Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - You Need To Reset, Restart And Refocus | Powerful Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: September 19, 2025

Life gets noisy. We get pulled in a hundred different directions, and somewhere along the way we lose sight of what matters most. This compilation is about stepping back, pressing pause, and giving yourself permission to reset, restart, and refocus.Whether you’re chasing a dream, battling setbacks, or simply looking for clarity, these speeches are designed to help you re-center, regain perspective, and move forward stronger.In this video:Why hitting reset is sometimes the most powerful stepHow to restart without shame or hesitationFinding clarity in the chaosRefocusing on what truly mattersTake a breath. Begin again. Your next chapter starts here.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#liveinspired #yourworldwithin #motivation

When our backs are against the wall, we're forced to become more. When the clock is ticking, we are tasked with finding answers that hide among us. It's in the darkness. We find light, and while lost, we find ourselves. The paradox of life is that from our pain comes our purpose, our evolution, and our greatness. I love thinking back to about 2014. making my way around Boston, having just quit my job, essentially purposeless, clinging to a YouTube channel and a podcast idea that I would name your world within. And why? Why do I think back? Why does this mean everything to me? Well, because at the time, I knew nothing. I understood nothing. Nothing about speaking or media, audio, video, nothing.

about running a business. But more importantly, I knew very little about life and what's truly required to progress in a world with infinite moving parts. I didn't know that my lack of understanding is what made everything feel overwhelming and complex and that it was up to me to simplify. I didn't know the extent to which I'd have to befriend failure. And that was the most eye-opening realization.

Because when you gravitate towards a risk-free existence and you box yourself in as I had for so long, of course you don't get the upside, but you also don't fail as dramatically either. Life was a simple game of cause and effect. Do work, get result, not mushroom for more than that. And so stepping outside that box in the way that I did, change some rules.

I learned some things. First, you can spend time on something. You can exhaust energy on something and get nothing in the short term for your efforts. And I mean nothing, unless you count getting your pride stomped on. Unless you count your friends disappearing when you need them most,

unless you count self-doubt in a constant worry, about not amounting to anything. I mean, these are very raw, very real human emotions. They tend to arise when we start something new, but in them is also the power. This is where the light bulb turns on

and the path emerges. It's where I learn that we only get what we want when we endure or what we don't. And what a foreign concept when you think about it, right? It's like, Eddie, take this mic. Go stand in front of this audience and pour your heart out.

Your knees are shaking, chest is pounding, but dude, trust me, it'll be good for you. And funny enough, it was. It was because the fear in my stomach became the indicator that something new, something exciting, something more was around the corner. Like Pavlov's dog hearing that bell, Anytime the fear kicked in, I could feel myself getting closer to something meaningful, to a higher version of myself. The pain is an invite, the sheer terror. And let's face it, that's what it feels like sometimes, it's an upgrade.

Disguised is the monster that you think you should be running from. When it is, as I recently mentioned, the adversary you should befriend. We have to change our relationship with discomfort because our initial understanding, the one that comes stock in our minds, is never sufficient to build anything of significance. Its default setting is to preserve the now, not expanded. And so just like those stocked, speakers that came in my 1999, Ford F-150 when I was in my early 20s, let's rip it out. Let's customize.

Let's upgrade the quality of the sound we hear and the things we say to ourselves. What an advantage it is to know that the hard things are what make us level up. To find that awareness. What a blessing that when life's difficulty startles and scatters the masses, you could be the one that remains. Standing tall, seeking out the advantage amidst the commotion, every little act of courage becomes more and more meaningful, powerful. But we must lose ourselves to find ourselves.

We must embrace our fears if we are to become courageous. We must fail in order to succeed. And sure, sometimes the price seems steep. But I promise not going costs more. Wishing costs more. If only's cost more. So maybe for you it isn't a YouTube channel or a speaking career. or maybe it's something totally different.

But it is something. And should you bring yourself to pursue that which your heart pulls you to pursue, you'll have those moments of defeat, where you're mad at yourself for leaving the comfort and safety of your previous world? You'll have times where you have no idea what to do, where you feel alone or stuck or unsure. The difference will be whether you see this as the invite you've been waiting for or the reason to turn around and settle for less. That's the question.

How do you internalize all that emotion that will feel like it is consuming you? I couldn't believe how strong that temptation was to go back, nagging at me every day. Just come off the edge. Just be comfortable again. But as my old coach would say in college, when we're doing wall sits or something physically taxing, 15 seconds. You can do anything for 15 seconds. And isn't life just a culmination of 15 second windows? It's compartmentalizing the process.

It's turning the difficult into the advantageous. You have the ability to not. think like everyone else. You have it within you to rewire your previous conceptions of the world, to see darkness not as your reason to hide from conjured up monsters, but as your invitation to become the light. Remember that the best way to be more is to have the courage to put your back against the wall. And you won't want to in the moment.

There will never be a perfect time. but committing to that vulnerability will release from within you the power, the strength, the greatness that has been for so long tucked away. By moving into the chaos, you are simultaneously creating the calm you always dreamed of. You're realizing the possibility that just needed the door left ajar to make its way into your world. There's a saying that in order to become something new,

you have to leave something behind. You have to detach in some capacity, remove yourself from the physical realm because the obstacles that we face are not physical. 99% of our problems are not physical. They're mental.

And you know, as you sort of drive that metaphor vertical ship into the horizon. The biggest turn is never going to be the anchor or the headwind or the bowline. No, it's going to be the storyline. It's going to be the narrative of the person navigating that ship. And it's interesting because our first inclination when we feel stuck, it's always to point out, attribute our problems to the world in this predetermined position within it. Maybe that's the issue.

We take our power. We put it into the universe, cross our fingers, and hope things work out. But that will always be a losing proposition. It will always come crumbling down. Because it's not the world that keeps you from showing up. You're not physically incapable of taking that first step or growing or evolving, developing, becoming something new. You know that demon lives in your head.

That's the mental Goliath we struggle with. Right? Because there's cognitive dissonance between who we know ourselves to be and who we want ourselves to be. That's the sea we have to cross. The terrain we have to navigate. It's not the physicality of taking the steps. Anyone can do that.

