Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Why You'll Keep Starting Over And Never Finish

Episode Date: June 9, 2025

In this stirring episode, Eddie Pinero explores the profound difference between those who keep starting over and those who finish. Tied to the theme “Why You’ll Keep Starting Over and Never Finish,” he unpacks the quiet power of self-belief—how an ordinary person, armed with conviction, broke through doubt and fear to prove that showing up, day after day, is the key to rewriting the impossible. Through poetic storytelling, this episode challenges the cycle of starting and stopping, urging you to bet on yourself and see your journey through to the end.More from Eddie Pinero:Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletterYour World Within Podcast: https://yourworldwithin.libsyn.com/Stream these tracks on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - @your_world_within and @IamEddiePineroTikTok - your_world_withinFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/YourworldwithinTwitter - https://www.twitter.com/IamEddiePineroBusiness Inquiries - http://www.yourworldwithin.com/contact

He wasn't handed excellence. No silver spoons, no guarantees, no headlines written about his birth. No, he wasn't born into the record books. He wasn't carved into marble before he ever took a breath. He was an ordinary person. And that's what makes his story so sacred. Because when you peel back the layers, when you turn down the volume of the world and listen close,

you hear something remarkable. You hear self-belief. He believed himself capable of extraordinary things. Not because he was instructed to. Not because the world applauded. He simply decided it would be so. In that decision, that seemingly trivial, insignificant decision, it changed everything. You see, most people stand on the edge of their potential looking out.

Yeah, they can see the horizon, but they let fear talk them down. They carry the weight of every doubt, every voice that ever whispered, you can't. But not him. He was crazy enough to believe it was possible. And that kind of belief, well, it's dangerous. It upends the status quo. It questions what's deemed realistic. It burns the rulebook and rewrites the story.

To believe in the face of failure, to bet on yourself when there's no applause, no confirmation, that's where legends are. born because belief is the inflection point. It's where it all begins. And so he showed up every day, and I mean every single day, not just when it was convenient, not when he felt inspired, but when the world was heavy, when the journey felt uphill, when no one was watching and the world screamed quit. When he woke up, tired, and lost and beaten down, he showed up. He ran through storms. Others simply refused to walk in. He climbed hills most people complained about from the

base. He kept going, knowing that it wasn't easy, but that the meaningful things, well, they rarely were. He knew that extraordinary doesn't announce itself. It doesn't show up with lights and music and buzz and hype. It's quiet. It's disguised in discomfort, hidden in sacrifice. It's earned. One decision at a time. One step forward into the night.

Every scar became a sentence in his story. every setback is set up for something greater he didn't run from the pain and believe me there are days where he wanted to but he stood firm he stood tall and found within the chaos wisdom within the nothingness value

within the void the path and when the world questioned him when they rolled their eyes, when they asked, who do you think you are? He answered, rarely with words, but with movement, with progress, determination, with grit, with fire, because he didn't need their permission. He'd given that to himself long ago. So when you look at his journey, know this.

You're not different in your potential. You're different in your belief. Your moment won't come wrapped in clarity or applause. There won't be lights or a grandiose celebration. It will merely whisper when you're afraid. When you're tired, when the odds don't favor you. And your only job in that moment is to be crazy enough to believe that it's possible. That's it.

Not leap a mountain. Not traverse an ocean. Believe that it's possible to show up when something deep inside wants to let go and hide. To speak. when silence feels safer. To try again when failure is the only thing you've known for what seems like years. And to do so,

not because the world promised you anything in return. No, we get no guarantees in this game, none. But because something inside you whispered, this is who I am. So yeah, he was ordinary. But he believed himself capable of extraordinary things. And now he is the proof that the impossible bends for those willing to believe they belong in the arena. And my friends, not someday.

Not when it's perfect. It will never be perfect now. here today in this moment crazy enough to believe yourself capable of extraordinary when things are at their worst

it's an invitation for you to be your best this next segment talks a little bit about that process in a different light right the idea is it's one of my favorite quotes it's the idea when we're moving towards something great greater than the present moment,

just in terms of magnitude, right? It's, we keep our feet on the ground and our head in the clouds, meaning we have delusional, crazy, out of this world goals and beliefs, right? We're trying to rearrange reality, and that's magic. It should feel crazy. That's your head in the clouds. Good. Your North Star.

But your feet on the ground, is tying it to a very deep pragmatism, very real, very tangible with the data you're taking in and your observations and your analysis so that you are learning and adjusting and bending as you move towards the impossible. I think those two things need to be coupled together, right?

If you don't have some big, grandiose goal, if you're not pushing for something huge and all you are is practical, okay, you'll be very practical at ordinary things. Now, on the other side, if, you know, you're all, you know, the castle in the air, and you're not paying attention to anything around you, you'll find yourself running in circles and scattered and not moving towards anything substantively, right? So these two need to be married and coupled with one another, and that's what this is about. head in the clouds, feet on the ground.

