Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - YOU MUST BELIEVE IN YOU | Powerful Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

A reminder that resistance isn’t a warning, it’s a sign you’re on the edge of becoming. The “demons” that show up when you push beyond comfort are proof you’re building something real.You can face them now or meet them later as regret. Growth requires fear, pressure, and doubt.. and stepping forward anyway.When the voices tell you to quit, when life pushes back, that’s the moment you decide who you are.When the demons are at the door, rise.More from Eddie Pinero:Wear the Mindset: AGNS.lifestyleMonday 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

The demons are at the door. Face them. Sometimes the demons are physical. Sometimes they're mental. Sometimes you don't even know. They appear to be a cloud hovering over you as you traverse life's ups and downs. What's important to understand, though, is that you cannot escape these demons. They'll show up no matter who you are and what you do.

really in two ways. If you're bold, courageous, if you push life to the max, they'll appear before you because your growth depends on defeating them, facing them, conquering them. On the other hand, if you run and hide, if you placate to fear, those demons will still emerge

just in the form of regret. disappointment. The weight of knowing you could have been more and weren't. The demons that don't let go until they're confronted. See, you want the demons at the door. You want them to be so alarmed with your tenacity, so bewildered and taken aback by your courage that they push and they fight. You want them to battle almost as hard as you.

When you're changing yourself, when you're adjusting your place in the world, those demons will arise. The barbarians always arrive at the gate. And sadly, their presence is often enough to stop the miraculous, right in its tracks, to destroy momentum. To get that individual in transit to second guess, just long enough to turn around and return home. My demons, they whisper of safety. Eddie, they call out. They'll see. Eddie, you've wandered too far beyond the norm.

You've reached beyond what's comfortable. You don't want to be here. Think about what could go wrong. Think about what your critics might say. Who might turn their back? This is too new. Too ambitious. Stop.

Now. before it's too late, before everything of value in your life that you once had, everything you cared about's gone. And I'll be honest, I don't think hearing that ever gets easier. But how you see those demons changes, because when you understand that their mere presence is required for your growth, for your greatness,

you simultaneously see that facing them is not a problem. It's the price. It's the cost of getting into the room. And so maybe knowing this, we rework the question. Let's make it two parts. One, are the demons at the door? And if they're not, why? Why haven't you ventured out far enough to meet them? Right? It's a run when you're tired, when your body's shutting down, and they whisper to stop that you've, gone too far. It's the ab circuit. When they plead with you to let your legs

hit the floor, they say enough is enough. It's the new side hustle, project, or business. They tell you that it's going to cost you time and energy and resources. They tell you consistently that you're wasting energy, that you're an imposter in someone else's game.

It's when you're trying to change but feel an obligation to the less than ideal version of yourself you identified with yesterday. They'll tell you to stop pretending that everyone in your life knows the real you, that this won't work, just stay the same. And you might hear this and think it's haunting. But as counterintuitive as it may seem, these are the demons you want, the demons you need. Because when they enter the arena, oh, change is near. When they begin to chirp, to whisper, you bet evolution is happening. That's the good stuff. That's part one. Now let's move to part two. When your demons arrive, what do you do about it? Who will you become in their presence? Will you rise despite them or

fall at their feet? See, anyone can win when the stars are aligned and things are easy. Anyone can succeed in a demon-free world, but when it really matters, what will you become? Who are you in the darkest of moments? There's an old cliche, I'm sure you've heard it, it says you practice how you play. Are there exceptions to this? Sure. But I get the essence of the idea, and I think it's why things like running have meant so much to me. Why difficult physical training holds so much weight.

Because during those physical battles, my mind doesn't see the situation as me against the weights, or me against the road, or me against the clock. It's me against everything in life that wants me to lose. It's me against the demons that want me to stay the same. We don't slow down. when we're exhausted. Not because of the run. Who cares about some arbitrary run? This run is symbolic. We don't slow down because this is life. This feeling is me wanting to quit when my business is hurting. It's me wanting to take the easy way out of a tough stretch with someone I love and care about.

