Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - Your Mind Is The Key To Your Success | Powerful Motivational Speeches

Episode Date: October 14, 2022

"You either control your mind or your mind controls you" - Napoleon Hill

Of all life's lessons, it's my relationship with what it means to suffer that's transformed my reality. Something that's learned, not unlike one's ability to read or write, an understanding that unlocks the door to fulfillment. Nietzsche says, to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering. Dostoevsky says pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth. Helen Keller says, although the world is full of suffering, it's also full of the overcoming of it. Our problem is not that we suffer. Our problem is that we don't know how to perceive it when it inevitably arrives.

We're taught that it's synonymous with a giant street sign saying wrong way. We're taught that the perfect life is free of its grasp. It's why when suffering does arrive, we're so inclined to run from it. I reference my experience as a D1 rower often, not because I stood out or even really because of my love for the sport. I reference it because it is the point in my life when I learned to suffer. when I learned what I could put my body through, my mind through, and see that like all things, discomfort simply ends,

and life is different on the other side. That's why I talk about waking up to go to the gym in the morning when it's still dark in the middle of winter, the practices that made me throw up, having three exams, two papers, but thinking about a 2K test. Because part of me couldn't believe I was doing it, Because up until that point in my life, I would have simply said no. That's why I reference the three of us walk-ons that were their senior year out of this 60-plus that showed up freshman year.

We built a relationship with suffering. You understand what opens up to you when you agree to, for a moment in time, walk through those flames of hell. It's not a trick or a complex formula. It's just taking yourself to places, most haven't learned to go. Not because they can't, but because they haven't learned. When you know you can push yourself, far beyond what you thought possible.

Not only survive, but come back renewed, re-energized, a different understanding of the world. It's hard to see anything as too much or outside the realm of possibility. In my personal life, I can make difficult decisions. In my professional life, I can sit down and write when I don't want to. I feel like I can't. I can take on projects and scare me. That take me so far outside my comfort zone, my ceilings have no choice but to become floors. You elevate yourself with ECHES.

Gustav Lanzone says there is no art without commitment and suffering. That is not a demon to be avoided. It's truly the beginning of everything. Jocko, he says, discipline equals freedom. What is discipline? If not one's ability to accept and harness suffering. to teach yourself not to step back, but forward into it, into the chaos, into the disarray.

That's where our lives are assembled. It's where we are made. And so my message is where you would once say no, dare to say yes, even if it's a footstep, a moment, one toe in the water, teach yourself that the very discomfort you've been running away from, that most run away from will be the reason your life transforms.

Change isn't a miracle. It's a decision. There are a few things you just can't learn from a textbook that you have to live through to see, to be fully entrenched in. Because here is a simple truth. This world is a tough place. Getting what you want, making the most of the time you have requires that you put yourself in the position to succeed. It means you see a finish line before one exists. Look, no one's ever going to call you and tell you how incredible your idea is.

You can't build a business on potential or win a championship on promise. Results are binary. You either accomplish something or you simply did not. Right? That's it. That's what people see the result. So that means every second, every step of the way from where you are right now, until you cross the finish line depends on you and your thoughts. How you internalize failure, how you look at setbacks.

When no one is around to pat you on the back or tell you how great you are, will you have enough self-belief to move forward? Because my friends, that's the hardest. part. That's what no one talks about. Having the courage to wake up every single day of your life and know that you are building towards something incredible. You are creating a masterpiece from the ground up. And that means that when you're looking in the mirror, you believe in what's staring back at you. You see the unseen and you are willing to bring it to life. That is the foundation. foundation that you build greatness on. And it's a daily pursuit, creating milestones, designing the small winds that keep you going, that keep you moving, that get you past all those times you so desperately want to turn around, but know that for you it simply isn't an option. That is not your reality. You have more waiting for you. And so you press on, cloaked in confidence, you move into the unknown, seeking the day the rest of the world looks up and calls you lucky.

They'll look at what you built and say how fortunate you are, but they won't comprehend the 20-hour days, the focus, the ridicule for being different or obsessive or non-conformist. They won't know that self-belief trumped all of that. that it was everything. The word great is separate for a reason. It implies a specific set of beliefs and values. It means you saw light when most people saw darkness. It means you said yes when most people said no. You move forward when the rest of the world turned around.

Beave in your greatness. See it. Live it. It is there and you need to know that it's there because it will make all the difference. Your self-belief will define you. Remember what's yours to control and what's not what must be let go.

