Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - YOU VS YOU | Morning Motivational Videos | Listen Every Day

Episode Date: February 10, 2025

Life will always bring storms—chaos, uncertainty, and moments that test your strength. But like a lighthouse standing tall against the crashing waves and relentless winds, you are not the storm. You are the light that cuts through the darkness, the steady presence in a world of uncertainty.In the moments when life feels overwhelming, when the noise is loudest and the path ahead is unclear, that’s when your light matters most. Your resilience, your belief, and your willingness to keep shining can guide not only yourself but those around you. Stand firm. Trust your light. The world needs it.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

Imagine a lighthouse towering over the edge of a coastline. It's light piercing through that sort of dark maritime haze. Waves crashing on the rocks below. Wind intensifying as a storm picks up. Chaos brewing. But the lighthouse, it stands firm. and it does what it was made to do, projecting its light out into the darkening night, a single beacon of hope amidst seemingly insurmountable odds.

Now you, hear me out, you are that lighthouse. With your light shining through the darkness, you are not the storm, and you are not the cold, you're not the waves crashing against. against the rocks, you're not the wind pressing against the foundation. No, you're none of those things, and that matters. It matters that you know this because life will give you no shortage of turbulence. It will not cease to test you or push you or try you. In fact, when the night is the darkest and the chaos, the loudest, that's when you have to be more sure than ever of yourself and your ability. That's when your light is needed most. And I think from time to time we've all

been in those situations where the external is just so ferocious that we become consumed by it. The waves and the wind rocking our foundation make us question our strength to stand. And the darkness and uncertainty of the night make us wonder if we can, in the way. endure. But here's the thing, right? Here's the simple truth that I think encompasses all of that. You don't have to overpower the storm. In fact, you can't. I can't. We can't. The storm in and of itself is far bigger and superior. But the beautiful thing is you don't have to. Your job is to shine your light and outlasted. It's to keep showing up and acting as that beacon that you can be. Water is not problematic to a boat. In fact, the boat obviously relies on water. What becomes the

issue, though, is when the boat cracks and lets the water in, when the internal and external merge. That is the recipe for souls lost at sea and shipwrecks. And the same thing applies to you. The external will remain the external unless you let it in, unless you allow it to get in the way of what matters most, of what you do best, unless you forget why you're here. See, there are going to be times when the world collapses around you. Fine, keep that light on. There are going to be times where the people in your world let you down. Keep that light on. There are going to be times where you look in the mirror and you're disappointed by something you said or did or didn't do. Keep that light on. There's going to be times where you're afraid or scared or uncertain. Keep that light on.

There's going to be times where you need to go but don't feel ready to go. Keep that light on. Again, the goal is not perfect. It's not a flawless, quiet, painless existence. The goal is, despite it all, to believe in yourself, to know that you can pull yourself through. And what's even more beautiful is that ship out there at sea in the heart of the storm right now, surrounded by darkness, lost, consumed by fear,

he will see in the distance, cutting through the darkness, the glow of you. your light. On the edge of that coastline with the waves crashing against you and the wind pushing against your foundation, the impact of what you're bringing to the world

will shine through. And not because you had it all figured out. But because you didn't. And you showed up anyway. Because when it was darkest and the most difficult, you kept that light on. So now others, now that. sailor stuck at sea can see that there is hope.

There is more. When things are difficult, there is a way. Because you stood up and were you amidst the chaos. You didn't waver. You did what you do best. You stood your ground. You shined your light when it was most difficult to do so. See, tomorrow when the storm passes, the waves died down in the sun.

rises. You'll still be there in all your strength. That's when it's easy. That's when things make sense. When it's quiet and the sun is shining. But getting to that moment requires something just a little different. I know that and you know that. It calls on you to trust in that moment before it arrives. It calls on you to believe that no matter what happens around you, the greatest power lives within you. So amidst life storms, dispel any notion that you have to be perfect or flawless,

get rid of the idea that you can escape waves crashing at your rocks or wind shaking your foundation. No, you can't escape those things, but know that you can shine through it. You can always pierce the night with your light.

That, when all is said and done is what will make the difference. Today, it can mean absolutely nothing. Just one of many, insignificant, not so much good or bad as another X on the calendar. Or today can mean everything. And that's quite the contrast to hear me out. My point is you can right now make today matter. Like in this moment, you can bring significance to an otherwise bland, monotonous endeavor.

