across the board.

And I was grateful for that reminder. It was what I needed at that time, right? The reminder that winning is going. Winning is beginning. Because you're immersing yourself in the process and you're acclimating to it. You're seeing what works and what doesn't. You're growing, as opposed to taking an extra three months to put into place parameters that will probably change. anyway. One of my favorite mantras is simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Powerful, but sometimes elusive. But if you can keep it front and center, it adds immense value to your life. The most powerful thing you can do is have a general sense of direction and go now with what you have. Ashley and I will change our social media tactics many, many times in the future

because we're collecting data and we're moving forward. Tyler and I will approach our venture in probably countless ways. Because we're not in love with a particular strategy. We're in love with the end goal. And perhaps you in your world are at a point where you're seeking to initiate something new. And you're playing with the pros and cons, you're listing ideas in your head. Categorizing details and nuance that, sure, it seems important right now in this. moment, but will it forever, right? My advice to you is to mitigate detail and instead place the

value on finding the courage to begin now. Before you're ready, before you have all the answers, before you know how X, Y, and Z is going to unfold, mitigate the friction to such an extent that, you know, the pursuit feels like a nice hockey rink. You're sliding into whatever comes next. Never underestimate how powerful that is. And be reassured by the fact that in three months from now or a year from now, the journey won't look the same. You'll be better in execution and wiser in strategy because you simply created a low barrier to entry. You leveraged, perhaps the most important ability you possess. You began. The other day, was on a podcast with Evan Carmichael, who's a YouTuber and entrepreneur.

And we were talking with Shaquille, who was the host, about the mental side of the entrepreneurial journey, how we set goals, but also prepare ourselves for the inevitable adversity associated with growth. And one question, Shaquille asked us was, where do we see ourselves in five years? Okay, so side note, I have a unique relationship with this question. As someone who was unsure in experimenting with their career, right, for much of their adult life, I never quite knew how to answer it. You know, it's like two things can be true at once. It's a very reasonable question.

But I also didn't like answering it, right? Hated it to my core, you could even say. I could never really articulate why. It just made me uneasy, right? Like five years of lifetime. How am I supposed to know? And again, no knock on the host at all. It's a very common and practical question.

I'm glad he asked it because it opened the door to a pretty cool conversation. So anyway, he asked the question, and I'm thinking, oh, man, like, how am I going to approach this? And before I said a word, Evan blurts out, look, if you know exactly what you're going to be doing in five years, you're thinking too small. In that comment, to say it made me happy was an understatement. It was like, thank you for saying what my mind has been trying to piece together for a decade and a half. If you know exactly where you're going to be, of course you're limiting yourself.

There's just too much predictability, too much routine, process, and not enough experimentation, not enough life. Why? Why? Because growth is unpredictable. It takes us places we didn't expect, shows us things we didn't anticipate, it unveils truths and minor miracles about ourselves, that we, let's face it, never would have seen had we been dismissive of all life's variability in opportunity. Now, does this mean we don't move with conviction in a general direction? Does it mean we don't have goals or ambitions? no, I certainly don't think it does. You can't hit targets you don't aim for.

That will always be true. It merely means life is not about being perfect in bringing about a particular result. It's about making adjustments throughout your pursuit of meaning. If you feel closer to your purpose when you change the medium, then change the medium. If it means your heart tells you, you left is where the value lies and not right, then go left. Right? To me, it's essentially

reminding us that life is not a black and white, yes or no checklist or test. It's a game, and you have to grant yourself the freedom to play. You have to give yourself permission to grow. I think about how much time five years is. And how five years ago, I wasn't even thinking about creating media the way I do now with the amazing team of people that helped me. I wasn't speaking on stages. I hadn't crafted my creative style. I didn't know the people I know now who introduced me to not only new people, but new ideas. These are characters, their stories, their opportunities that present themselves only as you immerse yourself in the journey. And I was okay not knowing exactly, but merely moving towards a general direction.

the most important decisions were, you know, looking back, not what I said yes to, but what I said no to. As I moved through life experimenting, learning, growing, I was able to craft something that worked for me. Not other people. Not what's in books. There's no roadmap. No, it's an experiment.

And this is more of the reassurance I would have wanted during those years, from an older version of myself. Like, it's okay to not know exactly where you'll be. Just promise yourself this. If it matters to you, you'll find a way to move to it, with it, towards it. And if it doesn't, then let it go.