It's believing that you are worthy of the journey. And you have to ask yourself, is it that you can't become something new? Or is it that you can't, won't refuse to detach from who you used to be? You're still tucked away in that container, that box you've been building for years and years and years that you've placed yourself in because I can promise you. One of the most liberating things to understand is yesterday. is not a life sentence. Yesterday's not forever. Yesterday's not defining.

It's simply a stepping stone. And every morning when you open your eyes, sun comes through the window, illuminates life around you. That's never your cue to put on a fake smile, play the same role you've been playing day after day after day. No, it's an invitation to do anything you want to do. To begin again, to start fresh.

It's an opportunity to detach from that character. Detach from the people and the things that don't push you towards what you want. Detach from the negative self-talk. And when all that's gone, everything is removed and it's only you and your self-belief, a will to move forward. I promise you that pendulum shifts. Life becomes simple and how we're going to be. beautiful simplicity is. It's shining a spotlight on what matters. It's clarity. It's taking control.

It's picking up the clay and molding what you want to mold. It's opening the door and deciding to walk through. Everything else is variable. Everything else is noise. Everything else is detail and distraction. Because what you want, it's there. And it's waiting for you to simply remove yourself from who you used to be, to step into right now and believe that you are worthy of everything else. I recently heard someone say, it's not about doing your best. It's about doing what's required. Are they different? Very.

Here's my take. Doing your best has an emotional component attached to it. It's subjective. What exactly is your best? Well, it's a story that you tell yourself. A narrative opening the door to limitation. I've always found that when we put our backs against the wall and venture into scenarios where it's essential that we get something done,

we somehow always find a way. When we leave no plan B for ourselves, We are required to make Plan A work, and so we do. It's a testament to both the resilience and power contained in the human spirit, as well as the reality that we can astound ourselves when we're unwilling to take no for an answer. That is not the resources that are the problem. It's usually our unwillingness to move forward into the dark, our hesitance to try,

explore, test, build and rebuild. Actions that are surprisingly unrelated to one's best and have everything to do with accepting nothing less than an identified outcome. One of the reasons I fell in love with the sport of running is because it reinforced this notion in my life. It became the template with which I could repeatedly amaze myself. I talk a lot about earning confidence.

and oh how I earned it. Step by step by mile by day by day in the sun in the rain, in the desert in the woods, through city streets all over the country and the world, I came to understand the relationship between the turbulence of now and the satisfaction of later. It was on those days I'd push beyond my usual level of comfort. when that cloud of pain and agony would hover over me.

I couldn't even really point to where my body hurt. It just all seemed to come together into this one giant hell. And to learn that I could not only endure that, but grow in those moments. To see myself rise above any preconceived notion or understanding of best in order to defeat my demons, conquer the day's objective, It changes the way you see yourself in the world. Now, could onlookers be tempted to call these self-created goals arbitrary, even unnecessary? Sure.

And I get why they would, but I'd also completely disagree. Those days were a master class in doing what is necessary. realizing that when you shut your rational brain off and don't give your mind a chance to talk your body out of it, you can see just how powerful you are. You realize that story of your best is nothing more than a house built on sand. Life is not about that story you've told yourself.

It's not about your personal records and peak performances, what you think you can do or how far you think you might be able to go. It's about not stopping in the moments when it hurts. Doing what is required. A decision that compounds over time to create what was once impossible. One of my favorite quotes is by Admiral William McRaven, an absolute hero of mine. Funny enough, he says,

if you want to change the world, you must be your very best in your darkest moments. And what a beautiful idea. to rise when life presents its periods of turbulence. And sure, it may be a matter of semantics. But in those moments of darkness, I think of your best, not in the traditional sense, not as a personal metric, but as a willingness to do what must be done.

A removal of the spotlight from you altogether and instead pointed directly at the road ahead, at the task at hand. When you choose to make the journey, journey, not about what you can and cannot do, but instead make it about what must be done. The universe, as Paulo Coelho has so elegantly stated, conspires to make it happen. I think back to my journey and at so many periods my best wasn't good enough. I was so lost and so overwhelmed that the only thing I could do was not stop moving.

That was my superpower. simply trudged through the fear of things falling apart, the nagging pride and hurting ego. And what I learned was that life is no different than all those miles I'd put in running, how I felt what my previous capabilities were, what I deemed my best to be. It was all noise.

It was all irrelevant. What was required was that I move forward through the chaos and to something better, and so I did. and in your world, so can you. The stories we tell ourselves are so powerful and in many ways valuable in our journey through life, but there's one narrative that eliminates the necessity of so many others.

You can get to the top at whatever mountain you are seeking to climb so long as you do not stop, so long as you let go of the limitations tied to your quote-unquote, best and instead do what is required to get there. You'll see how adaptable and transformative that best really is, how it's a lagging indicator. It will take time, but you're capable of being patient.

And it will have its moments of chaos, but you are capable of weathering those storms. It will present obstacles that leave you unclear, uncertain, sometimes unprepared, but you're capable of picking your head up and moving through that hate. What you know of yourself now is a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of what you're capable of doing. And how far that goes will be determined not by putting a stake in the ground and calling it your personal best. But as Emerson has said, by hitching your wagon to a star, and pulling yourself towards its light.

A little bit. What exactly are you afraid of? What's holding you back? As the giant rock you inhabit spins to the universe, a speck in a galaxy of stars, it's easy to look out and see the vastness of the world around you and forget entirely about the strength that you possess. Forget entirely that the mind's capacity is as infinite as those same stars that surround you.