You can bring light to a dark room. How do I do this? Well, that's what's great. You already know. I don't. You do. You know what's been calling you because you know that thing you've wanted to try,

begin, or explore. You know that thing you've been putting off. You know. Because you think about it. In fact, you probably think about it a lot. You close your eyes and you dream about a world where you had the courage

to simply do that thing. We all do. The other day I was sitting in the sauna listening to Sir Jordan Peterson's new book. Read all this stuff in my eyes, the man is legendary. But for some reason in that moment, I'm sitting there, I'm listening, and it dawns on me, this is not what I need right now. My brain just can't go there for some reason.

My soul's trying to speak, so I convince myself to listen. Inputs become outputs. And what's lacking for me in this season of my life is excitement. It's adventure. It's inspiration. And so I point all the spotlights to this realization. For the next X number of weeks, I immerse myself in story. It's fiction now for me.

Leave home. Do things. Not forever, but break the cycle. Rent a cabin in the woods. Walk places you've never walk. Run places you've never run. push creative boundaries, try new things. Listen, because you know what you need.

And so I mentioned this to Ashley, who's a big part of the team over here, send her a picture of some books I have on Audible that I've never read. Do you know how we do that? Most books are purchased and not consumed. Guilty is charged. And she says, oh, tale of two cities. I have that one too. Let's both read it.

And so it begins. it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. In the beginning of the book, there's this note explaining that Dickens didn't write this all as one book. He released it to the public as a series of individual pieces, one part at a time, though they've obviously come together to comprise one of the greatest novels ever written.

And so I hear that, and I press pause. Whoa. What did you just uncover here? how different this approach must feel, setting aside the novel in totality to make each individual contribution impactful. I guess the same way a Netflix series is so intriguing. We're not watching one 10-hour movie.

That would be absolutely brutal. No, but we'll sign the dotted line to watch 10-1-hour movies back-to-back to back-to-back to back, no question. Each one with a different problem to be solved. Whether we realize it or not, each little episode, while contributing to the overall plot has its own beginning and middle and end. Each one is a journey.

Each episode contains a cliffhanger, a bridge to what's next, and how badly do we want to know what's next? So why we're so intrigued? Why we gladly jump from one chapter to the next? When something feels good, there's a reason it feels good. Maybe I need to stop looking at my life as a movie and start looking at it as a Netflix series,

where my day is not some arbitrary chunk of time carved out to contribute to this nice, linear, long-term unraveling of a plot. No, let's give this baby a pulse. Let's make it mean something, a little hero's journey within the hero's journey. Let's give today life. As if I was planning to put a bow on it and share it with the world

the second that sun sets behind the mountains and stars trickle the way into the night sky. Let's make today bingeworthy. I want to be screaming from the couch how badly I need to know what happens next. That's the world that must be created. Oh, but there's no Charles Dickens here. There's no Netflix producer.

There's one author. And just like before, you know them well. And if you don't, go look in the mirror and introduce yourself. That lovely face staring back will do more for you than anyone you could ever meet. You want excitement, inject the excitement. You want more noise, make more noise. You want a reason to tune into episode two.

Write that reason in. You can do that. I swear to you, you can do that in your own life. And in the story of our lives, which sounds a lot like the soap opera. My mother would listen to when we were kids, but I digress. Focus in the story of our lives.

All that's beautiful must be cultivated by us, by you, by the doer. You have more control than you think you do. You have more control than you can even fathom. And from your end, it might be like, yeah, okay, I've heard this. Sure, you've heard it, but have you heard it? Do you believe it? You're so much more powerful than you think. If you just drop a little more of that into every day,

Imagine what the product could be. And I'm not sitting here begging you to be more of someone else. I'm proposing. I'm showing you what could happen. If you gave a little more life to a little bit more of you. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Whatever.