It's me when I feel self-conscious or inadequate. About to step into a room with people who have built empire, I dream of replicating. What will I become in those moments? Who will I become? Because believe it or not, I'm answering that question in real time as my running shoes hit the pavement, as the sun shines down on a seemingly trivial

everyday morning of exercise. It's not about the run. It's about my desire to one, summons the demons and two face them when they arrive. It's reinforcing the fact that there are two kinds of people in life, people who rise to the occasion and people who fade away. I refuse to be the latter. Life's upside is worth fighting for.

I can have that and so can you. But will you? Will you choose? And you have to choose when the world feels dark, and voices cry out. When your demons are at the door, will you face them? Life is about duality.

It's about being grateful for the road behind you, but also excited and hungry for what's ahead. That balance is where our growth lives. It's why we created AGNS, always grateful, never satisfied. More than just an apparel company, it's a reminder that there's always another hill to climb. And if you go to agns.lifestyle and you sign up for the email list,

you'll get daily inspiration right to your inbox, latest updates on all the new merch drops, as well as a 20% off discount code. Hope to see you there. 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? And 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, happened 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.

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. 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, right? 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 soul 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. There's a lot of us metaphorically walking around in collared shirts when they're not what we're meant to be wearing, right? 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 dissoning. instilling 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 confidence. but most importantly you earn your own respect you to a greater extent appreciate that face staring back at you in the mirror 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 had 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. There's nothing more powerful than that. It's been almost two years since I first read it, and still the main idea from the book, The Courage to be Disliked by Ichirokishimi

deeply resonates with me. The idea that being happy is essentially dependent upon the courage to be disliked. And at first, it might not seem like the two, you know, whatever be related. Happiness and being disliked. An odd pair. Maybe even seemingly counterintuitive.

Until you realize that happiness comes from such a personal, authentic place that allowing the expectations of others to chart your course means that you'd probably never arrive there. You have to do what's best for you. In doing what's best for you is going to create a divide somewhere. Why? Because everything creates a divide. Everything is subjective. I knew I wanted to

dive into this topic, but wasn't sure the best way to do it. So the other morning, I was trying to think of like an objective truth, something that no one could disagree with. Sitting on my balcony and pointed up towards this guy. I thought, let's start there. Simple as it gets. Hard to refute that, right? I am pointing up. And I remembered we're floating on a globe, a giant sphere. There is no up. Up is perspective. Everything is perspective.

What's the difference between one and two? Some might say it's one. But technically there's infinity between one and two. You can have infinite decimals. 1.999.9 goes on forever, right? Point being there's subjectivity when we drill down into even the seeming obvious truth. Now, the value here is not to go running around, you know, arguing with everyone that there's

infinity between one and two. No, there's certain aspects of society that we must adhere to, otherwise we couldn't function together, right? But it's simply to show that you following the path you believe is right for you cannot be rightfully assessed by someone else. it's a place trust in your internal personal judgment. And when people don't understand your infinity, that doesn't mean it's wrong. And by the way, I don't have blinders on to the fact that it's hard to do.

In many ways, it goes right up against our lizard brain biological wiring. We're fitting and equates to survival, an ostracization becomes a death sentence. But we are, fortunately, beyond. It's in our interest now, and in fact, I think the courage to be disliked is a critical lifelong journey. I'm better at this than I was 10 years ago, no question, but do I still have a ways to go? Absolutely. There are still things I'm working on every day to let go of.

I remember reading in Jefferson's biography about how it was so hard for him to be demonized in the press all the time that it almost dissuaded him from jumping back into politics before presidential run. Being attacked is a hard thing. But ultimately he let his beliefs and personal values drive him, his ambition in a lot of ways, and came to see

the scrutiny as a cost, decided it was worth the price. Or like I use this all the time, take one of the biggest pop stars of our day, say Justin Bieber. You look at what people are saying about him in the comments of his video. A lot of it's wonderful, some of it's great, sure, but

But some of it's awful. And that's just the price of anyone putting themselves out there. And again, you think of an inverse scenario. Imagine if he didn't. Imagine if he limited himself or didn't dive fully into what he does because he knew some folks out there would have some bad things to say. Now, we are, for the most part, neither famous politicians nor pop stars. But our worlds contain the same element.

