Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - WIN THE DAY - Best Motivational Speech Listen Daily

Episode Date: July 26, 2024

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." – Ralph Waldo Emerson Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook  YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube  In this episode, Eddie Pinero highlights the importance of being true to yourself. Drawing inspiration from Emerson, he emphasizes that the greatest accomplishment is to remain authentic in a world that constantly tries to change you. Eddie encourages asking the right questions and staying true to your path, even if it means standing out. Authenticity and pride in your uniqueness are key. Be yourself always and live in a way that aligns with who you are and what’s important to you.

Be you always. And you might hear that and think, well, that's obvious. That's simple. That's easy. Not if the world has something to say about it. In fact, Emerson is quoted as saying, to be yourself in a world that's constantly trying to make you someone else is the greatest accomplishment. It's not always obvious,

but rather the subtle erosion of ourselves. perhaps not intentionally deciding to wear a mask, it's never taking the time to examine the reflection in the mirror and ask the right questions. Losing our intentionality means we end up wherever the wind blows us. And that could very well be a destination we aren't too happy with. Now this next part will seem a little trivial and insignificant. But bear with me, right?

because sometimes the most important lessons are small, but they become a portal or a gateway to understand the bigger things, right? So for me, this started with a black t-shirt. Walking into a group meeting with some amazing people from all over the country and world doing different things and helping people in various ways. And all of them, as I entered the conference room, happen to be wearing business casual, which is great, except I haven't worn a collar in a pretty long time.

I've been doing my podcast, recording videos, building my businesses in a black t-shirt. And so that's how I walked into the room. And I found it interesting that almost immediately this self-talk emerged. It's like, you stand out right now. They're going to think less of you. Is this disrespectful? Is this showing that perhaps I don't care, right? all of these things.

And so I left that day, and I sat with the thoughts. They bothered me, so I wanted to spend some time with them. And here's where I landed, taking those same points one by one. Number one, if they think less of me for being me, then that would be on them and not me. Right? I'd gladly fight that uphill battle to earn people's respect in my authenticity. Number two, it's not disrespectful because I am happy to be there, proud to be there. I do take pride in my appearance.

I just do it in my way. And number three, be you always. How you show up is what matters. Having the courage to live in a way that aligns with who you are and what's important to you. And why do I say this? Because if we can grasp this idea with something as trivial and as small as a black t-shirt in a conference room, perhaps we can then push it into other areas of life. The bigger things, the more important things.

Like who's in that room to begin with, who are we surrounding ourselves with? How do we spend our time? There's two ingredients to this recipe. One, who am I slash what matters? And two, how can I position myself so that that is the arena I'm operating in? Sometimes we don't do it because we're scared, but sometimes we don't do it because we never ask the right questions. When you can find and hold your authenticity, you feel it and so will others.

The question transforms from how can I blend in and not disrupt to how can I use the abundance that surrounds me to live a life that's meaningful. A lot of us metaphorically walking around in collared shirts when they're not what we're meant to be wearing. A lot of us asking, how do I not screw this up? Instead of asking, how do I go get what's mine and do it in a way that matters to me? Be you always. And the closer you are to that, the more powerful you will be. It means understanding who in your life adds to that and who in your life detracts from it.

It means looking around and asking, am I doing this for me or for others? It's that old airplane mantra. You have to put your mask on first before assisting others, or no one gets saved. No one gets the value. In a way, life is a beautiful pursuit of simplicity, of really distilling your world down to what matters and pushing away the rest. Because like moths to a flame, the complexity and unnecessary minutia finds us.

It latches on and becomes what we carry around. I better not let go, says the lizard brain. This is how things are supposed to be. This is what everyone is doing. But when you find that clarity, truly capture it. Yeah, you earn the respect of others around you in that metaphorical conference room. But most importantly, you earn your own respect. You, to a greater extent, appreciate that face staring back at you in the mirror.