All of the time is your time. Every day can be your day. Just write it into the damn story. Let it be. soul. Stop hushing your soul and let it drive your character arc. Today can be nothing or it can be everything. Do with that information what you will. What you're not changing, you are choosing. In other words, nothing happening or quote unquote the same is a decision. We just don't think of it that way. And this is an idea that was shared with me under one of my recent

YouTube videos by username Night Owl. So, dude, love the name and appreciate the sharing of the quote here. And I think it's incredibly pertinent. You know, I talk a lot about the finitude of life, how time is their most precious commodity, because each second that ticks off the clock is the only thing you can't get back, right? You can always reacquire money in these tangible things. Time is, you know, once that elapses, it's forever gone. So it makes sense that we ask, well, how do we maximize it? How do we make the most of it? And I wonder this, I want to pose a question. When was the last time you were disappointed with your day? Not because you did something, but because it was underwhelming, because it felt like that sort of

cyclical 24 hours. You didn't make any steps towards your day. You didn't make any steps towards your day. goals, you know, you didn't feel like you made progress. It was just more of the mundane. And you thought to yourself, I allowed this. You know, when was the last time you were somewhere you didn't want to be or around people who didn't let you up, didn't energize you? They're not conducive to your well-being. And you thought, I chose this. A lot of times we just assume we have to do these things because it's life and it's outside of our control. The vast majority of the time, that's simply not the case. And when we take extreme ownership of everything, when we realize that anything

happening in the status quo is because we are greenlighting it. We're allowing it to take place that empowers us. If you think of your life as an arena, it takes you from the stands as an observer. Oh, look, here are things happening to me in my life. and puts you on the floor, on the court, on the stage, however you want to think about it in your brain. It gives you the ability to change outcomes. And that's what we all have.

We all have that power. We just have to get past this notion that things are the way they are. It's like, no, if you don't like what's around you, if you're looking to your left and you're right and you're disappointed or it's not enough or it's not aligned with you, guess whose fault that is? Yours? And guess why that's beautiful?

Now you can change it. I want to share a story. This is something I recently came across, a TikTok video. And before I kind of dig into it a little bit, I'm just going to say, I actually really like the creator. I think he's a funny dude, entertains his audience, seems like a good guy, all that stuff. But the one thing that he does from time to time that drives me crazy. is bitch about how hard things are for millennials. Homes are so expensive.

Jobs simply don't pay enough. It's way too difficult to meet people. Boomers had it so much easier. You know, it's like the same song and dance. And he gets thousands and thousands of people to join him in what I think is best described as a community temper tantrum. Everyone kind of claps along like baby seals talking about how hard life is. And it's like, look, two things can be true at once and often are.

Statistically, he is not wrong. It's way harder to own a house now than it was 60 years ago. Both statistical and anecdotal evidence is going to support this. But I can't help but ask, what are you getting from what? whining. How is anything better? Anything. Name one thing that that improves, right? If anything, you're taking steps backwards because you're creating this narrative in your brain that life is working against you, that everything is an uphill battle. And there's nothing so dangerous as a poor me mindset. And so that got me wondering, you know, how different would my life be if seven

years ago, when I was broke, writing speeches in my boxers, practicing speaking, you know, to the wall, if I spent time every day convincing myself that I was sentenced to a life of misery because I'm not a boomer, right? Imagine if I spent more time whining than building or looking for reasons that life is stacked against me. Like, everything would just be exponentially different. And as I'm Speaking this, you know, I get it. I'm 37. I'm kind of the old man wagging his finger at people on TikTok already, I guess. But I just feel compelled to do it because I've walked through a little bit of fire.

And I can tell you that if I allowed that thought pattern to consume me, I would be way worse off than I am now. Right? I'm saying this out of love, believe it or not, out of concern. when the currency shifted on these social platforms to victimhood, when the incentive became garnering the most sympathy under one's videos, people started gravitating away from their power in order to be patted on the head and told, you know, it's not their fault. Another quick anecdote. A few years back,

I think I've talked about this before, I did a run across Texas with some friends. It's like 500 miles all in all the route we went. And along the way, as happens when you're running for an extended period of time, started getting these little issues, right? The usual bumps and bruises you imagine during a run like that. And we paused and we're grabbing some water, taking a little breather. And I start talking about my knee and how it's killing me. And my friend Tom, who one of my best friends, he's a little bit older and sometimes, you know,

and doesn't shy away from some tough love. He goes, Ed, I'm not a doctor, so I don't know what you're going to get from telling me. He's messing with me a little bit, but there is truth to that, right? Like, what could I have possibly gotten from that exchange other than sympathy? And what's sympathy worth?