Surround yourself with people that lift you up. And if they don't let them go. You'll hear a lot of talk about the right way to do things, especially in this information age. Those ideas and decisions may have in fact been right, but they also may be wrong for you. Try, test it out, and if not, let it go. The experiment that is your life is the reward. It's a luxury. It's such a beautiful ride.

You know, don't box yourself in because of some made-up theoretical plan. Don't avoid the path to a new world because I checked my list and this doesn't line up with where I said I'll be February 23rd, 2008. Now, go live your life. Do your best to exist in that place, the intersection of what you love and what adds value. Let it bend. Let it transform. let it teach you things about yourself and the world. There aren't correct ways to live,

but I think there certainly are some wrong ways. And that's time spent out of obligation, adhering to a story that means nothing to you. Push. See what life gives back. Your footsteps in the aggregate will reveal truths and tell stories you could never have even dreamed up. It's in goal.

knowing that your book is written. And just a friendly reminder, people don't read books for the last page, the ending. No, they read them for that stuff in the middle. Right? The journey. So next time I'm asked what my five-year plan is, I'll probably say, same as my 10, 20, and 30-year plan. I don't know. But I can tell you, I won't lose sight of that North Star. of that North Star, the one that calls my name.

But at the same time, I won't be afraid to wander into the night. Dance in the moonlight, even get lost in the shadows from time to time. Growth is directly correlated to one's willingness to push forward into the dark. And well, into that darkness, we shall love. go. 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, skincare, beauty, body care, and fragrance, Dime offers simple, spa-worthy products that will help you enter 2025 with confidence. Whether you're revitalizing your

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Your best skin awaits. Hey there, it's Ryan Seacrest 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. What's the difference between paying a fee and paying a fine? The answer to this question may not be as small or insignificant as we're inclined to believe. I recently picked up the book, The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Howsel. It lays out some valuable concepts and ideas about investing and managing our finances, growing our wealth.

But there's one idea that I wanted to share because, yeah, from an investing standpoint, it's important, critical even. But it's relevant to so much more. And I think an understanding of it will help us in many aspects of life. So first, let's start with the financial piece and then we'll sort of grow the metaphor, right? Because Howzel talks about how we should look at investing in the market.

And one of the hardest things for us to deal with is the market's volatility. It's difficult for us to invest, our hard-earned money and then see the market go, let's say, for example, down 20%. Like seeing that huge dip in our investment, that's not fun. Everyone knows that. That can be nerve-wracking. And it dissuades a lot of people from investing

or keeping their money in when they should. It ultimately keeps them from getting the returns available to them, right? But here's the point he makes. He says those people who see that volatility as a fee and not a fine are more inclined to win. in the long term. Understanding that market returns are never free, they demand a price.

And that price is the roller coaster ride that we all have to deal with. That is the market. It's the ups and downs and highs and lows. That volatility is the cost of admission. And if you understand that, you're more inclined to stay calm. Keep your long-term vision.

You're more than likely to come out on top. On the other hand, if when that turbulence arrives, you know, the sudden crashes, the ups and downs, and you see it as a fine, as this terrible thing that's happening to a punishment, you're more likely to act emotionally, to be reactive and make decisions that aren't in your best interest. To drive the point home, he mentions Disneyland, for example, the fee is $100. And people will gladly pay that fee because, you know, they get that great experience. with their family, their kids that they'll have for the rest of their lives. That $100 isn't a fine. It's not a punishment.

It's an intentional, deliberate trade of one thing for another. And if you were to look at it as a fine, you'd never get to enjoy that experience. If you thought that $100 was a punishment, it just wouldn't be the same. And so why do I bring all this up? Because I'm a firm believer that the best thing, in life all come with that price or a fee as house estate.

But I also think we sometimes have a tendency to look at that cost, that very same cost of admission as a fine, as a problem. When really no, it's just trading some turbulence now for a reward a little bit down the road. Sometimes the right thing is the hard thing, the uncomfortable thing. dividends it will pay so long as we understand that it's opening the door to something greater. Leaving a situation you know is not good for you hurts. We've all been there. We all know this in some capacity.

But it's not a punishment or even a bad thing, right? That discomfort associated with walking away is a fee that will enable you to live a more aligned life in the very near future. Or let's say you're building something meaningful, something you care deeply about, But it's just you. You and the idea, there is no validation. Certainly no external reward, not yet. And continuing forward in those moments is hard. It's taxing.

Emotionally draining even. But this feeling, again, isn't a punishment. It's not a fine. It's the fee. It's the cost of admission to bring something into life that wasn't there. Life's greatest moments are expensive. It's just are you going to pay the fee to bring it about with a cost of regret at a different time?