I don't think it's that we definitively choose to sell ourselves short. I think we simply lose sight of the fact that we have a say in the matter to begin with. Our fears keep us wishing. Our insecurities keep us hoping. We stay standing still when we should be moving forward. But truth be told, our pain comes from not doing, but wishing that we did. It's no coincidence that the more we fail, the more we realize life is a game that expands as we push. The power of making mistakes isn't the mistake itself, it's that when we get back up and brush ourselves off,

our cognitive mapping of the world changes. We see that we can step out a little further. Our very definition of what's possible expands, and I believe that's what courage is. The willingness to step into that chaos of life, knowing that each time you find the strength to push forward, you are restructuring your reality. The resources are there, the tools are there,

the opportunity is there, how crazy is the fact that we just need to convince ourselves that more is worth it, that the difficulty of short-term vulnerability isn't an enemy. It's the very ticket required for admission to the show. And so I ask again, what are you afraid of? Falling? Because you will rise and you will rise stronger than you ever. were. Is it criticism? Because one, people are so focused on their own endeavors that they look up way less than we think they do. And two, other than the small group you surround yourself with,

why would you care? Is it pride? Because building things of significance requires starting on the ground floor and there's no shame but honor in breaking down to build up. And when I look at my life in terms of chapters, right, childhood, high school, college, 20s, 30s, the things that were my biggest concerns during each chapter are now laughable. And maybe, just maybe, if I saw that, I could have lived a little free or been a little bolder. What if we were to get ahead of that learning curve? What if we understood that life is beautiful and flexible and exciting? And what if we understood that now?

Instead of looking at this chapter, 15 years down the road and chuckling to ourselves for not having the courage to have made the leap, taken the chance to have moved out into an unknown. We cannot physically see that which doesn't exist, which is why it's so important that we know we are the architects, that the fear pulsing through our veins is indicating that we are building, that we are choosing to step into a a world that will give more if we find the courage to ask. So as this giant rock you inhabit spins through the universe, a speck in a galaxy of star, perhaps each little light up there exists not to remind you how small you are, but to remind you that those same elements exist within you.

To show you that the fire of a million suns sits in you. your soul, beats in your chest, waits for your signal now. So what are you afraid of? He's running around this morning, trying to get a head start on some things. I decided to stop in, grab a quick coffee. So I'm standing in line, door opens to gentlemen walk in, stand in line right behind me. You start chatting back and forth and basically one of them starts talking about how he's had a

rough morning. Dealt with some unfortunate things and was basically capping today off as a bad day. Which on the surface is pretty ordinary. You know, we all have rough days. They're real. And this happened to be one of them. But it also happened that as he said this, I was looking at the clock and it wasn't even 7 a.m. Now, I don't know this guy's situation. It's absolutely none of my business and I have no intention of delving into it. But internalizing all this sort of got the gears turning in the back of my head. You know, I'm thinking about how much the day is left. The sun is still coming up as this conversation is happening.

So I grabbed my coffee and I walked outside, started to think about all the reasons that today is good, which is sort of an awkward activity at first, right? It's not something we consistently walk around talking to ourselves about. But as I gave it some thought, I immediately saw the benefit. Today is good because for starters, what I'm left with at the end of the day is directly correlated to the decisions that I make throughout the day. Think about how powerful that is in itself. You know that feeling when you have a blank page to write or paint?

Or there's a movie that you've been dying to see the opening credits first come out. The first note is played at a concert. I'm living that. I am personified opportunity just walking down Beacon Street. If I go left, everything that happens will be because I went left. Think about the power that's contained in that. I mean, it opens the door for unlimited opportunities. Today is good because it's right now.

I may have made some rough decisions last week, last month, last year. But guess what? They don't exist where I'm going. In fact, they don't exist at all. Maybe yesterday. But not today. They've played their part. They've provided their wisdom.

Now they can disappear. Today is good because statistically, I shouldn't be here. Because so many people were robbed of today. Because I get the opportunity to see the sun come up. And because the time will come when that will no longer be the case. Today is good because I have friends and family. to share it with this ridiculous ride, chock full of ups and downs and all that stuff in between.

Right? I'm certainly not capable of sitting here and dissecting the meaning of life, but I do know that whatever it happens to be, it's substantially better when shared, when enjoyed. And today, that's what I'm going to do. Today is good.

I'd like to think there's a lot in store down the road. You know, some of it will push me forward. Some of it will cause me to stop, make adjustments. But I'll be damned if it will take the joy out of my day. Not today. I have something very different in store, and I plan to see it through. I have the ability, the resources, the determination. I can't think of anything else I'd need.

So coffee in hand, here I go. I once heard a metaphor that our existence is like standing behind a curtain with tears or holes. and reality becomes which holes we decide to look through when we're peering out at the world on the other side. What do we want to see? And this message, well, for whoever out there feels like giving up or folding their hand. Whoever's been waiting for things to change

but only sees the clock moving forward, this is a reminder that the very thing you need is on the other side of that curtain. You don't need to change who you are. We just need to position yourself to see it. Because it's there and you're ready. When life hurts, we might have every reason to be in pain, to feel lost or confused,

but I always find it to be a beautiful reminder that we also have every reason to seek out from that pain, something we've never been before. Why is it that our greatest accomplishments come, and our backs are to the wall. Our greatest acquisitions after losing something dear to us. Why is it that we find ourselves in our way only after being lost?

I've never heard someone say, thank God I never changed or left or tried something new. No, it's thank God the adversity forced upon me, the courage to evolve into something more. Pain is to our potential what water is to a seed. It's the beginning of everything unshackling, opening the gate, and making us realize we were sitting on the answers. That adversity doesn't stop you, it makes you stronger. That the down times lift you up.

That when you lose yourself, you find a part of you that can now become the bridge to your future. See, I understand that things are difficult and challenging. I understand they're not easy, and I'm not asking you to pretend it's not happening or ignore it or close your eyes. I'm asking you to find amidst all of this, that one thing, one thing that will get you to tomorrow. I'm asking you to find the courage to say, yes, this hurts. Yes, I'm stretched thinner than I've ever been, but I'm still going to find a way. I'm still going to make it happen. Because at the end of the day, you won't remember what hurt or what stood in your way.

But you'll remember what you did about it. You'll remember how you arranged those pieces. How when your instincts said run, you stopped and built something you'll never forget. Knowledge, strength, wealth, status, excellence, many different words, many different meanings. But they do share one important thing, and that's that they are all outcomes. They are not obtainable by themselves, just like an effect can't take shape without the cause that contributed to its materialization. Right? They need something else, a seed, a root, a foundation. If excellence were the tallest building in your city, and you ripped it apart piece by piece until only the core existed, only that foundation,

what you would see is courage. Because courage is the thing that gives you a platform to build on. Every starting block is comprised of unknowns. Every endeavor, every journey, every time you start something new, you're by definition a rookie. You're at the bottom of some pecking order. And I want you to never be fearful of these situations, but to be thankful for them.

