Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - YOU OWE YOU | Powerful Motivational Speeches Compilation

Episode Date: November 12, 2021

If you don't allow yourself to get lost, you will never discover who you truly are...

Dear younger me, there's a lot that you don't know. A lot, you're pretty sure you understand, but couldn't possibly wrap your hands around. Because the most important things in life, the things that you'll remember, they're the very things that seem like footnotes in your story. Background noise, hidden in plain view. So younger me, hear me out,

because time, time goes by quickly. And we only get one opportunity to do this dance, one chance to do this thing right. Younger me, when you wake up, be thankful for the shoes on your feet, the house you live in, the life you lead. Because if all you do is focus on what you don't have or the next milestone, happiness becomes a mirage.

Younger me, the world as you know it isn't something that was destined to be. It's here because people know smarter than you have the courage to build it. Never be scared to challenge what is. This place will be better because of it. And younger me, it will always be easier to play it safe, to stay comfortable. But I want you to understand something. That's not where you'll find the good stuff. If you don't take chances you'll spend your time wondering what could have been.

Younger me, believe in your greatness. This world can be a tough place. And if you don't believe in yourself, no one will do it for you. No one will hand you the sky. Earn excellence every day. It's there, I promise. Younger me, don't get distracted by the small stuff, the little things, that so easily consume our energy and emotions.

don't lose sight of who you are and what means the most to you. Everything else washes away. Younger me, you didn't have all the answers, but somehow you were exactly what I needed you to be. You created a map. You showed that change can't happen until one falls victim to life's imperfections. That risks aren't taken until you've experienced regret,

that confidence isn't acquired if you don't learn to play the student. And most importantly, if you don't allow yourself to get lost, you will never discover who you truly are. 20 years from now, when we meet again, younger me, I know you'll do the same. I know you'll have given me everything I needed, nothing more and nothing less. because time

time goes by quickly and we only get one opportunity to do this dance one chance to make this right and I promise you younger me that it won't be wasted when it comes to the almost

8 billion people on planet Earth there's undoubtedly a variance in the resources at our disposal the influence we have But what we all share is the ability to rule over our own lives, our own thoughts. As Thoreau said, think for yourself, or others will think for you without thinking of you. See, life moves quickly.

And if one is unable to slow it down to examine the world around them, well, they'll find themselves a cog in the wheel of their own existence, a pawn on the chessboard of life. Because reality is a battle. A battle of self-interest that requires that we build walls around that which is precious, that we protect it at all costs. Your worldview is the foundation

for everything of value in your life, yet it's constantly under attack. Attack from the negativity at the gate, the suffering, attempting to breach the walls, the outside influence is praying that you'll outsource your thinking, that you'll let them rule from afar. To maintain control over your own outlook,

it's no small feat. It's perhaps the most important battle of your life. It's the difference between intentionality and chance, the role of the ruler or the ruled. As the saying goes, if you don't build your dream, you will spend your days building someone else's. If you don't ask yourself what you want in life,

those needs will ultimately be buried under nonsensical obligation that takes their place. Where there are vacuums in awareness that you will be filled, usually not by actors with the same interests as you. See, mistakes are not the problem. No mistakes mean you're present, driving towards something, collecting data for this experiment that is life. It's autopilot that destroys. Like that frog put in a pot heating up so slowly it never knows to jump out.

The external world becomes its demise. And this message isn't to instill fear or intimidate. It's to remind you to ask the question that so few ask. How is my life best lived and what can I do to bring that to reality? If you can think for yourself, you're never out of the fight. If you can think for yourself, you're always a decision away from advancement in the direction of that which matters most. So trust you to do what's right for you.

In a world where no one knows what they're doing, I can assure you you don't need external endorsements or stamps of approval. Robert Frost rode less traveled by and don't look back don't feel remorse That's where you're forced to find yourself to ask the tough questions to embrace who you are Because the crowd is antithetical to rationality Not just because responsibility dissipates not just because human beings become essentially well-dressed chimpanzees But because rarely on the micro level is the collection Your goal.

Your goal. Have the courage to see that. Have the courage to understand that life is not an instruction manual. Everything around you you have in one way or another accepted. And in accepting it, you have chosen it. By not saying no, you have in fact said yes. So realize that the world around you doesn't change until your thoughts become the bridge that connects current to future, today to tomorrow.