And you get the point, right? You can take this and apply it to so many things. Falling down, criticism, feeling lost, having to start from the bottom. These things are not fines, they are fees. They are price tags. And so often, the initial price is a bargain compared to what we'll get back. We just need to stop perceiving their

mere existence is the world working against us. No, these are opportunities in disguise. It's easy to walk by the important things, to dismiss the uncomfortable things. The harsh truth is that our greatest opportunities are often intertwined in our distress. That's why so many people walk away from the things that will make their lives better. That's why so many people pull their money from the market when it takes a dive. so many people walk away from a project or idea when things get challenging. Or conversely, it's why so many people do nothing at all. They stay in situations they aren't happy with and know they need to change

because the fee to get from point A to point B feels too steep. But I think the value is in comparing the discomfort, the cost, the fee to what it's going to bring you down the road because often it's a bargain. We need to remember that what it will ultimately provide has life-changing potential. Understand that resistance is not a fine. It is not the world telling you know. It's life asking you, hey, do you really want this?

Because if you do, it's yours. So long as you sign the dotted line and pay the price, most people will be dissuaded by this. Most people will turn and walk away, but most people also leave a hell of a lot on the table. And I don't want that for you. You don't want that for you. The world we live in is one of abundance. So when life pushes back, understand that it's merely positioning you to move beyond your limits.

To redefine your worldview. And while admission isn't free, It's well worth the price. Find a way. Because first and foremost, there always is one. Find a way because you are more than strong enough. Because anything other than a solution or some semblance of progress means you gave in. Called it quits, threw in the towel.

and giving in is not who you are. Find a way, because that discomfort today, well, it becomes our greatest source of pride tomorrow. The simple decision to carry on or stick it out now is so much more than it appears to be when under duress. Sure, it's easy to turn around. around. But everything, everything relies on your moving forward into that darkness. Find a way. Because while we may think we want safety and need predictability, our souls

want adventure. Life's meaning is comprised of the mountains climbed and dragons slayed, So step out and slay your dragons. Find a way. Because an evolved self has to be earned. Keeping promises to yourself is no small ordeal. Putting your head on the pillow at night, knowing you followed through on who you decided you would be. That's power.

It creates a trajectory towards infinite power. possibility, it points you at the stars. Find a way because you must reinforce the fact that the world is clay to be molded, not a checklist. It's a game, not a chore, a gift, not an obligation. When you find a way, you become the ruler of your own kingdom. Look, there exists a way, a path. That's not the question.

The question is one of effort. Is there a willingness to move beyond the parameters imposed upon you by others? By the past, by the thoughts that bounce around in your head? Is there a willingness to endure duress in the short term? Is there a willingness to fall down now, to look down. to not always be perfectly packaged or assembled. Are you willing to endure that in exchange for the infinite? I remember hearing the mantra,

there is always a way to get to your finish line. It's not can I. It's not, is it possible? No, it's how. How do I get there? The dots exist. You have to be the one to connect them. You have to build bridges over the oceans of unknowns. The valleys comprised of the unforeseen. Oh, there is a way. Remember that. Remember that it's not the destination that's in question, but one's willingness to knock and knock and knock until the right door opens. Remember that you have everything you need, that you are armed with all that is required. You were made to connect those very dots before you.

You just have to decide what's more important to you. That feeling of reaching the top of the mountain or the feeling of its shade at the bottom. What will you give to be more than you've ever been? more than you've ever done, there is always away. Are you willing to find it? The other day I went to check out an open mic and basically people sign up to share their short stories, their poetry, stuff like that. And I'm sitting there soaking it all in, enjoying each one as they went up on stage and

eventually this girl makes her way up. The first thing she does is she tells the room, hey, I've never done this before, but I've always wanted to, so here I am. She takes out her phone and begins reading some of her poems. And pretty quickly, two things stuck out to me. One is she was brilliant. It's just so incredibly talented that I'm thinking, man, if she keeps doing this, she's going to find herself in some crazy places, she's really going to make an impact. That was the first thing. And the second, as I sat there and watched,

was that I noticed that her hands were visibly shaking. I was pretty close to this stage. And I could see this happening to the point where she had to place one on top of the other, right, to keep the hand that was holding her phone from bouncing around while she read. That's how visibly nervous she was. And immediately my mind went down this road, reflecting back on the moments I've had just like that, because, man, I've been there, where you're both determined and terrified at the same time,

but somehow the desire to try outweighs the fear just enough for you to find yourself in that exact situation. Just enough that you step into a foreign world, still wondering whether you made the right move, you know, every step of the way from the car, the building, onto this. stage until you hit the point where, okay, well, now you can't turn back. Now you're here, you can't leave. And the thing is, and this is what was so beautiful to me, she was never forced to do this at gunpoint. No one made her step into that chaos. It was self-created. She could have stayed home. She could have closed her journal or the notes app on her phone, and that would have been the end of that.