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. Non-stop 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 a 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 looks. little things that add up over time. In the book, Good to Great, Jim Collins calls this the Stockdale principle. Where 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, you know, 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. It's 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 you know worth taking but you also need to know what it means to be Michael Jordan you got to understand the commitment how he's saccharacter

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.

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 work 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 fails. 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 dream big steps small see you tomorrow so before we get into the next segment here quick reminder that if you're interested in more mental notes, right, dripped into your inbox biweekly, join thousands and thousands of others. Free newsletter. Eddiepanero.com slash newsletter.

I love sharing some of these mental notes, some of these mindset shifts that have absolutely transformed my life. So hopefully I'll see you there. Eddie panero.com slash newsletter. This next segment dives more into the message. I think by now you probably get that I'd love and I harp on this, this situation, those dark moments. And by the way, it doesn't have to be in life when, you know, just devastation occurs. It doesn't always have to be the extremes there.

It can be in the middle of a workout, the hardest part of a run. It can be pulling up your laptop and writing when you're like, I'd rather watch TV, right? It's that the crux of that duress in whatever you're doing. The point of this next speech is that those moments give you a stage to elevate yourself. And I find again and again and again that they are the turning point. When you show up in those moments, in the darkest of times, in the darkest chapter of whatever you're going through, it mentally elevates you.

You start to identify yourself differently. Those stages in those moments, if you stand on them, you know, provide you with a megaphone to just absolutely transform your reality. When the water rises, it's sink or swim. We pick up certain truths as we make our way through life, realizations, little awakenings, patterns. that allow us to map the things around us so that we can navigate this crazy place.

And here's one such realization for my own journey. When you pursue your best, you live your best life. Your best is a North Star to guide you a bar, line, or benchmark that's always moving, a reminder that you can always do more and be more. A reminder that life tomorrow, can always be different than life today. To pursue your best, in my opinion, is synonymous with capturing all that is good in this world.

Capitalizing on potential is to utilize those resources in need of an architect. That pen in need of a poet, brush in need of a painter, story in need of a writer or populace in need of a leader. It's a pursuit that not only supplements our existence, here on earth. No, I believe it is, in and of itself, why we are here on earth. But like every ideal pragmatism seems to get in the way.

Meaning, well, life is more difficult in execution than it looks on paper. We can't be our quote, unquote, best every day. We sometimes fall short of that mark. Our outcomes don't always align with our expectations. The perpetual journey to one's best is neither straight nor without discomfort. It's more like the navigating of a new world without a map or compass, a world that we're by default ill-equipped to take on when we begin. And I believe that 99% of success is reliant upon the willingness to move into that great unknown

and allowing adversity to shape us. But that remaining 1% is a little bit different. That 1% is when we see what we've never seen. Do what we've never done. It's uncovering our best in those moments we feel are worst. Climbing the highest when we're at our lowest. When the water rises, it's finding a way to swim. See, the majority of life calls for tiny adjustments.

It's observing and learning and moving on. But rarely do we talk about the darkest moments, when we feel as though we are up to our neck in the trials and tribulations of life. When the world doesn't relay messages of hope or prosperity, no, the only incoming message is despair. You're essentially David looking up at Goliath. Perhaps a Goliath of your making. Perhaps not that a Goliath, nonetheless. So why here?

Why are these dark moments different than the 99%? Why is this stage provided at the very time when the limelight feels further out of reach than it ever has? Because this, this moment is when you prove to yourself who you are. You think you've dug deep in the past? You think you've given your all back then? No, you have no idea what you're capable of. The world provides a stage in our darkest moments so that you can pull back the curtains and illuminate your strength.

It floods your world with adversity so that you can trust yourself to navigate the waters. And if you can find a way here, when the walls are closing, clock is ticking and water is rising, can't you do? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Those moments show us what we can be, and that is why the 1% is everything. Why is it that rock bottom becomes a bridge to so many new tomorrows? Or the losses we dread most become the change we need most. The answer is simple, Because in those moments we find within ourselves the keys to transformation. See, you didn't know that you can leap that far.

And you didn't know because you've never been pushed so close to the edge, running at so fast a speed. But in those moments, you learn that you can take flight. You learn you have the power to stand again. So while the vast majority of life is saying yes when most would say no, it's how we choose to act while immersed in our lowest loaves that provides the framework and the opportunity. I believe that the tears indicative of despair streaming down your face look a lot like the tears that emerged during our happiest moments. They are the same.

One just precedes the other. See, despair gives you a chance to look at life differently, look at yourself differently, to look in the mirror and understand that the reflection looking back is capable of leading a revolution in your soul. And I get how hard that is, how detached from reality it might seem, but isn't that what tomorrow is?