at different scale. There are things we're all scared to do or say because of how it will be received. There are parts of ourselves that we repress because we don't know what the feedback will be. We're all scared to fail in some capacity because of how it will look or what others will say about it,

which is why being disliked is courageous. As Aristotle has said, the only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing, to say nothing and be nothing. The opposite of being fully, truly yourself is becoming the manifestation of that quote. It's never pushing yourself, never seeing what you're capable of, never exploring or executing on your dreams, your ambitions. Now, this is speculation, but if I were a gambling man, I'd place everything I own. on the idea that when we're old, looking back on our lives, we'll spend less time thinking about who criticized us or disagreed with us

than how we spent our days and who we shared them with. Did we live in a way that made us happy that was meaningful? Because on a sphere, everyone believes they are pointing up. But in actuality, none of us are. We're all merely navigating the subjective universe behind us. our eyes. So why not truly explore? Why not capture the magic out there before the hourglass runs out of sand? It's hard. Sometimes it hurts. It takes all we have. It requires courage. But I think we'll all come to find that the decision to live fully in our authenticity, regardless of whether others agreed,

disagreed or were indifferent was the best decision that we ever made one of my favorite quotes is sometimes success is simply hanging on when others would be letting go the reason is that it reminds me how frequently the advantage is in not stopping it's in consistency It's in showing up. When I run particularly long distances, almost like clockwork I can break it down to feeling good at the beginning. Usually a little rough stretch in the middle, and then somewhere on the second half, I catch a second wind or a second blast of energy. The question just becomes when?

Will you hang in long enough to capture it? Because you don't know when it might be. where it will show up. You don't know when you'll find that nice rhythm again that makes his sport so enjoyable to me. And when I say, you can pull an infinite amount of life lessons from running, this is one of them. A depiction of trusting that the road ahead has everything you need

to cross your finish line. Even when the short-term chaos is all you can see and feel, even when it's hard to look up and imagine. right? Because it's easier said than done when you're tired and worn down to continue on, right? When you're in the trenches. There's an uncertainty to the road ahead, but each footstep is a shot on target. Each step forward is saying, I'm worn down, but I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. And life can present an almost eerily similar narrative, right, whether personally you're at a low point.

Whether you've been working and working and working and haven't seen the result you're looking for, whether you're uncomfortable and starting to wonder whether this reward is really worth the high price tag. You need to remember that second win, that second blast of energy, just enough momentum to ease your worry and recalibrate your journey, it's there. It's waiting. But you know the rules of life. If it won't come to you, you must go to it. Through the storm into the night beyond the comforts of home, most sadly don't arrive. Not because they couldn't, but because they ultimately let go. They looked too far down the road at the distance to be traveled and forgot that their only job was to hold on. Through the doubt, the pain, the worry, no mirror. Just a willingness to fight each battle as it presented itself.

To let time stack up, to let the distance over your shoulder accumulate. See, the thing about stopping is that you never know when that much needed second wind will arrive. There's a saying that many of life's failures had no clue how close they were to success when they gave up. When they turned around. Now, I'm not suggesting the role of the role of the world. suggesting the road will be perfect or that it won't come with its adversity, mistakes, and lessons. But what we always have control over is the ability to push forward until we finally come face to face with that which we so desperately needed. It's there. I could say it a million times and it

wouldn't be enough, the pieces exist. Will you hang in long enough to collect them? When the road is intimidating, will you hold on? When you run into those moments of self-doubt, will you hold on? When you feel small, navigating the ups and downs of life, will you hold on? Because if the answer is yes, you'll find yourself crossing some finish lines that will blow your mind. You'll get from life that which most can only dream of. And again, not because of the miraculous, but because you knew that the second wind was coming, you knew it would be there for you so long as you kept moving forward. Holding on when most would be letting go.