They're the roots that allow the tree to grow. And the only thing required for you to move forward is having the courage to say yes. Life is opportunity. The world around you is opportunity. Some people close their eyes and ignore it. Others choose to see it. Courage is never closing your eyes.

Everything around you is courage. building you're walking by, someone had the courage to start that construction company, the music you're listening to. Someone had the courage to put their art out there into the world to embrace the critics, the naysayers, the envious, they didn't stop. And now their creativity is flowing out of your headphones and into your life. Courage is the understanding. That simple and easy are very different words. It is incredibly simple to work harder than the person next to you. It is simple to make sacrifices, to move out of your comfort zone. You don't need to understand Einstein's theory of relativity to be able to do those things. Oh, but side note, they're insanely difficult. At first, they will

kill you inside. You'll be nervous, scared, self-conscious. Courage is the understanding that fear becomes progress, that being nervous transforms into excitement, and that what once ate away at you will become the fire that reshapes your life. Allow yourself to stumble through the beginning. Let yourself fail. That guy running a five-minute mile, at one point, he ran it in eight. That woman worth a billion dollars, at one point was worth a million, a hundred K, maybe she was broke. It takes no courage to run the same speed your whole life. It takes no courage to stay stagnant. Courage is saying to yourself,

I am worth more than I have now. I am faster than that stopwatch is showing. I am better than this grade reflects. Courage is when your actions take on a life of their own. When they embody that winning men. When your friends, your peers, and the people in your life give you a hard time because you're not the same person today that you were yesterday. Courage is smiling and moving forward. It's when the first setback comes and the second and the third and the fourth and you go straight through it.

You adapt. You never lose sight of what you want. Courage is believing so strongly in your ability that you welcome discomfort to. just so that you can turn it into an advantage tomorrow. Courage isn't listening to this, taking your quick blast of adrenaline into the living room and streaming Netflix. No, it's thinking about what you want more than anything else and driving toward it. One courageous step at a time. That is courage.

If these walls could talk, they would remind you of the things that you sometimes forget. Forget. Yeah, those elusive things you tend to walk right by. It's not that you've chosen to ignore them, it's that while people are complex. And we have a tendency to skip over some important things as we remain fixated on our problems, our perceived inadequacies, that finicky negativity bias. The one that states, if you went to a restaurant 100 times, had 99 incredible experiences, but something went wrong on the 100th, well, that restaurant would forever be known to you is the place where things go wrong. We are wired not to see the good, but to identify and avoid the bad. And if these walls could talk, they would unveil to you the brilliance that exists slightly out of frame.

They would suggest you look over your shoulder and take a peek at how far you've come because, my friend, you've come a long, long way. It's funny how slow progress moves. It's interesting how our lowest moments force us out. side of ourselves. Push us to step into those shoes we didn't know we're sitting in the closet, unworn, waiting for the day we'd take on that new role, waiting on you to see that who you were yesterday is not correlated to who you can be today.

And if these walls could talk, they'd fill you in on a very important statistic. they'd tell you that you've stood face to face with some of the biggest curveballs life can throw. You took on struggle and hardship that rocked you to your core and as you stand here now, your success rate through all that comes in at well 100%.

You are literally undefeated in your ability to move through adversity. Every time you did, whether you knew it or not, you walked into that closet and put on a new pair of shoes. You became something new. Sometimes progress is so slow that it feels like pain and it looks like stagnation, but it is anything but. And if these walls could talk, they would remind you of that truth. They would beg you to see what you've become, who you are. If these walls could talk, they would remind you of life's ever-changing, transformative nature.

All the times they witnessed you upset about people and things coming and going, as you tried to hold on to that which perhaps no longer served you, wishing you could make permanent those things that were just meant to be transitory, shooting stars across the sky of your life, But something doesn't need to be forever to be meaningful. And thank God, because nothing is forever. And as we make our way into that vast unknown, we have a choice. We can live in the shadow of a particular moment in time.

Or we can cherish the value that those moments offered to us. They gave you just enough to take a new step forward. And sometimes a new step in that direction that's calling you is the difference between nothing and everything. So if these walls could talk, they would tell you to keep your head up and be thankful for those shooting stars in your life, for they made you who you are. And the path forward would be impossible without them.

If these walls could talk, they would ask you about those times you came home, sat down in your room, and wondered how you could ever be enough. They'd call attention to that seemingly non-stop battle with imposter syndrome. They'd ask when you will feel like you've learned, seen, or traveled enough to gain some semblance of authority in your own life. They'd wonder when you'll give yourself permission to be that. You've come so far, endured so much, you're not the same person you were a year. ago. Now if you could just stretch a little further, if you could just extend a little higher,

if you could see all the new shoes you've worn and the shooting stars you've collected along the way, you would know that you are designed to overcome. External pressures, obligations, criticism, none of it matters. This is between you and yourself. And if these walls, could talk, they would ask you when you'll see what they see. The brilliance, the magnitude of your potential, when will you be you? Marcus Aurelius wrote, remember how long you've been putting this off, how many extensions the gods gave you and you didn't use them, there is a limit to the time assigned to you, and if you don't use it to free yourself, it will. be gone and never return.

See, today is precious because it is the only one you get. Each second unique in its own way, a measurement of opportunity represented by a single tick from the watch you're wearing. And if these walls could talk, they would tell you that they've seen people come and go, that you aren't the first and you most definitely won't be the last. And every single soul that stepped inside wished they'd found that courage a little sooner. Wish they'd looked back a little earlier. Wish they'd found the inspiration amidst the chaos and turbulence of their day-to-day lives.