A detachment from the reality? parameters and the rules of today. It's not until that seed is buried beneath the earth that it plants roots, that it takes aim at the sky, and when you are stuck beneath the chaos of life, you have to know that this is where you too transform. So forget yesterday's shoreline. This is where you build tomorrow's destination. Don't fixate on what is gone when you can draw.

of all that is to come and don't dwell on who you were when you can celebrate all you will be when the water rises swim the antithesis of accountability and agency it's i can't because you and him and her and life is so hard and oh the boomers had it so easy and oh the like there can be an element of truth to all this stuff but it also is true that when you outsource responsibility, you outsource your power. You outsource your control. You know, it's one of the greatest strengths you have in one of your differentiators will always be whether you can take accountability and change the situation,

even if you didn't get a fair hand, even if it's not your fault, right? Can you do something about it? Will you do something about it? So that's what this next segment's about. Everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to change himself. This was written by Leo Tolstoy in reference to people's proclivity to point out at the world and project blame rather than to point in at themselves and ask, why? What can I do? How can I be better?

Which when you think about it is basically a shark forfeiting its bite, right? Or a bird giving up its wings. our personal agency is without a doubt our superpower. Yet, from my vantage point, sometimes feels like we're walking away from that superpower, a tiny step at a time. Little by little, day by day, we're allowing greatness to fade

while bringing about the death of the hero. And, well, that's a pretty big claim. What could I possibly mean by this? It's funny when people ask me what I'm most proud of. My mind pretty quickly goes to my work, the brand that I've dedicated the last almost decade to building. But I don't think that's right. I think it's a product of my answer, but it's not my answer. What I'm most proud of is shipping away at the monster that is the victim mentality.

You know, my default when things went wrong for so long was to feel bad for myself. It was easier to be the victim and sulk than it was to keep taking the hits. It's like a cheat code. When you can just bask in your sorrow and hate the world, you don't have to do anything. It's like a giant ibuprofen for the discomfort that is life. But it relieves this symptom, not. the cause and to understand to overcome this worldview is like being gifted with a new pair of eyes and what I learned was that self-pity it gets you nothing it leaves you resentful

disappointed envious wandering down a path that is not your own what I learned was that my story needed a hero that's why as I grew I spoke about the power and the beauty of doing the difficult thing. Running in the rain, chasing the metaphorical fireflies, taking the last train home. See, until you immerse yourself into that vast unknown, you stay in a cell of your own making. You build walls of limitation and you exist entirely within them. And as time has progressed, I look back, there are two things worth mentioning. One is that we find lives. We find lives. meaning in the difficult thing. And two, there is a fundamental misunderstanding,

and even from time to time contempt, for what the difficult thing means, for those who speak of the difficult thing, as though hard truths are in some way inconsiderate. Like diverging from the comfort of one's feelings implies a lack of empathy. But that's wrong. If you love someone, if you care about someone, if you care about yourself, you say what is true.

And what is true is that the shelter and the temporary comfort of victimhood is a high, not worth the withdrawal, not worth the suffering. It got me nowhere, it will get you nowhere, and that is a reality that will never cease to be true. We live in a world that's been shaped entirely by those who found the courage to do the difficult thing. Everything around us is a product of the courageous decision to take the now and bend it. And that means taking hits. It means being criticized. It means by definition you are choosing to be uncommon. You're choosing to change things.

Yourself. And by default, the world around. There's nothing wrong with being common. Quitting is relatable. Failure is relatable. Falling short is relatable. We're all human and we've all been there. But these stock features of humanity, they are not worth

celebrating. We don't put on pedestals the familiar. No, we put on pedestals the times that we've reshaped the familiar. And a world of participation trophies is a world that has disincentivized that which makes life worth living. It cripples the very pursuit that ignites the soul, a push towards the extraordinary. It's time we resurrect the hero. See through the facade of short-term comfort that leads to long-term emptiness. In a world where attention is currency, it's time we acknowledge the payment we receive when we play victim buys only despair.

sure we're flawed. That will always be true, but we are capable of manufacturing greatness. We're capable of capturing hearts and captivating minds. If you could only see within yourself that story unwritten, if you could feel the greatness that awaits, the roads to be traveled, and mountains to be climbed, there would be no debate. There'd be no hesitation about that march to the belly of the beast. If only to show us, that our demons exist solely where we allow them to. Resurrection the hero. Fight those battles that light you up.

Blaze your trail through the valley of darkness. Take that path unknown to the common man, unseen to those who live within the confines of what is. Resurrection that hero because you need you. You because the world needs you. There's no time to be down or sad or dwell on the mistakes of yesterday. There's too much on the line to pretend that settling was the plan all along. Or to point at the obstacles with disdain and hatred while life rotates around you.

No, resurrect the hero. Resurrection your answer. Resurrection the person you were meant to be. It may not be simple or intuitive. It may cause you to give more than you knew you had. It may not be easy. But my friend, easy never changed the world. All right, beautiful people.

Well, that concludes today's episode. I'd love to know in the comments, what is it you're working through or working towards? You know, all these segments, and I've talked a lot today, about battling through the difficulty of building something, changing something, stepping into an unknown. Let me know what that is for you.

What is your current pursuit? And how can we help each other in the comments? Like, let's start talking about this stuff. Let's start showing up and being there for one another. I think community is a differentiator when it comes to this stuff. So throw it in the comments. Let us know what you're going through. Let us know how we can help.

And I appreciate you being here, more than anything. Appreciate you hanging out. And until the next one, have a beautiful week.