So you realize life can't make you a victim or a pawn on its chessboard without your permission, whether implicitly or explicitly. No, you have the ability to think, control, orchestrate something greater than what's in front of you. Let today be your next courageous step in the direction of that reality. Exactly how long you were going to be alive. things be different. Imagine if every morning you were able to look into an hourglass that showed you exactly how much time you have. Removing any unknowns or uncertainty, would you approach

your days differently? Certainly time would feel more real. Every grain of sand that slipped by would remind us of our mortality, of the days come and gone. But what about the sand that's left in the possibilities yet to be explored. In this fast-paced world we live in, it's very easy to get caught up, to go into autopilot, to do what everyone else is doing without ever taking a second to examine ourselves. Every day, the sand in that hourglass gets lesser and lesser. And if you don't ask yourself what your purpose is, what makes you happen. what you're going to bring to the world.

You know, someday you'll be all out of time. Our stay here is finite. You know, I often talk to people about their goals and aspirations, what makes them happy. And I find it crazy how many restrictions people place on themselves. Human beings put a man on the moon. Think about that for a second. Yet, it wouldn't be possible for you to really to be possible

for you to record an album or start an interior design company. Explain that to me. There is this fear of the unknown that's debilitating. We're all scared to fail. We're scared to mess with the status quo, even when we're not content with how things are. We'll write it out because unhappiness appears better than uncertainty.

This in itself is a tragedy. I saw a great quote. I saw a great quote the other day and said human beings are the only life form that will do less than they possibly can. There's never been a tree that didn't grow as tall as it possibly could. They're hardwired to do that. Us, on the other hand, we have the gift of choice, which is a blessing, yes, but it's also a curse. It's something to hide behind. We'll forfeit the opportunity to be great because that comes with the hefty price of risk.

In reality, we don't know how many trips around the sun we have. It is and always will be a mysterious component of life. But regardless of your journey, what you've done, what you've yet to do, there is no time for regret. So go after what you want. Work hard at something you love. Wake up excited. Go to bed content.

Be a dreamer. Make things happen. Being born was the hardest part. You've already done that. You've already won the lottery. You're here. You're experiencing everything the world has to offer. Statistically, that is a miracle.

All you have to do is cash in on your lottery tickets. Your obligation is a simple one. I know it has nothing to do with breaking any records. No miracles here. You don't have to be the first or the best or the great. No, those things by themselves are meaningless. You can't perform them. They aren't verbs.

They're consequences. Consequences of your much simpler obligation. To not stop. To carry on. To hush your mind and move your feet. No, not at the beginning. Everybody loves the beginning. And no, not towards the end.

Anyone can find the strength when the adrenaline is pumping and the finish line is in sight. I'm talking about the middle, that dreaded space. Brian Moran's Valley of Despair, Jim Rones' winter, when nothing around you is reassuring, and I don't mean in some metaphysical way, I mean when you're just not winning. And no winning means no validation, at least not right now, and no immediate validation means you begin to question things, question the work, the initiative,

your ability to carry it out. See, I've come to form an important bond with this place every time I wander in its direction. It's where lives truly change. So long as you can get beyond that first trap, that trap of thinking that it's a reflection of you, as opposed to what it really is, the test that guards and protects the realm of excellence,

the invitation to become who you've never been. There's a saying that everything looks like failure in the middle. It's one's ability to see through that haze that eventually makes the middle something meaningful. That obligation not to stop, not to let the external world do internal, damage. The obligation to depersonalize the bumps along the road, the people in your way. The chaos, the difficulty, the uncertainty, it's not about you. It's about everyone trying to

figure your life out. Trying everything and looking everywhere but the road in front of them. Your job is not to leap a mile or change humanity with a single act. No, it's to carry on. and don't discourage yourself by thinking you owe more than that because all you can do in a single moment is not stop. I've always said one of the most beautiful things about victory is that no matter how big it can be simplified, condensed down to those who could have said no but didn't. and that when your plan is to show up no matter what you have made yourself elite,

you've built a template for the results to model, to catch up, you're there. When you win and when you lose, when you're excited and when you feel tired, when you're certain and when you have no clue you are there, that is your obligation. and win those steps when those decisions when that persistence comes together they tell a story so incredible

that we can't help but stop and admire the result one decision at a time without seeing it in the moment has come to be something larger than life saying yes once it likely doesn't mean much

but saying yes in the face of adversity every day, recreates your world. So stay true to your obligation. Whether you're in the valley of despair, winter, or some other hellscape we refer to as the middle. Remember that an ending is not required of you. No, not right now. All that is asked is that you don't stop.