I think nothing. There was a little moment that ended up being not so little. You know, I've learned to become my own biggest fan. That's not always the easiest thing to do, right, amidst the trials and tribulations of life. I'm there for myself. I give myself grace, right? But sometimes what I need is tough love with the knee scenario. Same thing with the millennials whining about, I guess, life in totality on TikTok,

with anyone talking about anything they aren't happy with in their lives. And I think the real value is in this phrase. Do something to change it. or shut up. If you're not content with the status quo, be the change or stop talking about it. Sympathy has never been a valuable thing in my life, right? Pity from others has never helped me.

And even though seeking it may feel good in the moment, it's like this distraction from the introspection that needs to occur. It's still ultimately a mirage. It's a trick, a trap. You don't want it as pretty as it may seem in the moment. If you don't like something, fix it. Because you can. Start working towards a solution because you're powerful enough to do that.

Always. And so when you've noticed time go by and there's that reoccurrence of that, which is, again, not conducive to your happiness or well-being. When you feel that temptation to seek validation and pity for your experience, please let this be a reminder. Your strength is not in garnering sympathy, it's in fixing it, it's in changing your life,

it's in pivoting and adjusting. You are a fixer, a doer, you are a maker of worlds, not someone who bows their head and concedes to their current reality. And so, I'll end again with a little refresher on my pal night owls quote what you are not changing you are choosing

you are choosing it when you're upset you're choosing it when you vent and complain you're choosing it when you throw your arms in the air and proclaim it's all out of your hands it's all a choice and the good news the message the takeaway the saving grace is you were given the power to script your own narrative and write your own story. Don't waste that. Don't let that slip away.

Choose not to accept the now, but rather to create the ideal. What is defeat? In other words, what does it actually mean to lose? My buddy sent me a post today from X that said simply, until death, all defeat is psychological. Why? Well, because if there is air in your lungs,

there's an opportunity to find a solution, to move forward, to connect all those dots that will ultimately change your life. But here's the catch. This is the part that I think we often miss. We think defeat is something life. gives us. It's stowed upon us by the world. It's a letter we get in the mail.

When in reality, it's much simpler than that. Defeat is an internal decision. Defeat is looking around in quite simply saying no. It's saying, sure, I could have this. I know I'm capable of it, but I don't want it.

I refuse to march on. Defeat is saying, the prize or mountaintop or victory, to me, it's just not worth what it costs. And when you believe that, that's when you have officially created and allowed defeat into your life. It's a willingness question. How bad do you want it question? Because here's the deal. the road to anything meaningful is difficult.

A willingness to pivot, to pick yourself up off the floor and continue into an unknown that, let's be real, owes you nothing, well, that can hurt. That's not a comfortable process. But the truth is, it hurts less than defeat.

Waking up two hours earlier to find a way to build yourself up, to get ahead. That's far less painful than looking in the mirror and saying, yeah, I could have, but I didn't. I could be there, or at least on the way, but I'm not. And it's amazing to be how the mind will rationalize. We can convince ourselves of anything, which is great when you're your own ally.

But it's simultaneously devastating when you're your own worst enemy. The same circumstance that tells you to go can be interpreted as a reason to stop. The brain knows it's been two years since you started your business. It knows you've been working on your health for six months. It knows the process is taking longer than expected. And so you're tasked with the interpretation of these data points. How do you interpret that information?

What do you make of it? I've been at this for two years now. Think how far I've come. Think how much I've learned. I've positioned myself for success. I'm one decision away from massive momentum. It's not validation, but continue dedication that will carry me home.

This is the path. Or is it, well, it's been two years. And if I can't do it in two years, then maybe I just can't do it. Maybe I should look for something easier. My pride hurts. I'm letting myself down. I look dumb, right?

And the list goes on. That is the fork in the road that means everything. That's the maze. that few find a way out of. Not, as previously said, of an inability to find the exit, but because of a lack of commitment to the twists and the turns. Is it, I've been working on my health for six months? Look at the foundation I've built.

When I look in the mirror, sure, I don't necessarily see the results I wanted now, but the habits are there. I've made some progress. I've lost some weight. My ability to run has improved. somewhat. Now it's a matter of carrying on to that exponential growth. That may be just around the corner. Or just as in the previous example, is it, if I can't do it in six months, then maybe I can't do it.

Might as well go back to McDonald's for lunch and ice cream after dinner every night. It's over. This is not for me. You see how both ways of talking are at surface level perfectly reasonable? Both make sense, complete sense. But life is not predetermined. It's a choose your own ending storybook. The story you tell yourself becomes the story you live. And if you hear that and think, ah, cliche. Live news.