But no, not today. Today, one yes would lead to another. Would lead to another and another, and despite the nerves, the sweaty palms and shaky hands, she would open a new chapter in the story of her life. Proved to herself that she's bolder than she thought she was just a few hours ago. That there's upside when you confront. those unknowns in life. And as I sat and watched,

I was so incredibly moved. So proud, so impressed. Partly because I know that to many of the people in that room, it might not have looked like much. You know, it's like, okay, great, round of applause for the new artist or poet, welcome. But I knew the gravity of the moment. I understood how big it truly was,

and regardless of what words came out of her mouth or how well they were assembled. That night was not about the performance. No, it was about new beginnings. It was about outstretched wings, opening one's eyes to the learned helplessness and pinpointing the opportunity that was simply waiting for that first step to occur.

And see, that's what I want to emphasize. That's what I believe every single one of us needs to understand. to fully get the biggest moves we make in life, well it's easy to convince ourselves that they aren't necessary or worth it. The things that transform us hide themselves. A lot of the time they don't feel urgent. They aren't life or death decisions.

They can be the stages we never step on. The people we never talk to, the chances we never take, because well what happens if we simply stay right where we are say thank you but no thank you to those fleeting opportunities nothing nothing happens more of the same

and realistically nothing is far less scary than all that other stuff we don't fear nothingness we don't intrinsically fear more of the same no we fear stepping onto the state We fear vulnerability. We fear messing up, looking stupid, being judged. And yeah, when you do nothing, you get to skip all that.

Avoid all that discomfort and that potential pain. But you also miss the feeling of victory. Of closing your eyes at night knowing how badly you wanted to just let that ship sail, how terrified you were about what could go wrong, but you did it anyway. You get to feel you have earned the rush of stepping into a chaotic world. And even if temporarily, you tamed it.

That's what life is about. Always remember that we have a natural proclivity to avoid pain, not to pursue the things that make us feel alive. Deep down in our DNA, there exist instructions, instructions to run away from the things that could hurt us, embarrass us. Our minds will race, our bodies will kick and scream, our hands will shake, that's just the way it goes. And so we prove to ourselves that it's all conquerable,

that reality can be relearned. It's a layer of resistance that has to be faced and then dismantled. Why was I so moved that night? Because I got to watch in real time someone dismantling that fear on their way to something incredible. It's courage. Stepping into the arena. Not for the people next to you or anyone else, but for you. Because you know there's more. You know that where you are pales in comparison to where you can be.

I'm definitely one to look back from time to time and reflect, and I'll tell you what, I'm incredibly thankful for the hard times that shaped me, the challenges that were forced upon me and made me who I am. But beyond that, and perhaps even more so, the times I stepped out on my own accord, terrified and manufactured change, the times that the fear of staying the same eclipsed the fear of failure. The times I could have stayed home, woken up the next morning and lost nothing,

but instead saw what there was to be gained and threw myself into that metaphorical fire so that confidence could be forged and new chapters could be written. Let's all remember how out of focus the present moment looks, Remember how inclined we are to look at life through a lens of scarcity. We are trying to avoid, avoid, avoid. But if you can even briefly find the strength to step back and ask, what is there to be gained?

You see that not going is the real danger. And those stages that seem arbitrary, that seem like optional, stops along the way, well they're just as imperative as the air you breathe. They are not some things. They are everything. We all hit a point where we look back on the roads we traveled and see the culmination of footsteps that have come to constitute our lives. And we want that moment to feel full.

Like no stone was left unturned, like we put it all on the line. So will you step onto this stage of life? Stand your ground as the curtain opens, reads your poems to a foreign audience. Will you share your voice even though it trembles? Because if you do, you're giving yourself permission to truly live, to feel. Look, we're not here for a long time. This is a very short ride. So why not give as much of yourself to the world for as long as you possibly can?

Why not step out knowing that the difference between nothing and everything is what you do with shaky hands? What is failure? Perhaps when the plan falls apart. Maybe when the project results are underwhelming. No, not quite. When your heart breaks, momentum stops when your world is shaken at its foundation. No, to put it simply, failure is not going.