Right, think about it this way. They do not build statues for those who blended in the best. Who conformed. Right? No, we build statues for those who have the courage to live in their authenticity, to do things their way. Because we understand how unique, how powerful, how difficult that is. Be you always. There's nothing more powerful.

than that. Everything around you has a story. In fact, many stories, and more importantly, our lives are the culmination of these stories. See, we don't identify things through an objective lens. We see them in relation to our individual beliefs, our needs. Strangest it sounds, our lives are almost entirely fiction, they're arbitrary.

When was the last time you got into your car and thought of it but it's nothing more than metal in part. Probably not recently. Right? We see it as a gateway to where we need to be. Mobility, freedom. Just like art isn't brush strokes or sonic vibration. It's an emotive escape.

We give meaning to things, and those meanings vary. The world as it exists through our eyes is entirely subjective. You ever wonder how something can be a problem to one person and a solution? to someone else? Or how deeply held political beliefs can be so contradictory? How can a movie come out and half its critics say it's amazing? The other half say it's subpar. Life is subjective. It's an infinite amount of tiny stories that come together to create our world and everyone that you walk by has their own. And here's why that's worth discussing. Here's why it matters because we fall into the trap of using these make-believe guidelines.

After all, that's what they are to define ourselves. We deem other people's subjective norms as truth. The benchmarks for our own pursuits. Consensus is good, well, then it must be good. They say it's bad, well, then it must be bad. From the perspective of a creator, one of my most important realizations was that Feedback of something I've created or a lack thereof doesn't define the value of the work

I still think some of my best work is essentially undiscovered some of the things I've thrown together in ten minutes have been seen by millions of people and that doesn't change how I value the work with little recognition That's just our emotions drawing false conclusions Here's a different example. Let's say there's a baker, right? And he's got a bakery in a neighborhood and and does great work, right? His shop's been open for a decade, he's been in business. But one day Oprah walks in, takes a bite, loves it, recommends it, suddenly his cake is everywhere.

Suddenly they're extraordinary. Same question, right? What changes about the cake? Nothing. What changes about the baker? Nothing. Excellence lived there the entire time. Did his work become more the second

it got a powerful endorsement? No, it was simply recognized. In this understanding, the reason I'm bringing these examples, is because knowing that is crucial to whatever it is you're trying to build or become in your life. Because these narratives matter. The good, the bad, the ugly, they don't stop coming at you. They don't stop peeking around the corner trying to influence your story.

And just because you're not where you want to be yet, just because you haven't seen the external reward, it does not mean you aren't brilliant. It doesn't mean you're not on track towards external. towards excellence or you're changing the world. Maybe you are that baker before Oprah skips on into the shop. I don't be someone who confuses everyone else's story with reality. That makes it incredibly difficult to take control.

A lot of people we call brilliant now, they weren't thought highly of along the way. In some cases, quite the opposite. the opposite. And thankfully, they understood the subjectivity of their brilliance. That if you're confident in your voice and your message, if you sacrifice and dive into expertise in an area, the value rises to the surface. Society will adapt and conform to you simply because you didn't bow down to it.

There's brilliance there. It just needs to be believed in and refined. Even when others don't get it, even when it's abnormal, even when your passion receives no validation. See, brilliance manifests itself brick by brick, and it's very easy for passers-by to laugh at that unfinished frame of the house. But eventually, it comes together, and the layout is beautiful, and the architecture is stunning, and your defiance carves a little niche for a little niche for a little bit. itself somewhere in the depths of reality. Then the light bulb goes off. Then it's understood. Maybe you were right all along. There's a quote attributed to H. Jackson Brown Jr.

He says, nothing is more expensive than a missed opportunity. I tend to agree with this. I also think it's interesting that these missed opportunities are also the most difficult, if not impossible to quantify. So if you think about our common understanding of progress or growth, it's a sacrifice. It's doing X brings us Y, doing the work, gets the result. It's a simple formula, and you can show your proof, you can work backwards. I started working out one hour a day. Six months ago, this is what I look like now.