You're overlooking the magnitude and capability you have with regard to controlling your life and your destiny. Something like five years ago now, I created an e-book with some thoughts. And this is one that I continuously go back to. Quote, when I make myself the victim, I become resentful. When I make myself the hero, I become empowered.

With such an array of outcomes, I am forever grateful for the ability to shape my own legacy. And it's summed up with the quote, if you aren't happy with the role you're playing, change it. Right? You don't have to be the one who gives in. who throws the towel or walks away, there's more around the corner

if you're willing to walk around the corner. If you're willing to find it. See, we are in life who we believe ourselves to be. And you can take that greatness on. You can become the person who looks in the mirror and sees determination staring back, sees resilience looking you in the eyes. You can be that.

You can become the person who finds the upside, and I promise you that's an incredibly small group walking this earth. Most people do the inverse of that without realizing it, either projecting their inability to move forward onto the outside world, we've all heard this, right? It's her fault, his fault, their fault, my boss's fault, the government's fault. Or it's simply not realizing that doing nothing is in fact a decision. When we make constant concessions, when we think the current moment was fate or destiny and not an invitation to something better, we are choosing to be less than we can be.

And so my point here is pretty simple. Doing things that matter is hard, and it's hard because ruffling the feathers of the status quo comes with unknowns and obstacles. It provides a million off-ramps, reasons to settle or turn around. But to succumb to these outcomes is your decision not.

the world. Life isn't a treadmill with an off switch. If your feet stop moving, it's because your brain told them to stop. So as you make your way into the next unknown, all I ask is that you remind yourself how powerful you are. Not because you were granted that power, but because you have always been that powerful, an author of the greatest story ever told. Where perhaps, sure, You can't control every variable that's dropped in front of you, but you can control what those variables mean. You can't control all the factors that comprise the world around you, but you can control where your focus will be allocated

and what you will build with what you find. Until death, all defeat is psychological. Until there is no more air in your, your lungs, stagnation is a choice until there is no more blood pumping through your veins, quitting is a decision. So ask yourself, what do you want to become? How far do you want to go? And then commit to the journey of arriving at that destination. Maybe it takes days, weeks, months, maybe years longer than you anticipated. But it will always be true that if you want it, it's yours.

The key is in your pocket, the map is in your hand, and the road at your feet. Arrival at the destination means giving yourself permission to climb that mountain until you arrive at its peak. It's not letting go. until you take in the view. I have long believed that the solution to even our biggest problems, right? Our toughest tasks, our greatest challenges, they can be solved, or at least the process of solving them can begin exactly where you are using only what you already have. Right?

meaning the solution to your problem exists in the room with you an arm's length away. And you might hear that and think, dude, you know, that's way too good to be true. That's too idealistic. It's too simple. But what I want to try and explain over the next few minutes is how the most important changes we make in life. the things that matter the most, they're simple. Incredibly simple. And it's only our tendency to make things unnecessarily complex that becomes the problem.

One of my favorite thinkers, Thomas Sol once said, people who pride themselves on their complexity and deride others for being simplistic should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading. And he's coming up this more societally from a political angle. But I think so many of these things in the big picture and the macro, they make sense in the micro. Like I hear this and I think at a personal level, this is so true.

You should see the things I come up with in my mind when I'm procrastinating or dragging my feet on something. This angle, that angle, what if this happens or that? Have I thought about A, what about? B, what about C? And I usually dance around these things until I remember, Eddie, we've been here before, no. Turn the internal dialogue off and start.

Go. Put the project into motion. Breathe life into the pursuit. Then it's off to the races. It's not that complicated. You go before you're ready and you adjust along the way. That's one example. And a few weeks ago, this was sort of,

of reinforced to me in a funny way. It's a seemingly trivial metaphor that I think in its simplicity can be truly valuable. So picture this, right? I was on a train in Venice, Italy, big family trip. And so we'd all been overseas for about five weeks, so we're not exactly traveling light. We have pretty big suitcases. The standard size, you'd have to check if you were at an airport going on to an airplane. But we weren't on an airplane.

We were on a train with tight quarters and big suitcases. Big crowds, right? So we board this train. People start piling into their seats. And I'm like, okay, what do we do with these things? And I'm looking around, seeing if I could find a place to store them. I point to one of them. And one of the folks working there kind of just scowls and walks by.