When you're at your lowest point, you are often without realizing it, positioning yourself. to arrive at your highest point. Potential energy accumulating to propel you through an atmosphere of new beginnings. See, I believe our adversity is life asking that we submerge and dive deep, sometimes very deep, just to remember how badly we need that oxygen above. so that when we again come up for air and we will, we notice the warmth of the sun on our face and the calming sound of the waves crashing on the beach.

You don't make the most of what's around you until you recognize that what's around you is the opportunity. And so life reminds us. A taxing reminder. Right? It rarely gives without first taking away. It rarely opens new doors without closing old ones. And that, to put it, simply, can hurt. They don't teach you in school that growth is painful.

But as it turns out, a life without growth isn't much of a life at all. And so we must dive deep. We're given no other choice. Without night, there is no day. Without suffering, there is no beauty. Without those depths below, there is no surface above. Our submergence is our transformation. The cocoon that separates who we were from who we will be.

But unlike the butterfly, it doesn't just evolve once. Our journey requires that we are continuously growing a new pair of world. wings. Life is chaos. Life is unpredictable. Life is hard, but you were built to not only endure in its arena, you were put here to excel, to learn the rules and then expand upon the rules. Sometimes break the rules. You were put here to take the difficulty and provide meaning to it. Piece by piece is if it were the construction of a rocket to the moon. Little pieces of at one point frustration and confusion and chaos combined, reused and transformed into exactly what you need them to be.

Emergent properties. You just have to be willing to see beyond the now and assemble. To come up for air and soak in all. that awaits at the surface like you've never done before. The other day, I was texting with a friend of mine. Out of nowhere, she goes, what's wrong? And I'm thinking nothing, right? I haven't said anything.

You know, what do you mean? She's adamant, right? She goes, something feels off. I thought about it and realized, yeah, she's pointing out something I've known for a little bit here. Something is off. I'm hiding from myself. I feel a little burnt out, a little tired.

Certain areas of my life have become unevenly distributed. In fact, I was flirting with that thing. I've always feared doing most. Simply going through the motions. That scared me. I don't want this, right? I've come too far to feel like this. I'm better than this.

How do I fix it? How do I solve it now? Figure it out now. But eventually came to realize the now part just might be the whole problem. Fix the now like it's a headache and me shaking my fist at the sky will be ibuprofen. No, battling imperfection is a fool's error. It's setting yourself up for disaster. We are humans, not gods.

We are perfectly imperfect. And when something is off, don't fight, listen. Don't retract, expand. Here is the opportunity. I'm under the surface, diving down into the depths of my own soul. Hear what it has to say. So that when I come up for air and I will, the sun will warm my face like it never has.

The crashing waves will offer a symphony to my ears that I've never heard. And I'll see that the world I'm taking in is more a reflection of me than of it. As that saying goes, you don't see the world as it is. You see the world as you are. And how lucky to have taken a step back, a trip below the surface, to realize again that I am the painter. not the critic. My world had become black and white,

not because we live in a black and white world, but because sometimes we forget to put the color in. Sometimes we don't give ourselves permission to expand beyond the parameters we've created for ourselves. So with the breath and the oxygen will come a new appreciation, a liberating gratitude. There's nothing so sweet as remembering that both the castles in the air and the chains at our feet are imaginary.

And hey, you get to choose which one to believe in. See, what time has taught me is that there is strength in our vulnerability. In the times we fall or lose ourselves. And I know the inclination is to panic, perhaps assess too quickly, to not hear but talk, to not listen but attempt to solve. Which leads to the application of band-aids on bullet wounds. When we are low, when we are lost, it's our chance to better understand ourselves. It's the metaphorical equipment room where we stock up prior to our next ascent. And if I could emphasize one thing, it would be that our perceived understanding of life, it oscillates.

Sometimes we feel like we get it. We do. And sometimes we feel like we're sprinting with our eyes closed. It's a riddle we will never fully come to solve. But I do know one thing. We can't change the unpredictability of the world. But by observing, by listening, by getting back up, we can change our world. ourselves. By recognizing our strength, we can utilize the down times as they are the education we've been longing for. Remember, the world does not and will not ask perfection of you,

so don't ask perfection of it. You were built to endure, to overcome, and to recreate yourself. Losing your wings will never be the problem. It's forgetting that they must be regrown. That is the problem. So step out. Rise to the surface of your world and breathe. Take in the surroundings that will become your resurrection story if you left them. There's a haze that circles around our most important moments. And I say haze, because often the things that will be most meaningful in lives or that will best position us for future transformation or success, they don't accurately depict the value that they ultimately provide. In fact, a lot of the time we get the opposite impression.