The cost was one hour a day. The result, well, this is what I look like now. But what's the inverse of that thinking? What's the cost of not doing the work or starting the journey or taking the steps? See, we don't think about that. We don't think about the opportunity cost. Our instinct is not to question the actions we don't take. I was listening to an old lecture from Jim Rohn, who I love because he's such a practical thinker.

He's got ideas you can literally plug right into your life. and he had an amazing point. He was talking about a conversation with an old friend in which he asks his friend who apparently watches a lot of TV. He says, hey, what does that TV cost? His friend says, well, I think it's like $500. Jim says, no, I don't think so.

His friend says, yeah, I bought it, $500. He says, no, I think it's costing you about $40K a year. Why? Well, not because of what he paid for the item, but because of the opportunity cost. what his time using that TV could be reallocated to. That's what's so incredible about that point. It's like just because you don't have something

doesn't mean you aren't in fact losing out on it. Time is our most precious of commodities. Its utilization is the gateway to transformation. It should be protected. And, you know, the intent of the message is not to walk around panicking about every second, you know, of every minute. but more being aware, holistically,

how recklessly we use our time. I don't know if you've ever looked at the screen time usage on a cell phone before going to bed at night. It's terrifying. Some of it was necessary, but I mean, a lot of it wasn't. And what does that cost? What is two hours a day of not moving towards a dream or goal cost you? What about when it accumulates and it becomes full?

14 hours a week, or roughly 56 hours a month, or times 12, 672 hours a year. I mean, these numbers start to get eye-opening. All it takes is a little awareness, and we see how often we dispose of time, like it's valueless. Everything we do is a cost, because in doing it, we are making a decision to not be doing something else with that time. And again, I believe in balance. I want to emphasize that.

I'm not suggesting that we walk around like robots, clocking in, clocking out, checking boxes so that we don't ever waste a minute, right? As the great Keith Urban says, the best days of my life for all that wasted time, you know, we should explore and enjoy and love and laugh and experience life. But that awareness makes us more intentional

with those pursuits. With our work time and our play time, it forces us in a way to prioritize, to ask ourselves what we want. Instead of only looking at progress like this vending machine where you put an X and Y comes out, well, we can ask ourselves,

what happens if I don't put an X? What happens if I keep it in my pocket? What won't come out? What could have existed that now won't? See, just because you don't see something slipping away that doesn't mean that it isn't. And the immediate, the world in front of you, unfortunately, won't remind you of that.

That's a bell you have to ring yourself. You have to peasant. heel back the what am I doing and unveil the what could I be doing, what could I be creating, what could reality look like? Maybe you think about it and you find that you're right where you want to be, and that's great. Maybe you realize you've accepted a tolerable existence at the expense of an ideal existence. In which case I also have great news, you can change that and you can change it now. We have to understand that you don't only have what's in front of you.

You also possess a reality unseen and undiscovered. So don't let the former cover up or diminish the latter. Don't lose the possibility of tomorrow with the distractions of today. Don't forget the cost of inaction with regard to those things that truly matter. So I'm going to share a life lesson with you, something that over the years has been a true game changer. Ready? It's simple. It's very simple. Like most things, it's easy to understand. It's easy to comprehend. It's the implementation. That's the challenge, right? But it's the idea that progress is not always a visible step forward. Growth is not always a measurable inch or mile to feel good about it, to celebrate. It's not always a tangible victory or pat on the back. It's a smile about it.

Sometimes it's sidestepping. Sometimes it's stepping backwards, reminding ourselves to look up and gain perspective. Because we are always inclined to look at the immediate. That's what feels good. And this lesson says, no, there's a big picture to keep in mind. It reels us in. The big picture is what gives us purpose. It drives our happiness.