Remember that nothing is so futile as attempting to move the immovable or change the unchangeable. Remember that your greatest strength is focusing your time, talents and efforts, It's exhausting your energy on that which you can control. And sometimes this distinction hurts.

But to fail to see it is to shackle oneself to delusion. Right? You can complain about the weather all day, but to complain about it, to focus on it, to be stuck in it is not going to change it. Your time would be better suited looking at how to adjust yourself to it. And that's what life repeatedly tells us. There's plenty we aren't happy about, plenty we wish we could change. But to stay there in that space is to forfeit your greatness, your strength.

Why? Because there is so much you can control, so much you can do. You can always position yourself to succeed. But that calls for first separating what's yours and what's not. There are people I wish were different. There are situations I prayed were alterable. There are outcomes that are given without my asking. That's just life. And a losing mentality is to fight that, to feel anger or resentment at the people that let you down. Why couldn't they be how I want them? to be. It's to dwell on the situation that occurred despite your wishes. Why couldn't it have just happened my way? It's to refuse to acknowledge the outcomes that have already materialized. Why couldn't it just have evolved differently? All that, as hard as it is to see, is embracing a mentality of

victimhood. It's walking down a path that has no desirable destination. in store for you. When you accept the unchangeable, you then become the architect of your reality. Sure, people, places, and outcomes weren't always the best, but now you ask, how can I navigate around it, or better yet, use it to my advantage. It is, to use the famous metaphor, not shaking your fist at the wind, but building sails. for your boat, creating a path to take you somewhere new. So let the energy, the time, and emotion that's wasted on the immovable dissolve. The question worth asking is, where do you most want to be, and how can you get there?

And while those details outside the scope of your control can feel like a bottomless gap in your way, I promise that what's around you is enough to build a bridge over it. There's enough there for you to find your way. So long as we learn to separate the gap from the bridge, the details from the solutions, when all you see is why you can't go or how it can't be solved or how impossible something is. It's not that you are looking at an unfortunate truth, it's that you are looking at the wrong supporting evidence. When we stop seeing the details and outside circumstances

as the deciders of fate, we win. When we place our eyes upon the controllable, when we step into what is ours to move and shape and transform, we finally see that the journey to something bigger is not only possible, It is inevitable. As our lives evolve, as our experiences accumulate, the way we look at life changes.

That's part of getting older and seeing the world. So long as you allow your ideas and perceptions to be malleable, as long as you're looking to grow, you most definitely will. And for me, one area that is truly transformed is my relationship with luck. what it means, how it's relevant, and most importantly, what do I do about it? I created a little book of anecdotes last year. One section was called The Luck Manufacturer. And it says commitment, her hammer,

resiliency, her nail, she manufactured luck every single day. Before most awoke and long after they were asleep, She tirelessly sketched and built and created until at last she was done. Taking a step back, she stared in awe of the luck she constructed and knew it would change her life. And the takeaway of this passage is luck is made, not given. And as I was making my way through these little chapters in the book again, I stopped and thought, well, wait. You know, it's an important idea.

One I believe in, it's not wrong, but also it's kind of half the story. There's a lot missing there. What I had done was essentially paint something black and white when there's a ton of gray area. No sane person completely discounts the role of luck in our lives. It plays a role, a very significant role. The question, again, is why does this matter? Well, because maybe we don't make luck like a carpenter. in his shop but catch it like a fisherman at sea.

Because standing on the deck of the boat, he can't control the fish that swim into the net, but he most certainly is responsible for finding a location with good odds, for being consistent in his attempts, for mastering the craft and improving the skills. You can't control external factors, the weather, the storms, the tide, the location of the fish on that particular day,

but you can control you, and that is your power. And I think the progress I've made is understanding the danger with looking at luck is something that is entirely self-made and thinking that if you do X, you will be rewarded. Why? Because that's how it works. I put in the work, there's gonna be an outcome.

I take the boat out, I'll be having fish for dinner. But that's tricky, right? thinking something is owed to you in any capacity, it breeds resentment. Because for whatever reason, when it's not provided life suddenly seems unfair, it creates a scarcity mindset. And to truly progress is to endure that balancing act of what we can control in one hand and what we can't in the other. That quote, you can't control the wind. But you were given the power to adjust your sales accordingly. And for those who hang in there and adapt long enough, well, it seems as though luck tends to

find them at some point. And this occurrence seems to unveil itself in a million different ways. Example after example everywhere you look, right? Yesterday I was reading John Adams' biography. Those of you who like history will enjoy this, kind of making my way through the American president. And just started, John Adams being one of the greatest minds behind America's founding. And, you know, what's obvious, as I'm sure you'll all remember from history class,

is the extent to which the French helped bring America to victory. I mean, without the French, most historians say that the war doesn't end the way it did. And you'll see my point here in a second, I promise. This won't be American History 101, but the idea is it's very easy to take this info in, to be an observer from the outside looking in and say, you know, the Americans were lucky. They were lucky to have French support, to have been supplied much-needed resources.