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

Again, we see it in a million different ways, different contexts, the solutions masquerade as problems. Or as has been famously put, the way often presents itself as the obstacle, which means we have to operate with a sense of awareness and understanding that often alludes us. Sometimes the reality is that it hurts to let go. But if it's not right for you, it hurts to hold on as well. The difference is when you do find the strength to let go, you simultaneously create space for the things that will make your life better. And I've noticed, you know, as I've navigated this crazy place well into my 30s, that the discomfort I've experienced in the past,

it rarely utilizes my future as its benchmark. Right? When I'm uncomfortable, it's because something has gone awry in the now. This moment hurts. In this moment, I feel less than. In this moment, I feel lost. In this moment, I am X, Y, or Z. It's all generally immediate, emotive responses to what's happening,

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

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

I've talked about having to step back in order to leap forward. Or stepping sideways in order to ultimately advance. Sometimes the thing we need just looks like discomfort, the sheep in wolves clothing. Where you have to seek out monsters in order to destroy the ones that live inside. of you. The reason, one, I think this is so important, and two, I'm so passionate about sharing it with others, is because, again, our instincts drive us away from the things we need most. It's just how it is. Humans are more emotional than we are rational.

And there have been plenty of times where, you know, just being reminded, Eddie, I get that this is challenging, but where do you most want to go? Eddie, you're playing defensive, which I'm sure minimizes problems now, but will never propel you forward with your career. Eddie, you're dragging your feet and calling it perfectionism. Could it in fact be fear? I've had a lot of these little, and sometimes not so little, epiphanies over the course of the last decade. When people ask me about speaking, which being that I do it for a little, a living would make sense, right, tips or insights, whatever it is, I'm being completely

sincere when I say that I wish I had some formula I could propose, right, that would make you go from zero to 60 in three months. But the truth is, the biggest bang for your buck is stepping right into the terror, the thing you're most inclined to run from. And that was it for me, right? Shear terror, actually shaking nights where I stayed awake, reciting keynotes into hotel mirrors couldn't eat and I'd you know wrap up the event would be over I'd just

go back to the room and collapse in bed because I hadn't slept the night before right that's how it started and the more times I didn't give myself a way out the more I saw past the fear put emotions aside and reiterated to myself that underneath all that discomfort

was value the better I became the less dramatic each speaking engagement became. And the terror evolved into excitement. Eddie, please get through this. Eventually evolved into Eddie. How can you make this speaking engagement more exciting,

more fun, more captivating than the last one? I recently spoke at the MGM Grand Arena, and it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. And I'm sure you can imagine, not necessarily because of the event. But it prompted me to think back to all those times I wanted to say no so badly with all my heart, with every fiber of my being, but didn't. It was just a proud feeling. Like you get those moments from time to time where everything becomes a single snapshot.

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

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

choose to do so, you can transform the chaos into something incredible. Realistically, that pain of loss we can't do anything about, right? Nature has made it so that we feel every sense of what's been taken away. But nature doesn't do such a good job of reminding us of the infinite value. The canal move into our souls, be used to open our eyes so that we may see the world as we've never seen it before. There is such power and the ability to view that fleeting emotion,

the discomfort of now, in terms of what it will ultimately become. As the saying goes, the hardest thing and the right thing are often the same thing. So be your own judge, your own critic. Decide what best points you to that place amongst the stars,

you long to be. Just understand that the road won't be pain-free and those who try to make it so miss out on a lot of the brilliance available to us. That haze that tries to conceal what's most

important is only effective if we keep our eyes close, if we aren't honest with ourselves. But if you know, one, what's most important and two are committed to one day arriving there, the short term obstacles become a relatively small price to pay.