That thing we want on the top of the hill. The North Star, the X on the map, that's what's sustainable. And I say it's been a game changer for me because, you know, one of my biggest adversaries over the years has been that voice in my head. Almost pleading with me to indulge in the thing that will bring that immediate result. It's money now, growth now, validation now. There's comfort there. Our minds want that satisfaction. That's why you see all those guys standing next to whiteboard saying they have the formula to make you rich tomorrow.

We want tomorrow. We believe in some capacity that that can be real tomorrow. But that's what tends to lead us astray. And so I've spent a lot of time reflecting over the years on how to incentivize those steps that aren't immediately impactful. There's not the flashy metal you're going to get right now, but I know that if I do it, it's going to bring me to my long-term goal. How do I incentivize that?

Because, like I said, the natural inclination is to dismiss it. I'm walking laterally across the mountain so that ultimately I can find the most applicable path and ascend. And that's a scary thing. You know, building long term gives you very little to immediately slap on a resume, to brag or rant about at holiday parties. There's nothing flashy to impress with, but it's believing in a long-term game, doing what most people can't, trading that certainty that you could have had for an extraordinary later. It's never a loss to do what has to be done so that you can position yourself for the future. Sometimes you have to wade through the muck, work quietly in the

dark so that you can build something that you feel will have an impact. It's not a loss to step backwards to tweak the things you're not happy with. It's not a loss to explore or question or reinvent. It's true those actions in and of themselves aren't going to put money immediately in your pockets. But if you find the discipline to see the big picture, you realize that long term, those things bring happiness, contentment, excitement, which guess what? Leads to accomplishment and progress and the financial stability that you're looking for. Chasing flashy things, chasing the immediate moment, yeah, it gets you a quick rush, a nice blast of dopamine, but it's empty.

Ultimately, it's unfulfilling because nothing worth having is quick. That's life. But it's often the illusion that guides us. You'll never see how many auditions the 33-year-old actor went through before he was cast in a major film. You don't see that. You don't see the countless hours and shows and midnight gigs in front of three people that the rock star endured.

You just don't. It's not celebrating. We celebrate what we see. And what I've learned is that the most important things they're just not visible to the naked eye. And it's funny. It's like people, they're ashamed or embarrassed by the fact that they're climbing

to the top of their own hill to something truly significant to them because the person next to them is bragging about blindly leaping three steps. And that's great. Progress is great, but unless it's taking you to where you want to be most, is it a win? I have many friends that have left six-figure or hire jobs to podcast or create or start their own businesses. And people's first reaction is always like, wow, look what you have.

Look what you're walking away from. We see scarcity. We are naturally inclined to see life through a lens of scarcity. You need to remember that. That's what we do. We establish and protect our well-being. That's why I've worked so hard to transform my thinking over the years. to look out and think, who cares what I had?

Look what's out there. There are no limitations to what can be yours. If you're not on top of the world, make it happen. And I understand people are complex. Situations, they're not easy, they're intricate. Everyone's different. Everything is different. But there's a principle that's consistent.

And it's that you can always improve your situation. That will never be false. To some degree, you can improve your situation. There's always opportunity. It's just what you see. A friend of mine sent me a text yesterday, saying the past and the future, they're just imagination. All you have is now. Everything other than split second is the story you're deciding to tell yourself.

That's it. Think about that. We're operating off what we decide is real or imaginary, possible or impossible. We're living in a world that is our own. There's no them or they are a crowd, just individual people, all telling themselves some variation of a story. And so taking this back to the point, caving into that pressure, accommodating to the now so that we feel important, so that our self-worth sees that temporary spike, it neglects the opportunity.

It makes us feel like we're stepping forward, that we're progressing, but in reality, are we? That voice, that pressure to conform to what will impress Richard next door, it will always lead to, it will always be to our detriment. And it takes truly what I believe is the most pure, important aspect of life and sticks it in the closet so that we can feel like we're on par with everyone else. And I'll never forget starting out. And I bring this up a lot because it was one of those moments where I knew I recognized that a huge shift was happening in my life, went out with some friends from college.