And it's like, okay, I get it. We're the Americans in Europe. with the big suitcases. And it just becomes a circus, right? Now, there's an overhead compartment where you can put bags above the seats, but it just, it looks small, looks tiny. My brother and I were peering around.

We both see it immediately go, no, no chance that's fitting. So I'm like, okay, well, we'll put the bags on our seats and either stand by them or sit on the suitcases, let the people board the train. And then when everyone's sitting, we can move all our bags to the aisle and, you know, we're solving this thing in real time. And suddenly, I just get this jolt of, why not?

Pick up one of the massive bags, and I just start jamming it into the overhead compartment. And, you know, people all the way up and down the aisle are staring at me like I'm losing my mind. I'm trying to condense the suitcase as much as I can. And after about 30 seconds, The thing somehow fits. My brother jumps up out of his seat, we start grabbing the bags and jamming them all in this overhead compartment. Now, I need you to trust me.

I feel dumb as I sit here even speaking this. Imagine how dumb I felt in that moment, right? This whole little traffic jam and commotion was avoidable. Didn't even really want to rehash this. I just want to let it fade into history. But it's one of those things where it's like, The more you think about it, the more the seemingly obvious solution is the point. I'm drawing up a plan to sit on a 55-pound bag and all this unnecessary nonsense

when the thing just fit where bags are supposed to go. And maybe it didn't seem like it at first, but regardless, you know, the solution was right there in the overhead compartment. You know, that's like dying of thirst right next to a lake. You're not too far from what you really needed there, pal. So now, let's take this to where it really matters, our personal lives. The things that weigh us down, the obstacles that feel big and ominous and intimidating. Resolving them must call for some larger-than-life response, right? There must be some 5,000-page answer book to encompass my solution here.

Nah, not true. What's the simple, singular root of the issue and how can you attack it head on? There's an idea I've talked about before, but I want to bring up again about the idea of little hinges. W. Clement Stone once said little hinges swing big doors. Meaning there's certain small things we do

that have just this monumental impact. It's just we aren't looking for them. We're not thinking about them the right way. As simple and obvious as it may seem. I'll give you a few personal examples. Headaches. Talked about them before. I've battled with them plenty.

They've almost completely disappeared from my life. Knock on wood. If that was my suitcase scenario, right? I was doing everything but addressing the root cause. Ibuprofen every day. Seeing doctors, different medicines, cat scans, you name it. What helped? Electrolite tablets.

It's like I did everything but that. Sports injuries, right? Constantly dealing with stuff. And I still am to some extent, but stretching has made a monumental difference. Just waking up in the morning and stretching for 10 minutes. Or my writing output. Having a block of time in the morning where every day I write no matter what. Diet.

Here's the magic solution. don't have bad stuff in the cabinet. I'm looking at you, flaming hot chitos. These aren't of little consequence. They're decisions that have drastically changed my life, and I know they're right, because I look at them now and it's like, it just feels so obvious.

Oh, look at the rocket scientist over there. He started stretching more, and now he doesn't pull his back every Thursday. But they only seem obvious in hindsight. When you're moving forward, they feel complex and messy and impossible. You know how difficult life feels when you can't open your eyes because of a headache? The ass thing I was thinking was get some electrolyte tablets off Amazon.

It was way bigger than that. It was I hope whoever has to cut my head open and perform surgery knows what they're doing. Right? We think the solutions need to be as painful as the problem. No. the reason we're still there stuck in the issue is because we've put the problem on a pedestal. And I firmly believe that.

And so my ask of you is to take a second and think about your life, truly. Think about where you are and the so-called obstacles before you and pretend you had to distill life down into its simplest form. if you had to, and I mean had to find a solution right now where you are, where would you start? If you had to do one thing today that would give you the biggest bang for your buck, what could that look like?

Solutions are not as big as the problem. And I think that's why they're hidden in plain sight. I think that's why we walk right by them. We think we need a team of Harvard neurologists when we need electrolyte tablet. We're running around trying to camouflage five cases of luggage when they can be squeezed in the overhead department labeled. Yeah, I know. Luggage. Use what you have where you are because where you are answers live. And maybe it doesn't fix the problem overnight.

But I promise you, it'll get you. It'll get you closer to a solution than the obstacle you've unknowingly transformed into a 7-foot-8, four-handed monster with razor-sharp teeth. You have this. You can slay this dragon and come out on top. Just one, believe it, and two, open your eyes.