They were lucky that the French fleet arrived from the West Indies to Yorktown, Virginia, just in time to block the British in and ensure their surrender. I'd say there's certainly some luck there. But isn't that half the story? How about the courage it took the full? founding fathers with everything to lose, with death assured if they fail to stand up to a king, or colonists with no military experience to go toe to toe with the most powerful military in the world,

to adapt and utilize the minimal resources they had, to think enough of their pursuit to travel to France, to request support, to scrap together a win in Saratoga to be considered just legitimate enough to obtain some international recognition. So the idea is yes, yes, yes. Yes, they were lucky. But without those things, the action and persistence and self-belief and the tenacity with which they moved into that great unknown, there is no luck to be had. It's true then, it's true now. The effort never guarantees success, but the lack of it guarantees failure. You can't ensure that those fishing nets will be full after your expedition, but keeping the ship in the harbor and

ensures those nets will be empty. I guess that's why that period of American history is so moving to me. It's people who gave everything for an outcome that was anything but guaranteed, planting a seed and hoping that years later others could eat the fruit. There's a pretty cool part. He's writing a letter to his wife, and he says, you know, I must study politics and war, that our sons may have the liberty to study math and philosophy. Our sons ought to study math and philosophy and geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, etc., etc. Is any of that guaranteed? Absolutely not, but nothing is.

It's why progress and courage are so inseparable. Because there will be times in our lives when we fall short, when the pursuit feels in vain when the odds are small. And yes, you have the option to look at the road in front of you and see all that you don't have, how ill-equipped, how ill-prepared, how not ready for what's to come. But you also have the option to start moving, creating, believing, preparing your net, building yourself up. Because when luck presents itself, you'll be as ready as you can possibly be. And if you swing and miss, not personalize the result, but adjust the pieces and be ready for the next time.

So no, going back to that luck manufacturer, we don't create luck, but we do have the power and the ability to create ourselves. And if that's a pursuit you're willing to commit to to immerse yourself in, you will have, in essence, established a relationship with chance, not merely. making luck but receiving it. Because you anticipated its arrival long before it materialized and worked to make yourself its most appealing suitor. What can you be the best in the world? Life is a complex place.

Complexity sometimes means confusion. It means we forget the big picture. What's our purpose? What are we chasing? What are we bringing to the world? What can you be the best in the world at? It's a little question I try and ask myself every day because I know if I stay close to it,

my decision will have far greater impact. There will be more meaning in life. See, it pushes away the things that are appealing in the short term but really don't take us anywhere in the long term. Because one of the coolest aspects of human nature is our ability to illuminate what matters and, well, mitigate what doesn't. mitigate what doesn't.

Helps us focus on what's important. We need to go to the grocery store while we step out the front door, paying attention to nothing but the task at hand, not the objects to our left or right. We don't know what colors the cars are where that passes by or the plants we walked by. We don't think about the blood pumping through our bodies, making it all possible as we walk to the car. We don't even see the car as its metallic components, as it really is. We see it as our portal to a place that has the food. See, we are blind, but at the same time have this beautiful gift of vision.

We see the path right to what's most important. So let's leverage that. And what I think we need to remember is to identify in our own lives what that means with regard to our purpose and the context of what we are becoming. See, every day I hear people talk about followers on social media, right? How do I get attention? How do we get noticed? How do I market myself from my brand to the world?

How do I stand out? And every time I hear that I always have this little internal reaction, like a voice saying that's just so wrong, it's so backwards. You stand out by adding value to the world, by being good at what you do. It's that simple. And so look at it like this. We'll take a specific example. To worry about the marketing and the attention and the followers first.