And one's working for a senator, one's a Goldman, one's a lawyer. And I'm thinking, well, you know, geez, I just quit my job. But I have this really cool idea for a YouTube channel. And I just, you know, I don't think any girls are going to be swooning over that. And I struggled, right? At the time, it was difficult for me. And I look back and I'm just thankful every day that at the time I was able to locate somewhere in my soul, the courage to stick that out. To believe that if I executed on this dream, I could have an impact.

Because like I mentioned above, it was painful in the moment. But when you think big picture, bigger things happen. I'm doing things now that I never, ever would have been able to do if I didn't have that desire to do the unconventional thing. If I stopped at sort of the discomfort or if I stopped when I felt like I was losing this imaginary race to those people around me, I wouldn't have the creative flexibility that I have now. I wouldn't be able to do what I do now. I wouldn't have the people in my life that I have now. You have to earn that every single day. And it makes me wonder how many people stopped when they could have taken their own path, brought their own unique vision into existence if they didn't really. retreat when they felt like they were a lone wolf, when it felt like they were losing a race that

didn't exist, when they felt like their neighbors were getting ahead, or their classmates, or their friends were doing the conventional things, so they had to. They were too scared to step backwards, and I'm telling you right now, I'm telling you that step backwards, that ability to temporarily find yourself, to create yourself, that will mean everything. That will open doors for you, that would never have existed. You never would have come across them because you would have been too scared to look for them. You have to make opportunities.

Simple metaphor. Gumball machine. Gumball does not come out if you don't put the quarter in and turn it. It's a price that has to be paid. Except in reality, the price is a lot higher than a quarter because we're conditioned to want to fit in. We're terrified to look like we don't know what we're doing. Every significant thing around you stemmed from someone pushing into that unknown.

It came from someone risking everything. It's not easy when your family doesn't know what you're doing, your friends don't know what you're doing, or you don't know what you're doing. But if you want to have an impact, that is the road you have to take. That's the cost you need, the price that you need to pay. It'll be a hard year or two years or three years, but you won't regret it. So hopefully this can be a reminder to you.

When I talk about lateral steps, that's the sentiment I'm trying to recreate. I think that's the great thing because it means the people who create, who build something meaningful, they've earned it. And that's what I tell myself every day. Earn that dream. Earn that change. Take that road less travel. What you're doing right now is not insignificant simply because it's not ever. immediately bearing free.

I think if you listen to this back from the top, you'll notice the constant theme, immediate, now, present. These things are delusioned. As far as results are concerned, the word immediately is a con artist. Action should be immediate, but results. No, they are gradual. They require persistence.

Stick with it. Remind yourself to look up. Because that's what you're after. It's a pursuit. You're building a foundation. You're creating the things that permanently alter the artistic and political and social landscapes. That's remarkable. It's the road few have the patience to walk.

Remind yourself why you're skipping the small stuff, brushing off the little winds and losses. Why building something substantial in silence is more powerful than gloating and screaming at the top of your lungs after every visible step. Look up. Reminds yourself that you are going to change the world and you can see it. 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. 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. Imagine this scenario. Imagine stepping into your car, turning the keys, and thinking to 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 is 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. It 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,

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 we, we're not, we're What we failed 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 are? become worse than they are right now. What if I move 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 believing that we rediscovered who we were meant to be, that we allowed our truest selves to flourish

and 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 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? 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. 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. I wrote almost three full pages before coming across the sentence or the message that I was looking for. And that message was walking there like God sent you.

A message someone shared with me recently before I gave a speech at a conference. I guess it was hanging out in my subconscious, waiting to be brought back to the surface and explored. I think it's fitting that it took so long for me to arrive there, to realize its value. Why?