And if these walls could talk, they'd hope that maybe this would be it for you. The next step in your evolution. And what's most incredible is that you get there not by becoming something. you've not yet become. Now in this moment, it's about noticing who you already are. Instead of the one mistake or reason to shrink into yourself, how about shining a light on those 99 reasons to expand? When it hurts, know that it's hurt worse and you've persevered.

When you experience loss, know that it's not about what's gone. but what you now have and will keep with you forever and most importantly know that you can always step into a new pair of shoes you can always reinvent recreate you are never defined by something that happened in the past the wake of the boat does not drive the boat and so with this in mind chart your course to new horizons understand that the map you need has nothing to do with externalities, but rather the solutions that already exist within you.

So take a second and peer back over your shoulder. Look at that you in the past standing at the bank of a river, hoping, praying for help, a lift, for some technology to get you across, knowing as you stand here now that you have traversed oceans. Look, the kind of, Context changes, and yes, it will always change, but your ability to endure, it does only one thing, it multiplies. You have everything you need because you couldn't have gotten to this point without accumulating the knowledge and expertise to take one step forward and miracles. they are merely the culmination of those courageous steps.

And yes, when we are stuck, when we're at that coastline looking out at foreign horizons, I get that the answers seem big, sometimes even bigger than we are. I get that the mind wanders right to the potential disasters, to the what-ifs and the worst case. But if these walls could talk, they would let you. you know that you've come this far endured and accomplished all this, not because you've left mountains or jumped oceans, but because when you were at your worst, you found it within yourself to carry on the exponential compounding of what has made you great and what will continue to make you great. Look if these walls could talk, they'd show you how the difficulties of years past,

have become stepping stones. So commonplace, so easily solvable that they no longer even warrant your attention. That by moving forward, you have faced your obstacles, taken the value from them and made them obsolete. If these walls could talk, they'd remind you that you are not only ready, but made for everything that awaits.

Every step you take is an investment. Every decision to do the difficult thing is a gift to your future self. Think about this for a second. One of the many things that makes being human so incredible is our ability to engage in delayed gratification. To do things now that will elevate us at a future time. And at a fundamental level, we understand that. We've heard the famous marshmallow study.

our kids were left alone in a room with the marshmallow placed in front of them and the ones who showed restraint and could resist eating it ended up in many regards being more successful as adults we've all heard the mantras working hard pays off that's valuable but i'd like to take it a step further because when you say yes in the face of adversity when you move forward when tired seek out a way amidst the chaos of life, you are contributing to a foundation so powerful that it will elevate you in ways outside your current level of awareness. By simply saying yes, when I was unsure and often fearful,

by continuing to write and speak, I was unknowingly building these opportunities that would manifest years later, right? Many of which were not planned. They were not methodical. My dedication and my North Star never changed. I held on tightly to those, but the surrounding components were always moving and transforming.

People are in my life today because of steps I took five years ago. I know things about myself and my hopes and my dreams because of risks I took when I was, let's face it, too ignorant to understand their repercussions. But I knew it felt right. See, here's what I did understand. If I, as Emerson put it, hitched my wagon to a star and moved towards it. When I felt great and when I didn't.

When I was confident and when I wasn't, when I was winning and when I was not, I knew the other stuff would take care of itself. I trusted the process. And here's why that matters. Here's why I'm taking you all on a little trip down memory lane. Because writing, speaking, inspiring, storytelling, They are my world within. What is yours?

What is it that moves you, that lights up your soul? I want you to know that. I want you to know that because its pursuit requires not only a delayed gratification, but an acceptance that your dedication will evolve in ways so incredible that you can't even imagine. That all those little decisions become emergent and together, represent something more powerful than the sum of its part. I love the example or idea of the human brain, right? So complex and powerful that it appears almost divine.

It's essentially a universe behind our eyes. Even our understanding, our comprehension is minimal. We are awed by its capability. Yet it's not about one single piece of the brain. The tissues or the neurons individually. It's the network all these microscopic occurrences create together. Something bigger than everything combined, creating a consciousness we can't even find or point to when looking at the evidence. But we know it exists and we know it's somehow derived from this ball of nervous tissue.

This is not unlike one's pursuit of excellence. The level of achievement or consciousness we are searching for. It can't be singularly identified. It's emergent. It materializes after the discipline, after the consistent work, after the self-belief, after the will to do what is required, whether we wanted to in the moment or we didn't. Then we get our quote, unquote, consciousness. You can't and won't always see the value in your dedication, in your sacrifice.

And let me level with you. I get how crazy it feels to think, yeah, but someday it will mean something. Someday that work will put people in my life that will change my world, elevate my existence. It will create opportunities that expedite my evolution, lessons and occurrences that will amplify my wisdom and worldview. But that's the name of the game. If you know in your heart you are pointing to the right star, then it's just about something. stepping, adjusting and repeating. Move, adjust, move, adjust, move, adjust. There will be a time when you look over your shoulder and are stunned by what you've created,

by the distance you've traveled. Look, you can't see the future. You can't know what everything will mean and what will occur, but you can continue forward into the darkness. so that when the long awaited light inevitably presents itself, you are in position to receive it. To stand on the foundation you have been building all along. The thing about storms is that they all have one thing in common. They pass. And once gone, they leave you as a person different.

than who you were before you stepped in. Before you found yourself consumed by its adverse conditions, they are disruptors, breaking down and shaking up, but not for the sake of chaos itself. No, storms break us down so that we can build again, so that we can find within ourselves the power and the strength that simply remain tucked away during those sunny days. And so walking up to the storm, what you'll immediately notice is a break from the normal.

The every day. An obvious detachment from the standards by which you had been living. But don't be fooled into thinking those dark clouds and heavy winds have nothing of value for you. Don't be tricked into thinking the rain will consume all the good in life. Because at the end of the day, it's that very rain that washes away the excess and leaves the meaningful. We don't grow despite the storms. We grow because of the storms. So compose yourself and embrace what's around you.