It's like worrying about the transportation of something you don't have yet, or that's incomplete. It's like spending all your time worrying about the logistics, of a cargo van and having no idea what that van is going to transport, isn't the product the most important thing? And that's the question I ask myself when I'm caught up in something flashy or maybe out of line with my big picture. To make sure I'm on track in this crazy world,

if social media disappeared tomorrow, are you good enough at what you do, that you could take that product or service or skill set to another platform and start again? And if you're not, fine. But are you working? towards it. Those are the parameters that we should all live between. Everything else tends to work itself out. Steve Martin's quoted as saying, be so good they can't

ignore you. And that's what I find so exciting, the opportunity, the chance to build something sustainable. That's why this is a long-term play. And in a world where so much emphasis is put on perception, what's the reality? What's the story? The pictures are great on the surface, but what's the value that resides below that underneath? What are you working tirelessly day and night to be exceptional at? What are you leading to build yourself up as a force to be reckoned with? As a powerful, valuable individual. See, my world, a lot of what I do is immersed in social media, which is why it's so important that I remember the perspective that I step out. Social media is not the product. I'm thinking much bigger than that, and I hope you

whether it's academics or sports or art what is your thing what's going to be your arena where are you unstoppable where you add so much value that the world has to stop we're sure you can capture it on social media but you can talk about it face to face with clients and family and friends and strangers on the sidewalk you can write about it teach about it where it's so much a part of you that the phrase competent doesn't even do it justice that That's where greatness lives. Not in screaming for attention or creating a facade.

Those things don't stand the test of time. I'm talking about being truly remarkable. And we all have that ability. We're all capable of mastery in some area, moving towards something that matters. We just have to make the choice to own it, to see the world and all its opportunity for what it is, to begin.

And what better a time than now. Do you believe that this world is yours, that space and that time are trustworthy passengers on your journey? Do you believe in the unseen that what we know and what we don't, what's possible and impossible, they're not so different? They just need to be connected. Do you believe that one person can be the difference? That courage is a choice and that if you have something to say, not saying it, is a tragedy. Do you believe in your resilience? That when your back is against the wall,

that when all seems lost, when everything is in doubt, we are presented an opportunity to evolve into something more. Do you believe that there is a way? That when the road ends there is another path. That when you can't go around, you can go through. And when you can't go through, you can go over. Do you believe that the darkness before you is merely the absence of light? A light waiting to be created, brought to life.

That nothing is meant to be. Any void can be filled, and you are in fact the architect of that light. See what you have before you. It's no easy path. It's not the simple one or perhaps even the one you ask for, but it is in all respects. It may seem larger than you. Its uncertainties may make you question your decisions. Its complexity may prompt memories of simpler days, but none of this lasts. Because over your shoulder, what you've left

behind will always tell a different story. Always remind you that you could have stayed home. You could have remained and accepted things as they were, dreamt about what might be. But rather than wait for time to expire and take your power into the ground like most ultimately do, you took to the sky. You let the stars, the infinite world beyond the horizon guides you, and as much as you decided to be here, this path chose you. It chose you to make something new where there was once nothing. To exchange breath for the first time with an atmosphere, conducive, to your greatness. You did not know it was there the whole time and how could you have? It wasn't visible to any naked eye. It wasn't accessible to the common man, but it's here now

because you said yes. So please hold on to that courage because it's everything. The difference between accepting the now and rewriting history is belief. Belief in a tomorrow that is different from today and as you may, your way into this darkness, be proud. As you enter that which most wouldn't dare to confront, hold your head high when you falter, stumble, when the ground under you begins to shake. Believe not only in your pursuit, but in your resilience.

Life remains hold and dark until we find the courage to do something about it. Until we step out of the shadows see you aren't escaping the emptiness you're leaving behind No, you are the one who will give that emptiness life the maker of a new universe You are the architect of light That morning As I looked out the window I could feel my increased Heart rate a sense of both excitement and anxiety that you can only really I don't understand if you've lived it.

I was worried about what people might think, what I might lose, what life might have in store for me, because that was all I knew to focus on. I'd programmed myself to do one thing, and when your one thing is worrying, it's inevitable that you see life through a lens of scarcity. Your setting is on main. is on maintain, meaning you protect the little you have as opposed to seeking more.

You play defense to keep the world out as opposed to the offense required to bring the world in so that it may be reshaped. That morning, cold, wet, gray. I was numb, but deep down completely oblivious to me, there was a little fire too small to recognize. A spark of courage in its infancy. See at that moment, if someone asked me, can you even be scared and courageous at the same time? I would have said those two words do not go together. Right?