Well, to put it bluntly, I think it's because life contains more wrong terms than right ones. It's just that the right ones, when discovered, unlock some of the most beautiful things imaginable. And while we look, while we wade through the streams not meant for us. The temptation or instinct is to get mad, frustrated. What a waste of time screams the pragmatic brain.

Three full pages of wasted words. Three months with the wrong person, three years doing the wrong things, when what we've yet to understand is that they weren't wrong at all. They brought us to exactly where we need to be. Our yeses are very often buried under 1,000 nos. That's not punishment.

That's just life. It's often references a reminder that in baseball hitting 300 or getting a hit three out of every ten at bats essentially makes you an all-star. Three successes out of every ten attempts. Well, life, I believe, is harder than baseball. Sometimes its losses more numerous, its rules more convoluted, but its wins unparalleled. See, life is not a game of getting it right.

Life is a game of showing up. Again and again. When you get it wrong, when you swing and miss, when things don't go the way you want them to, showing up. Being bold enough to fail spectacularly. Life is a journey. And me, sure, I've been scared to fail, scared to try, scared to risk what I had many times. In fact, I often still am.

I just know enough now to question that resistance and hesitation in my head. Walking up to the mirror and asking Eddie, are you not going because you have more important things to do? Or are you not going because it's going to be challenging? Are you not going because it's going to bring you to a state of vulnerability that makes you uncomfortable. And oh, how those conversations leave you feeling exposed. Nothing is more difficult than the convos you have with yourself, but those are the conversations that contain the answers. The wrong things become the story. The characters push the hero forward. The chaos sharpens his skill and strengthens his resolve. It's all happening for you. The now is always

of value, always. So walk through every door that opens like God sent you. See it for the miracle that it is. Pieces of a puzzle coming together, the story of a lifetime where the only way to lose is to not go. Is to dance around the flame that is your hopes and dreams until that flame burns out. No, go right through. Wherever you you are, you're there because there's value to be extracted. There are no wasted moments, just opportunities yet to have evolved. So when you fall, know that you will be wiser once back on your feet. And when you're lost, know that you will soon know the way at a depth you never thought possible. And when you're hurt, know that you will soon be in position to love heart.

than you have ever loved. When angry, no, you'll soon be able to empathize like never before. When unsure, know that you're building confidence in real time, pulling back the layers of the quote-unquote wrong things to discover with each unveiling what it means to truly live. See, it's all you, so be there. Walk through the doors as I was reminded, reminded like God sent you, like you belong there, because you do. In the journey that is your

life every second matters. Every moment, a rocket ship taking you to the next iteration, every variable, a piece of you coming together. So walk through those doors like they are bringing you exactly where you need to be. And you'll see in time that that is exactly what occurred. You're not here just to get by, to check a box. No, you're here for something different. Maybe it's your desire to chase down that sunrise while the rest of the world sleeps, to embrace the difficult, the inconvenient,

in exchange for that little bit of glory, you'll soon feel as you pour your morning coffee and start your day. Or maybe it's your fascination with the fact that every time you ask yourself if there's more, if you have anything left, the answer always seems to be yes. And maybe that's it. That what you're capable of in a world of finitude and constraint and limitation seems to be the only thing with absolutely no bounds. The human soul undergoes a sort of transformation, if you will. Every time we look around at what currently is and decide it will soon be the gateway

to something more. And that's life's best kept secret. The word decide, the idea that we choose whether to accept things as they are or to change them. That we have within us the ability to push further than we've ever pushed to find what was once only existent in our imaginations. And this will always be true. You get what you seek. what you're willing to endure. And while some see this trade-off as too much,

as a cost far too expensive, others see it as the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to give some of you so that you can grow and improve all of you. See, each footstep is far more than a point on the earth. It's a declaration, a commitment to give more than most would give so that you can feel what only a few will feel. So remember that when things seem trivial, when it's easier to call it a day or turn it around,