Failure is the plan never falling apart because you were too scared to make one. Failure is never being underwhelmed by the results of that project because you couldn't find the courage to start. Failure is no heartbreak, no setbacks, no challenge to your worldview, because you stood still. I see life's disappointing occurrences as a sort of transaction, some temporary discomfort, in exchange for the very wisdom you were looking for, placed in the palm of your hand. You endure the pain to get the answers. You accept chaos today in exchange for the map that enables you to navigate the terrain. How can something be a failure if it places you right where you need to be?

How can something be a failure if it brings you closer to the life you dream? Maybe we don't look at life as failure versus success, but rather as being stagnant versus being in motion, immobile versus mobile. Maybe it's that simple. If you are moving, regardless of how fast you're giving yourself a chance to overcome, to collect wisdom and pick up armor. You're giving yourself a chance to be more tomorrow than you are today. And that means we stop accepting the notion that we are standing still for our benefit. Justifying that we're only stationary because we're waiting for the right moment. We're here because we need this to be perfect.

No, there are a million different ways to get what you want out of life. a million different paths to get you there, none of them require standing still. I already cringe at the amount of time I've wasted waiting for the right time. How I would sit on releasing this or starting that. Oh, it's because I'm a perfectionist, only to learn that perfectionism is really just fear in disguise. You can sit there and wait and refine. refine and refine. But I'll tell you what, the one who moves, who creates, shares, collects feedback, adjusts,

and repeats will have achieved that level of quote unquote perfection before you feel prepared to acknowledge and share your prototype. It was simply by going that evolution took place. It took me a long time to grasp this, to understand it. Part of me didn't want to believe it, as I found it inherently uncomfortable, but life rewards the bold. It always has and always will, calling for a sort of calculated recklessness. Great things are achieved by doers who can put their egos aside and let the world humble them on their way to the next attempt.

In Ron Chernow's biography on Washington, one of the common themes, which I believe made Washington one of the most influential people in the history of mankind was his ability to think, analyze, seek out the opinions of people around him, and then once decided

that was that. He was all in. The rubber had met the road. this was now the way. And I find power in that. As overthinking is so often our undoing, right, weighing out worst-case scenarios, contingency plans, this versus that. When progress requires that we, sure, spend a little bit of time deciding which general direction we go,

but most importantly, that we start. And I think we've all been guilty of this. Over-analizing, over-planning. But just like a sailor can't predict the wins, we can't predict all life's variables. Again, it's deciding on a general direction and then trusting ourselves to navigate life's obstacles as they arise. It's finding trends and patterns along the way

in doing our best to utilize them as we move forward. There will be points where the road ahead seems overwhelming, the obstacles too abundant to make sense of, where the mind compels you to stay where you are and stare out in awe. It will suggest that what's behind you is safer, that the worlds you know contains fewer monsters than the world you don't. It might even convince you that whatever ambitions you had weren't really that important that you were. You could easily live without them. And the longer you stand there, the longer you listen to that voice, the louder it gets. You dismiss it with every step forward.

Your momentum is a dagger through the heart of any doubt that once tried to occupy the precious real estate behind your eyes. You don't have to outthink it, outsmart it. You just have to move forward. And what you find is that the mountains you once peered up at weren't all that they seen. A culmination of little hills that can be climbed, manageable rocks that in actuality can be used to propel yourself up the mountainside. There was never a perfect path up.

No magic transport to the summit. You might even think to yourself, what a shame that so many are still on the sidelines waiting to devise their perfect approach, making plans and drawing maps. But that's not how any of this works. To win you go, to make progress, you move. Knowing full well that you'll find your dead ends, you'll spend time and exhaust energy, going down certain paths that don't ultimately leave you. you where you wanted to go. But what a gift the ability to reverse course and take the

right at the fork instead of the erroneous left you previously took. Your errors are not permanent. Your errors are correctable. Stagnation is what's permanent. Wishing is permanent. Someday is permanent. But right now that's pure value. So next time you You find yourself looking out as we all do, remind yourself that there are many ways to transform your reality for the better. Many paths to the mountaintop. But there is only one way to assure you never get there, and that is standing still.

So trust yourself to figure life out as it comes. To take the pain and extract from it wisdom, to find the strength beyond the uncertainty. Life is giving you everything that is required. Not some things or a few things, everything. All it asks of you is that you dismantle the delusion of perfection and begin.