We're talking night and day, fire and water. black and white, but time's job is to reveal, and it has shown that there is no courage without fear. There is no fire, no matter how bright or powerful, that doesn't by default bring about those mysterious shapes dancing in the shadows. If you want fire, great. But you must learn to dance with what hides in the periphery. You must learn to go where your impulse begs you not to. And so that morning, I went to dance with my demons. What if the one thing holding you back in your life was you?

And look, I know the world is a complex, multivariable, unfair, sometimes even cryptic place. I've never said anything to the contrary. But what humans do so well, sometimes for good and sometimes to our detriment, is see life through stories, ideas. And whether you know it or not, you are playing by a set of rules. Right now, as you take this in, you have defined a set of parameters and deemed them acceptable. decided they are what you deserve. You've allowed for yourself a certain level of growth, a certain amount of happiness, a certain amount of time to do what you love, a certain expectation

around the role of work in your life, a certain window of income you've identified as reasonable overall a certain feeling you get when you look in the mirror. And my objective is not to tell you that any of the above is good or bad. It's to remind you that they are all stories. Our current state is not etched in stone. It's clumsily drawn on a dry raceboard. Clumsily, because how could we know everything? We learn along the way in a dry raceboard

because there's never a moment in time in which you cannot begin again. Think about that. Never. Good, bad, or in between, there is never a situation from which you can't emerge as something different. From which you can't choose to take a different path.

Change the narrative around you, your relationships, your job, your goals. But like the elephant tied to the chair with the rope, One must learn that it is not the chair holding them back, but their perception, their understanding of a supposed role in life. So as I drove away that morning, I wasn't leaving a physical place, but a mental constraint. turning my back on a manufactured idea about who I was and what life would allow. Not in a snap. No, not all at once, but an adventure that would begin pulling back the curtains one by one

on all that I'd walked right by. See, the first step to getting more is understanding you've been accepting less. That is where new roads present themselves, and it is that new road that I want for you. That understanding that so much will be given to those with the courage to ask. So as you stand now, examine what you've been asking of life. My hunch is that perhaps it's not enough. Perhaps there's more. Perhaps a new chapter is waiting to begin, and right now is when that first page gets turned.

Joseph Campbell says that the cave you fear holds the treasure you seek. Why? Because to face the dancing shadows is to gain power over them. It shows our mind that reality is far less scary than our perception. of reality, that no chain or lock or wall can be more debilitating than the mental constraints we create by ourselves in our heads. It shows that the man guarding the door can just as easily be the one who unlocks it. And so what better a time than now to turn that key? to step out and confront what was once nothing more than a vast emptiness.

Jump into the cold water of opportunity that shocks us at first, creates pins and needles and discomfort, but ultimately provides a chance to acclimate to and navigate a foreign world. You, you just need to jump. and not a mountain but a foot. Enough to start earning that confidence, creating that self-trust, believing in yourself,

so drive away. To the understanding that there is always another level if you want it. To the belief that nothing is outside the realm of possibility, those boundaries can be redrawn. To the idea that no one tells you who you are or what you're capable of, the world doesn't give orders, it reacts to who you decide to be.

To the awareness that possible victories always outweigh in magnitude the possible defeat. To the realization that who you were yesterday is in no way related to who you can be tomorrow. All chapters end and you decide when that happens. Everything else belongs in the rear view. Success is knowing this. It's believing it, holding on when others would let go, be reassured by the incremental nature of what's ahead. Zero miracles.

Just the courage to begin. Just push the ball down the hill. Give life a chance to help you create. you create momentum no more thinking worrying procrastinating just go it's incredible how fast things change when we grant ourselves that freedom when we see all of the world is open to us but will you open your mind to that opportunity I've said this before and I'll say it again nothing is sure in life but you You are guaranteed to lose if you don't go.

It's to let falsehoods and debilitating stories guide your way. So stop letting these narratives tell you who you are and create reality with your feet. Why? Because you can. Because you were meant for more and because more starts now. You have to see it before they do. You have to believe it before they will. You have to be the architect of your plans and your goals because no one will build them for you.

And that's just it. In a world where victimhood is becoming currency and blame is becoming the norm, we have a choice. Create a temporary fleeting escape. or create a life that matters. You know how much easier it is to project out at the world? To never have to look in the mirror and address the things you could be doing better? You know how much easier it is to hate him or her or them over there?

To make up stories and scenarios about how much different life would be if it wasn't for A, B, and C holding you back. I mean, short term, it's like winning the lottery, right? You don't have to take any accountability. You don't have to have tough conversations with yourself. You don't have to reflect on the painful memories or decisions. No, you can put your feet up.