that the simple act of continuing forward puts you in the minority. It's positioning you to experience life as it should be lived. You're here to both cherish the now and cash. it in. Let the value of your courage compound. Let your resilience remind you just how much control you have and how much is waiting for you. If only you say yes when it hurts, move forward when the path is unclear, believe when the possibility only exists in your head. You're here because while it may be easier to watch life go by from the cheap seats, the risk, the sacrifice is worth being able to look back someday down the road

and know that at least you have the courage to play the game. Sometimes success is merely hanging on when others would let go. Not doing anything spectacular or out of the ordinary. Not leaping a mile or jumping over a mountain, but simply carrying on. Thomas Edison has a famous quote that's really stuck with me over the years. He says, many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Right? How close they were to the finish line when they turned their back and said it wasn't worth it. It's really an interesting thing to grasp.

Success is seeing what others can't. It's believing when others don't. It's taking the abstract, those visions, those pictures in your head, to make-believe in finding the courage to make-believe in finding the courage to make. them real, bring them to life. It's this constantly evolving process and it grows a little bit every single day. Sometimes we feel that progress, we feel the momentum, we do something big and it's exciting. And sometimes the progress feels small. And then there are times when we get knocked down and we don't see it at all.

We feel like because we weren't validated that we lost. that we failed, that it wasn't enough. We forget that's part of the process, that progress is a journey. And it goes when you go, and it stops when you stop. Just like that famous Dalai Lama quote, right? The only way to fail is to quit, period. No one ever stops because they can't. They stop because they decide to.

They stop because they see that huge, mountain and they think that's impossible. They forget it's only made of little rocks. They stop because they get so disheartened by the distance of the finish line that they forget it only takes a collection of little steps to get there. You don't have to leap the entire distance. You know, I've been there. This is me speaking from experience. It took me years to figure it out. And even now, life is rapidly evolving. I've pulled. I've poured my heart into things that, let's be honest, no one cared about. I've invested in opportunities that fell apart right in front of me,

and each time it felt like the end of the world. I've been lost, I've been unsure. Gotten up after things didn't go as planned, and it felt like a loser. I had to look myself in the mirror and pick myself back up off the floor. But there's one thing that I kept doing that I never thought twice about. And that's continuing on. Whether life lifted me up or it beat me down, my plan for tomorrow was always the same.

Get up and try again. Keep going. And as I sat down this morning with my pen and a piece of paper, I thought, what's the one thing I would want to be told if I started out again? What's the one thing that people need to hear most? And it's to simply keep going. Keep taking steps. Because one day the world will start to make sense.

And you'll look around and you will be thankful for one thing. That when most would have stopped, you didn't. When the world said no, you said yes. There is nothing so powerful as a source. soul that refuses to back down. See, persistence is not an important thing or an essential thing. It's everything. So live as to see. Not what can be lost, but what will be gained. Find that light in darkness, even if it's a flicker, even if it's a spark. See, every loss makes you a little tougher and every instant of sadness uncover something beautiful, every moment of fear teaches you to be a little braver, every broken heart opens the door to a new connection.

Instead of doubting yourself, feeling inadequate in life's darkest moments, know that you need what you are going through. You are uncovering the little victories hidden in plain view. So when the world feels like too much and your patience is thin, be stronger than that voice in your head, begging you to think small. Stand on every experience, the good and the bad. Let it elevate you to a beautiful tomorrow. If you have the ability to love, Love yourself first.

Charles Bukowski. So last week I was in Utah, and while I was there, I did some guided breathwork, which had never done before. And honestly, it was a little skeptical at first. But I try and keep an open mind and gave it a shot. I'm happy I did. It ended up potentially being one of the most important things I've ever done.