Amidst the storm, you might realize that you're going to. You don't want some of the things you thought you did. You might realize that life contains variables that make it incredibly unpredictable. And when old plans meet new variables, sometimes we learn that the path we were walking down requires adjustment. It needs change. Not because we were wrong. The dream was wrong, or the path was wrong, but because life is an experiment.

are meant to test hypotheses and support exploration. Without the storm, sure, everything seemed fine. Everything was flawless, but in the thick of it, when the variables, the multiplicity of factors present themselves, it often paints a picture for us that we previously weren't able to see. That's okay. Ideal, even. It's life.

So when amidst the storm, and presented this new information, this new portrait, pivot. Grow with your understanding and newly acquired knowledge. There's no point in remaining tied to the ideas, the people and the places that once served you, but have since run their course. Growth is perspective and awareness, and as the storm shakes your foundation,

it also hands you a clarity that those blue skies simply could not. So adjust, adapt, and move further into the person you are destined to become. You can't learn that on a sunny day. No, that's what storms are for. And amidst the storm, you might find yourself scared, nervous, unsure. You might even look back and wonder what life would have been like

had you not stepped in? Perhaps you're angry with yourself for not navigating around the inclement weather. Maybe you'll find yourself asking, how did I let myself end up in such a situation when there were visual indicators and weather forecasts? People warned me about moments like this, yet here I am. You might find that the drop in temperature is uncomfortable. The rain, difficult, the wind annoying.

But here's what they don't tell you. There's something innately powerful about proving to yourself that you can move forward despite those things. That when you're scared and step forward anyway, when you're lost but maintain your poise and trust in the process, when you're down but cling to hope to that light at the end of the tunnel, you emerge with a different understanding of who you are.

You end up stronger because you've allowed yourself to become stronger. And you don't get that on the sunny days. No, that's what storms are for. And amidst the storm, you might feel like the sacrifice required in life is more than you want to endure. Maybe even more than you can endure. After all, it's during our trying times that we're forced to make some of our most difficult decisions. We might be forced to let go of some things that had been staples in our lives.

That in order to say hello to some things, we must necessarily say goodbye to others. And this hurts. Especially while it's happening, it hurts. But what you're really doing is learning to identify what matters and mitigate the things that don't support that journey. Sometimes storms teach us that growth is not about acquisition and obtaining more, and they show us instead that we've been carrying too much, that we become accustomed to surrounding ourselves with things that no longer elevate or inspire or push us.

And the best way to evolve is to move forward with less. So when you see parts of yourself fade away or dissolve, hold your head up. Because when you get to the other side, you just might see that cutting away those things was more liberating than anything you could find or pick up along the way. And we're not taught this lesson on those sunny days. No, that's what storms are for. And amidst the storm, it's quite possible that you'll have to be. possible that you'll feel lonely from time to time. Maybe misunderstood. Perhaps like the whole world

has everything figured out. They're moving single file through the correct door while you wander around aimlessly. That's not true. No one has all the answers and everyone has their storms. The question has always been as far as I'm concerned, what will you make of yours? Because we're always presented with the decision to let our adversity define us or to find something of value in it. The opportunity hidden in plain view. You're never alone in your pain or your distress. Those things are an inevitability tied to the miracle that is life. But what you are is powerful.

powerful enough to learn in your solitude and bring that understanding back out to the world. Powerful enough to let the lessons guide you to something beautiful. Powerful enough to find the meaning underneath the turbulence. We often confuse our times of greatest transformation with setbacks. We often forget that the darkness cannot withstand a single flicker of life. flicker of light and we can be that light when we trust ourselves. It's a lesson that can't be taught on sunny days. No, that's what storms are for and that storm, that very thing you want with all your heart to avoid. It's not antithetical to your happiness or your prosperity. No, ultimately it's

how you create those things. The trials and tribulations. help us look at life from different angles. They remind us what we are capable of. Show us we can do so much more than we thought that we have in many cases been accepting a reality that is not our own. That is just the beginning. And so whether you were on the outside looking in

or at this very moment in the heart of chaos, remember, this is making you who you need to be. And sure it never feels good in the moment. It's never exciting when it's happening. But there will be a point when you look around and see a world unlike the one you stepped away from. One in which you are stronger, bolder, wiser. One in which you have greater clarity and understanding a better sense of who should be with

you and where you are going. not despite but because of the storm, that you'll rise from the ashes and from the quote-unquote misfortune to find yourself and your way. How do you visualize the road you're on? With its twists and turns, smooth terrain, rough terrain, straightaways, hills, what is it all mean? Do you find it odd that it gets more challenging as you get closer to your destination? Right?

The further along you get the more tension life puts between you and the finish line. Almost like the universe is adamant about weeding out those who think they can skate by. What is the difference between saying you want it and really wanting it? Perhaps it's a willingness to fight through a storm. Just for the opportunity to find calm and serenity in its center. This morning, as the sun was coming up, I went for a run. A nice five-mile run down the coast, and the way I planned it out was simple. 2.5 or halfway up in soft sand, and then I'd stop, and I'd turn around,

and I'd run 2.5 back, but on the harder surface, right? Easier to handle, almost like a reward for pushing myself on the way up. And things were going perfectly. I made the 2.5 mile run up and when it came to stop and turn around I realized what should have been obvious from the beginning was high tide, which means I didn't get that hard surface to run back on instead. Not only was it softer than the way up, but I was running on a slope. And that just threw my mind for a loop, right? I'm embarrassed to admit I was actually angry about it. You know, I pushed myself hard going up and wanted that breather. I almost felt like like, like Life pushed the finish line back 2.5 miles.