That combination seems to work. miracles When something must be done pick up your head roll up your sleeves and attack it why well to put it simply your future self will thank you

there's a powerful anecdote about adversity that deals with cows in buffalo and what's the difference picture the cows out grazing in a field a storm is approaching they hear it they see the gray clouds moving in, the cows will attempt to do is run away from the storm.

Now, obviously, cows cannot outrun a storm. It inevitably catches up to them, and because they're trying to run away and everything's moving in the same direction, the cows end up being in the storm longer than they would have if they simply stayed put. The buffalo, on the other hand, approach it differently. They hear the storm, they see those clouds coming, and what they will do is run directly into it. They'll attack it. And sure, they get the chaos in the wind and they find themselves in the storm center with the turbulence. But also, because of this initiative, it's gone sooner. It passes them sooner. Leaving a very relevant and important message for life. You never win running away from what must be done.

You can't escape the turbulence. It has to be approached and attacked. In a way, it's the perfect metaphor for taking on life's problems. Not wading them out or even worse, running away, but going at it with everything you have. Because only then is the issue resolved. Things, as much as I wish it weren't. true, generally just don't go away. And if you want to empower yourself, if you want to capture

meaning in an often perceived to be meaningless world, own this situation. When others would run away, let's run in. When others rely on hope, let's be the ones who seek out solutions. I remember years ago now, Jocko Willink answering a question on procrastination. And he said something along the lines of, when you train your brain to attack the outstanding items in your life, you win. When you know you have to, but don't want to, that's when you must. Not even because it's more virtuous, but because it's practical. Because it turns the reason, most people falter into the reason you will win. That storm, those clouds, that chaos, believe it or not, is all working for you.

It's an opportunity to rise up and collect your win. Find your strength, empower yourself. It's moving directly against the crowd. it's swimming upstream, making a statement. If confidence is earned, then my friends, it is earned when the skies are dark. It's earned when the sun is gone. It's earned when every impulse says run, hide, save it for later. If you can stand up then, in those moments, you move beyond being a victim of the storm,

or even a survivor of the storm. No, you become greater than the storm. You become truly unstoppable. Not because you did anything far-fetched or out of this world, but because when most ran out, you ran in. You picked up your head. You rolled up your sleeves and took it head on. And that's the courage that your future self will thank you for.

That's the decision that means everything. Imagine with me a toddler, let's say two years old, walking around a living room and picking things up. And the things that he or she's picking up, they're using for play. In other words, not the original use that the, these objects were designed for, right? The kid is picking it up and inserting it into his or her own worldview

the way that makes sense to the child. There's not courage involved there. That's innate. That's built into the kid, right? Like our lungs breathing in oxygen. It's involuntary. Doesn't need to be taught. But somehow, there becomes a point when this is no longer the case.

When the object's intended use and history takes center stage, and the launching pad that was once our imagination now exists simply to stack supposed-toes and obligations. After all, we no longer need living room tents, flashlights, or tire swings. For what? Our driver becomes not making mistakes. It's blending in, not failing, falling, or getting dirt on our hands. We won't hold life in the palms of our hands because we fear that life may crack. There's an ancient Japanese idea called Kinsugi, where when pottery is broken and altered,

the pieces are collected and it's put back together, glued with a golden lacquer. The most important part of this process is that the newly constructed item has not lost but gained value. What makes this unique or special? It's the idea that it is a celebration of life. It's the original object plus authenticity. It now contains pieces of you in your journey, in your world. See, truly living is not. following orders or blending in.

It's not seeking to avoid scratches or cracks. No, it's stepping out into the world and exploring. Testing, trying, and yes, at times, even breaking. Because it's in the reconstruction of these decisions that

life becomes valuable. It's in failing and falling that we become strong. It's in loss that we find gratitude. It's in not knowing that we find meaning and ultimately wisdom. This means doing what we did when we were two,

even if this go through requires courage we didn't need back then. See, when the default is to preserve, we must ask what it is we are preserving. And I'm not discrediting the original. Be grateful for the status quo, but pay homage to it by building on top of it, by breaking and reassembling the status quo so that it transforms from merely an object to a banner,

to a flag, to a battle cry. This world is yours. All of it, a canvas for your painting, a key to the door you want to walk through. But there must first be adjoining of that which surrounds you and well, you.