Sit back, point at the world, and say, look what they made me do. If only. But here's what's not being said. Every time you point your finger away from your own chest, every time you project blame, you're letting yourself down. Why? Because we only grow when we take accountability. And yeah, accountability can be painful, uncomfortable. But in that discomfort exists the only bridge to a better tomorrow.

That's it. You go to the gym, you put your muscles through stress. You break them down so that they can be built back up stronger. Personal responsibility cannot be the muscle we refuse to build. There's too much at stake. It can't be the thing you avoid. Why? Because it's what injects meaning into our lives.

I'll never forget in the eighth grade. And I bet every single person in that class still to this day remembers. My teacher, Mr. Betancourt, walking up to the front of the classroom, he had his hands in a bowl shape and was holding it up to the ceiling, explaining to us that you can't go through life, asking the world to give you its scraps, that if you sit and you wait and you hope and you blame, you will lose. That's the recipe for bitterness and resentment.

Think of it like a fork in the road. Where our two options are vastly different. You go left at the fork and you enter a world of escapism, refusing to confront your problems. Finding reasons you can't do that which you know you need to do. Hating others, those who have built, grown, or created themselves. Or, you go right at the fork. You learn to do the hard thing, to humble yourself,

to take control of your life and your world. When things aren't the way you want them to be, you look around and you immediately ask, things outside of my control may have brought me here, but what can I do to fix it? Those of you have been listening to me for a while, you probably know my favorite articulation of this idea was explained by Will Smith. Basically, he said, look, you can't control where you start and how true that is, right?

Life's not fair. Some people are born into more resources and opportunity. Some people find themselves in social situations that aren't ideal, and that list can go on and on and on, right? Human beings are all different, so there will always be discrepancy. But, and this is Will Smith's point, where you go from here will always be your responsibility. What happens next is all you. You choose whether to complain, shake your fist at the sky, and blame the world around you, or pick the pieces up and move forward. And like I said a minute ago, don't be fooled by the temptation to latch on to that

fleeting moment of relief, of running from accountability, the only way to win in the long run is to face your demons. It's that whole saying, when you're riding shotgun, you can dispute the route all you want, but ultimately, it's the driver who's in control. When will you take the wheel in your own life? Ensure the stakes become higher. Now it's on you. Now, you're can get lost. Now you're responsible for the maintenance. Now if you don't end up at the right place, or I don't know, you're late to a destination, it's your fault. But now you can also be the one overseeing the journey. Now it's yours and that's power. And as our world becomes more and more one of escapism, it's becoming more prevalent, easier to avoid or not fix something.

but tweet about it. How easy it is to not confront our problems, but rather open Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and mindlessly scroll. How easy it is to leave that message on red and go about our lives because that's easier than saying what needs to be said. Strength is being the one

amidst all this escapism and avoidance to confront what must be confronted. Whether it's an interaction with someone else that hard conversation with yourself, a personal change that must take place. Life is such a gift, it's such an opportunity, but we have to move through it with our eyes open. We have to see things that matter and gravitate towards truths that will shape us. Like Mr. B said, over 20 years ago now, we can't ever fall into the mentality. of holding our hands up to the sky and asking life to give us anything.

We can't only point it ourselves when things go the way we want them to go. No, let's be about accountability, empowerment, understanding that if I don't like what's around me, the transformation starts now and it starts with me. I wasn't perfect, I never will be, but I can learn, I can evolve and most importantly, I have everything I need to make that happen. It's all awareness. The victimhood idea is a wolf in sheep's clothing, and I know that may seem harsh, maybe even lacking empathy.

But dropping that narrative was truly the best thing I've done in my life, and I know countless others who would say the same. You can't be both a perpetual victim and be in control. No, life is tough. It knocks us down and at times it brings us to our knees. But this is a reminder that you cannot stay there. It's a reminder that those who contributed to the situation are now minor detail and background noise. It's a reminder that the path forward is about you. It's about you pushing all that aside and asking yourself what's required to move in the direction

that I most want to go. Because you are that powerful. You are strong enough to make that move. And there will be a point where you look around you and the circumstances of change. The people are different. The environment is different.

You're different. And you'll smile at yourself knowing it's not because of what the world provided. It's not because of what anyone gave you. It's not because of what people out there did or didn't do. No, it's because when you were at your lowest, when life was presenting curveball after curveball, when you looked around it maybe even thought to yourself, there's no way forward here. You found a way to get up and create something new.