And trust me, as I'm writing this, it seems ridiculous to talk about. But in the moment, just irrationally annoyed. That was the carrot that had been chasing the whole time. So I begrudgingly, you know, move forward, kind of trying to figure out what to do. And ultimately just continued forward. And, you know, the emotion subsided. And as usually happens, you pull yourself out of the weeds a little bit. bit, the big picture tells a different story. Different story means different perspective. And that's what I came

across, right? This idea or this question, well, why do we expect life to be flat ground? Why was that my assumption to begin with? The easy to navigate path. Why is that the standard? And the more I thought about it, right? The more I wondered if that's the very reason why we on. underperform. It's the little spark that ultimately lights this wildfire of regret. Because when convenience is the standard, everything else becomes unfair. Everything else is a burden. When the road should be flat, what are we to make of the hills in our path? Thinking life should be easy, it provides oxygen to a victim mentality. And sometimes it takes these little experiences for me to refocus on these subtle realities. The flat ground is not the standard. It is

earned. It's a gift. It should be cherished and appreciated because guess what? Life wasn't easy. It isn't easy and it never will be. But I believe the differentiator is knowing that. So I kept running on the slope, feet sinking into the sand. I got my teeth kicked in just a little bit longer and life didn't end. In fact, I think the mental aspect was tougher than the physical. We're only talking five miles here, but when the standard changes, so does the performance. It's about just moving forward. And like poetry, with about three quarters of a mile left, right? The beach widened. It leveled out. The ground became harder. Each step became easier. And yeah, I was running. But in my head, it felt like I was lying on a beach.

bed of feathers. Because when you prepare to face life's demons, when you're ready for battle, when you anticipate you'll have to give everything, any adversary that falls short of that feels like wind behind your back. We can endure anything. The question is whether or not we put ourselves in position to. Mistakes, they don't define us. Heartbreak. Heartbreak. it doesn't kill us. And criticism, it doesn't shape us. But I'll tell you what. The fear that they do stops a lot of people from becoming who they're capable of becoming.

Panicking at the slightest sign of discomfort, moving away from anything but the convenient, when in reality, inconveniences are the path, is right. Ryan Holiday famously put it, the obstacle is the way. See, satisfaction, it doesn't even exist without a will to overcome. What meaning does a finish line have without miles of self-doubt and questions and fear and dragons being slayed while you prove to yourself over and over again that you know what? I am more. And I can be more.

And the crazy thing is that there's not even a stopping point here. This rocket will propel as high into the ether as you choose to take it. And look, it's not about running on slight inclines or sinking a few inches into the sand. It's not about being rejected, losing or castigated by seven billion self-interested souls. No, it's about not being scared to take the bridge that connects current to future. Complacency to recreation, the known to the seemingly impossible. You're made of so much more than you give yourself credit for. You are so much stronger than you think you are.

So for yourself and for the world, capture that. Own it and redefine what it means not to simply exist, but to your core with every ounce of your being, your soul, every fiber in your body to truly live. Why is this battle you versus you? With all the complexity, all the obstacles out there, why are you, you, you? your greatest opponent. Well, to put it simply, because all those obstacles and all that complexity still can't tell you no. They can't say enough is enough. They can't look back at you and say,

let's just settle for what we have now. No, only you can do that. The world may create the landscape. It may construct the terrain and those obstacles. but you are the sole decider on where along the way you stop. You decide how far you want to go and how much you are willing to endure. When it comes to your advancement or limitation, you are in the drivers. I just picked up a copy of Will Smith's recent book,

and one of the ideas that stood out to me was resilient. And this part in the book, it's actually kind of uncomfortable to get through, but incredibly powerful. He's talking about his childhood and the polarity of his father's personality. A man who would do anything to provide for his family, he took pride in that and saw it as his primary responsibility. But simultaneously was their greatest source of pain. And he mentions his father, you know, hitting his business. mother from time to time. In one particular example, struck his mother in the face so hard that it knocked her on the floor. And as she stood back up, she said something along the lines of,

you can hit me, but you can't hurt me. And that was the first time Will understood as a child, the difference between what the outside world inflicts upon us and how we choose to react to that occurrence. That understanding is. is power. That's why you are the author of your story. In this sense that every single thing dropped at your feet, every situation, every occurrence, they come with an implicit question attached, a question that you and only you are responsible for answering.

The question is, what does this mean? And how you respond to that question determines whether you go left or right at that metaphorical fork in the road. Does the occurrence detract from your ambitions or is it a multiplier? Does it confirm your doubt and insecurities or is it your reason to rise to the occasion? An opportunity to stretch, to evolve. That's a gift. That's an invite. Not some sort of divine punishment.

But the challenge is removing the layers until you arrive at the value. And it's hard, but you get there by saying yes. You get there by choosing to see the value. And here's a quick example. My favorite thing about athletics, which was, for me, a ton of running. Now I throw more interval training in there, but the same concepts apply. It's a chance to remind myself that I don't negotiate with my weakness. I don't give myself an opportunity to rationalize with the voice that wants me to quit.

That question, that fork in the road, I answered it. I charted its course before the workout started. Knowing this is going to be uncomfortable at times, but it's where I need to go. There will be no more thinking from here on out. And so today's workout, for example, switching, dead lifts, births, to squats, to core, you don't think. You see the next requirement, the next task, and you simply say, yes, you don't need your mind for this. In fact, you go before your mind even knows where it's going.

Because that dotted line has already been signed. And that was the breakthrough for me. When you separate what you have to do with the hurt associated with doing that thing, you free yourself. After all, what's there to hold you back if you can't talk yourself out of doing things? See, we tend to think our greatest adversity is the pain or the confusion or the unknown.

But it's like, no, those are the byproducts of doing anything of significance. The adversary is the voice that begs you to slow down because of those things. And if you can figure out in your, own life, how to create space between the two, how to separate the task and the discomfort often brought about by the task, there's nothing that will ever be able to slow you down. And look, I'm not saying that you walk around without ever utilizing the power of that brilliant

mind you possess. The one's ability to think is everything. But what I am saying is there is a time to shut it off. There is a time in which to avoid overthinking we simplify. Action, reaction. One more mile, okay, end of story. One minute of jump squats next. Roger that, period.

It's taking the emotion out of the process, refusing to leave the door cracked for the inner dialogue that says, hey, maybe you don't do this. Maybe you slow down. Are you sure you can handle what's next? No, all of that is. tuned out. It's assignment, go. Next, go. Next, go. You know this is the right thing. You did your thinking before grabbing the sword, shield, and stepping into the arena. Now, guess what?

It's instinct. It's doing what has to be done. And what has to be done hurts. And look, you didn't have to accept that. You didn't have to step in. You didn't have to step in. You could have stayed home, but somewhere along the way you looked in the mirror and said, the difficult path is the one with the value. And now here you are. Face to face with hungry lions, clashing swords with your adversaries. There's no turning back now. Now is when you parse out pain from the objective.