That you see hope when so many are unwilling, that you see the temporary, nature of the state you're in and believe with all your heart that you'll emerge victorious. One simple decision. When you look at, say, dunes on a beach, what you see is something giving itself away little by little, deteriorating. Sure, there will be events that expedite the process, but generally speaking, it's lost a little bit at a time. day by day, right in front of our eyes. Until the time comes when we realize that what we have

is no longer recognizable. It's sort of redefined. And I think in a lot of ways, we find ourselves in a similar situation. The concessions we allow every day slowly redefine who we are. You know, and it doesn't seem like much, That's the thing.

It never does. Quietly detaching from what you believe. Taking on an identity that doesn't quite align with who you are. Doing things, being places that causes something in your gut to protest. Toning down the color in your life so that you blend in. These are not epic, monumental decisions. It's the drawn-out erosion of what makes you make you who you are. It's the chipping away of what makes you spectacular. See, the idea that

now isn't permanent. So I'll just suck it up now. What's the big deal? I'll just settle for now. Let me tell you, if that's your rationale, you're forgetting how easily tomorrow becomes never and now becomes forever. We operate under an illusion that things will become easy. that change will be less strenuous down the road. We'll make things right, get back on track, be happy then, but the harsh reality is that things don't get easier than they are at the present moment. It's quite the opposite. And to disregard or ignore this

is to let yourself wither away at the hands of procrastination. If you're planning to wait for that, get comfortable And see, conceding day in and day out, it alters your understanding of who you are and what you're capable of. Our actions reinforce our beliefs. Imagine a straight line, a simple straight line drawn on a piece of paper. Right? You're in the middle. And on one end is who you are, in your heart, in your soul, and on the other end is everything you're not. Every time you sacrifice your principle, your beliefs,

every time you say that's not me but fine, that's not where I want to be, but okay, it's only temporary, you take a little step toward what you're not. And another step, and another step, and one day you look in the mirror and you have no clue who's looking back at you. Because you've conceded one small decision at a time,

you've given away your sense of purpose. Sure, the situation is difficult, but the best things in life are the things that are not easy. You have to fight for those things. You have to stand up in the face of struggle, adversity, the narrative that others want to write for you. We stay within guidelines because we think the outside is scary. No, what's inside is scary. What's outside is what you need. when you stop banking on the anticipated miracles of tomorrow and manage the reality of today,

you succeed. It's life's greatest test. Are you brave enough to be you? Are you strong enough to fight back when you're tempted to hide, to blend in? Every time you summon the courage to stay true to yourself, yourself, it gets easier. The difficulty lessens, you become free of the mental chains you've placed around your ankles. There are certain things in life worthy of compromise. But your identity, your journey, what makes you feel alive, that is sacred ground, that is worth defending until your last breath.

No one can take that because it's yours. And when you look back on your life and the amazing, amazing people in it, a life lived fully, will always supersede marching through your days, wearing a mask, and following someone else's agenda. It's your life. It's your gift. Live it. It was the right thing to do. It wasn't a conscious thought, but rather a response to the world around me.

It was all I'd known, all had ever been told. See, the question in my mind was never if, but when. I looked to my left, I looked to my right, and proceeded to put one foot on the ladder in front of me. It felt right. I alternated feet as I climbed each rung step by step. I could hear classmates, family, friends in the distance. From my vantage point, the sky looked like a sea of ladder. a sea of ladders. With everyone in my life ascending towards the unknown, validating the necessity

of my own mission. With each step I became more satisfied, myself worth increased, my pride multiplied. When complexities arose, I remained calm. Fully aware that hardships come with the territory. The top of the ladder wasn't supposed to be easy. It was supposed to be Maybe I stopped. What was it supposed to be? That was the question I've never really asked myself. I looked down. I could make out a group of kids playing soccer.

Maybe that's what the top of the ladder will be like. That feeling of being lost in the game I love on a summer afternoon, simple yet perfect. I took a few more steps. Eyes still fixated on the earth below. I could see my house. Maybe that's it. Time spent with the most important people in my life.

All those days I wish never ended. That must be what I'm climbing towards. I smiled to myself and I continued up. The higher I got, the greater my fascination with the landscape below. As the clearly defined shoreline, mountains, deserts, forests, and cities began to take shape. It was almost surreal, and I thought maybe that's what the top is like, an existence so beautiful that it takes your breath away. And up I climbed, with the focus so intense that the world around me seemed to fade away. I tilted my head back and peered up towards the top of the ladder.

There was no end in sight. It didn't matter, though. I knew I'd get there. Everything I ever wanted was waiting for me. Everything that I left below.