And I want to share why, because this breakthrough or aha moment, if you will, was exactly what I needed when I needed to hear it. So this episode's going to be a little different than usual, but I feel compelled to pass it along. So to set the scene, I arrived with a friend of mine to the instructor, Jen's location. She gave us an overview, kind of explaining what the next hour is going to look like

and handed me a notebook to write down my goal for this session. And the notebook becomes pretty important. as the story goes on. But I opened it and I wrote what I'd like to use this session to reflect on. It happened to be the walls that I have a tendency to build around myself. That day, that felt like the most pertinent obstacle in my life. I saw it as an opportunity to push back against that reality that human beings love to create normal and then latch onto it.

And that's not ideal because when we do that, we stop looking for places to grow. We stop pushing. We stop seeking to live life to the fullest. In other words, we settle. And so I wrote that down. I closed a notebook, laid back on this incredible fuzzy blanket, and the music got turned on. We began the breathing pattern, in, in, out, in, out. Jen started guiding us, verbally taking us back to a conversation with our younger selves.

The journey had begun. And this is the part where things get really interesting because my thoughts really did feel like some strange mix of dreaming and hallucinating, just from breathwork. But at some point, she referenced the need to let go and said the words, you know, we weren't meant to suffer or hold on to suffering. And that really cut deep because I know there are so many places where I've rationalized continuous suffering in my life. I'd speculate that in some way we all do. When the hard thing or the uncomfortable thing, you know,

when they stop being stepping stones and instead just become the way thing, things are. Becomes a concession. Hey, this doesn't feel good, but it's my life. This person holds me down, but it's how things are. I don't like doing this every day. It eats at me, but hey, life, am I right? That's learned helplessness.

It hides in the corners and the nooks and crannies of life, subtle enough that we don't give it much thought. And I imagined very vividly. Climbing down a ladder, placed on the edge of this dark canyon that went straight down. Down, down, down. Everything. My entire landscape was black and white. There was zero color, except for the rays of light barely visible at the bottom. All the way down as I descended into the canyon.

The colors that get a little stronger, a little brighter, as if every step put a little more vibrance into my life. Each move down made things a little clear, the latter becoming quicker and quicker, eventually turning into a slide that brought me down to the base of the canyon, where upon landing and standing up, everything was illuminated. Fields of sunflowers,

waterfalls, birds chirping, the sun shining, and it was there in that moment I realized my intention for the class. That when I wrote down in that little notebook, well, it missed the mark. Not in the sense of being incorrect or wrong necessarily, but it simply wasn't enough. See, at the root of it all, or at the bottom of that canyon, existed life with the courage to love yourself. Not just accept yourself, not just be okay with your existence, but love yourself. With all your faults and your struggle, with all your mistakes and your history, became clear to me how much changes when you love with all your heart the person staring back at you in the mirror. The opinions of others, they do not guide your decision-making.

How could they? How could others know you better than you? In fact, those opinions are part of the black and white landscape to be left behind at the top of the mountain. the consistent suffering you've become accustomed to, the learned helplessness you endure, that's not acceptable to someone who truly loves him or herself. Loving yourself means pushing away that which is not you. It's finding that ladder down to the beautiful world of authenticity and truth,

the magic of being aligned with what really matters. And what's funny is, I can talk about breaking down barriers. They should be broken down. I can talk about stepping into fear because it should be confronted. I can talk about finding a way out when we're stuck in a way up when we're down. I can talk about all of that every day of my life.

But none of it matters if you don't learn to fully love the reflection in the mirror more, more than you ever thought you could. Think about the gift you could give to that younger version of yourself. Think about what you could give to those close to you, your family, your friends. Just think about what you could do for the world if you left those black and white concessions behind you and lived a life true to yourself. It is of course not always easy, but I learned that day that it is the North Star. It's what we build upon.

So before we ask how to shape the world around us, maybe we should be asking how do we embrace the one within us. Maybe we should learn to love ourselves so deeply that those walls don't need to be broken down. Because in time, we'll learn not to build them up in the first place. We'll learn that in a world of black and white, it is acceptance and trust and confidence and love that gives it color. over.