The pain is now part of the audience. It's not with you or in you, it's watching from above as you do what you came here to do. So yes, those swords clash, but the eyes remain focused on what's ahead. And yes, those lions roar, but that's background noise. When you simplify your world into objective and action, objective, action, objective, action, objective, action. There is time for nothing but forward progress. And sometimes that is all that is required of us. In the face of adversity, in the face of pain, self-doubt, in the face of discomfort,

can you break your world down into nothing but one single step forward? One more set, one more rep, one more session, one more attempt, just one more more. No rocket science, no negotiation. There's nothing to figure out here. It's walking the path before you. It's the discipline to carry on. It's one more swing of the axe. Audience or no audience.

Lions are no lions. You are bound to the universe at your feet. And that simplified concentration is why you will succeed. A life well lived is a dance between having the strength to walk away and having the courage to go all in. It's juggling the idea that absolutely nothing matters and the idea that every second is a blessing beyond which I'm capable of even explaining or articulating. Nothing matters. So live without limits or constraints.

Like you're on a once in a lifetime journey. But everything matters. So know that every second along the way is perfect. A building block. A microcosm of the universe resting in the palm of your hand. And I think about this push-pull from time to time. I play with the idea that nothing matters when I need courage, when I need to convince myself to be a little bolder,

reinforce the understanding that there is no pressure here. Life can only give what I'm willing to carve out. And as that clock ticks away in the background, what do I have to lose? As Mark Twain put it, it's the things we don't do that we come to regret. And then on the other side, when I need a little discipline, I play with the idea that the little things are everything. After all, two things can be true at once, and the details matter a lot.

For me, getting up two hours earlier does make a difference, that pushing a little harder will add up. The little things become everything. And painting that portrait that had been tucked away in my imagination, well, that's done, one very real, very tangible brush stroke at a time. It's participating in that dance between nothing and everything, the real and the imaginary. But for the time being, let's leave those very important little things

and focus on the divine big things. Those nothings that with some vision and concentrated effort become some things. I have a friend that says to me all the time, nothing matters. And not in a nihilistic, you know, throw your hands up and stay inside until the end of time type way.

But in a way that poses the question, why wouldn't you risk it all? Nothing matters. Why wouldn't you risk seeing how far you could push, how long you could run, how much you could become, because maybe, just maybe, this whole thing isn't as serious as we'd like to think it is. And instead of feeling confined and scared, what have you felt a lie blessed to even be here?

And I think realizing that we build these imaginary boxes around ourselves and live within them is a huge step. That awareness that we spend so much. time reaching out for things that will save us when in reality we simply need to set ourselves free. We need to open the gates, build bridges to the infinite opportunity that surrounds us. And when I think about this a feeling that still comes to mind, feeling I had after 2K tests in college. Those of you that have been on the rowing machines, I'm sure you get it. But if not, picture a feeling similar to an all-out sprint for roughly six or seven minutes,

depending on when you cross the line. And when it was over, after I'd finished picking myself up, I would just sit in the hallway, cherish the feeling of being done. After pushing my body to its maximum, I'd appreciate the nothingness, the same nothingness that I'd never pay attention, to at all otherwise. But in that moment, it was everything. What a gift.

As you regain your composure, as your heart rate comes back down to earth, to just be still. I still love that feeling after physical exertion, the reminder to just be thankful for a moment of serenity, a reminder that life can and will inflict upon us these periods of absolute chaos, of turbulence. And often they're very necessary. They harden us, they shape us, but they also remind us to appreciate their absence.

Same thing goes, and a lot of you, I'm sure we'll be able to relate to this for something like a headache or a migraine. You know, when they come and go in my life, it's like the second a brutal headache dissipates, that nothingness is the greatest gift I could ever imagine. The absence of pain. infinitely more valuable than any tangible acquisition.

And I think in those moments, we get a glimpse of the world in its purest, simplest form, where all the nuance and detail we worry about doesn't matter much. Because look at what we have. Look how much surrounds us when we position ourselves to notice, when we simply pay attention. Tolstoy said, If then I were asked for the most important advice I could give,

that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say, in the name of God, stop a moment. Cease your work, look around you. An incredible reminder to never forget where we are or what we were given. to remember that by breathing in the air around us, we have in a sense already one. And I love this because for a brief moment in time, it swings that pendulum to the nothing matters side of life.

When you're living a miracle-wise sweat, the small stuff. And I can ask myself, why do I get so worked up? It's no big deal. Why not take the risk? What's the worst case? that I fail and have to backtrack as a now more informed

and knowledgeable person why not stand in the face of my fears the upside is consistently enticing it consistently rewards look around and see what life has provided how dare

we wasted and with that said I'd also be remiss not to include this little caveat you know I'm careful with the words nothing matters because even though in the context I've been using it for years,

it's a positive, empowering thing. It's my reminder to push boundaries. I can also see how it begs the question, well, if nothing matters, why should I care? And so, let's reframe. Because it's not that nothing matters. It's that nothing outside the scope of your worldview matters. It's the acquisition.

of freedom, addition by this subtraction of all those externalities we let hold us back. Because you know as well as I do, it's not really the externalities that shackle you. It's your thoughts about them. So open the gate to your mind, let the detrimental out, and keep the necessary and the ideal in. Nothing matters if it doesn't align with your values and your destination. I know I say in every video, speech, podcast episode, that we are the authors of our own stories. And it's because we craft our nothings and our everythings.

It's because your universe, the one behind your eyes, it needs a maker every morning. And if you allow it, each sunrise can be your genesis, your own beautiful creation story. You have your hand on the dial. And so amidst this world of infinite beauty and opportunity, look around you, soak it all in, ask yourself, what does freedom look like, feel like? Because you were put here to pursue that. And outside of those parameters, I believe that nothing matters. So why not live like it? Dream like it.

Use the little thing in front of you to build the big things that have not yet arrived. Walk away when it's misaligned and go all in. When you know in your soul it's right, there is everything to gain and nothing. to lose.