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

Episode Date: March 1, 2023

“The day you stop caring what other people think of you is the day your life begins” – Anonymous

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In that room, how much did you care what they thought of you? Like if zero is not at all and 10 is you cared a lot, How much did you care? Hmm. Eight, I said, probably around an eight out of ten. And that is the problem. Because if you care, you are not free. I've been working my whole life to obtain that word in its truest sense.

Freedom. And I made progress. The world around us is tough to change, but most things worth changing are tough. I've uprooted and walked away from people that brought me down. Plenty of times. I've walked away from places that just weren't me. I've committed to carving out a path that I deem meaningful in my life. See, but you can always turn your back and walk away from people, from places, from situations.

Here's a little caveat. no one seems to tell you about, though. You have to take yourself with you. There's no destination to which you can arrive without your thoughts. There's no place you can show up without your narratives or your view of the world. And the more I navigate this floating rock we're on, the more I'm convinced that weather is determined by the onlooker, not the atmosphere. Some people simply choose to see sun, some people choose, rain, our forecasts are internal.

I've referenced this book often because it's one of the few cheat codes, not to any subset of reality but to life in general that allows us to reverse engineer true contentment. It's called the top five regrets of the dying by Brani Ware, where she speaks with mostly older people during their final day. asks them what they would do differently if they could do it all over again. Regret number one, and we can actually stop right there, is I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the one others expected of me. Meaning, the number one thing people wish they did differently was careless. They wished they'd lived in their authenticity,

put more weight on their goals and their dreams than those of strangers that pass like ships in the night. Every time we repress who we are, our future selves shed a tear. And I know that's not pretty or uplifting to think about, right? A future you looking down and wishing you'd sought out that freedom in its truest form, the freedom to live fully.

But look, sometimes carving meaning, out of life just isn't pretty. Sometimes what's necessary is not pretty. Say, everything's relative. And perhaps understanding that it's not others who are the judge. But it's instead that older version of you sitting on the bedside, reflecting back on this one roller coaster ride. Maybe that's who we're living for. That's the well from which our current bridge should be drawn. We are guests passing through a miracle with minds that falsely and irresponsibly whisper, we have all the time in the world, trying to convince us that the trip lasts forever.

But it doesn't. Your life is a raindrop in the thunderstorm. It will be over as fast as it arrived, and how you choose to live it will be everything. See, there will always, in some capacity, exist that voice asking you to dial it down. There will, from time to time, be sweaty palms and shaking knees. You know, those human things. But when you find yourself standing on the edge of that door, looking out at a world that you know calls your name, let your voice be louder than all of it.

Let the beating of your heart be stronger than your fear. And if you can't do it for you, then please do it for that version of you years from now, looking out the window, smiling about how you almost said no. You almost boxed yourself in, you almost let what matters pass you by, but instead you captured life like a child chasing down a firefly, that in a world of constraint, you allowed yourself. to be free. 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, exhausting your energy on that which you can. 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. I spent some time in Roanoke, Virginia, one of the most beautiful places I've ever lived. It's just little valley surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains. And across the street from where I lived was a park. You could look over in the evening and you would see hundreds of fireflies flying around.

I always thought it was such a cool thing, you know, bringing back to when I was young, when I was a kid, and it was such a thrill in running around trying to chase those things. And seeing this day in and day out let me to think, you know, 24, 25 years later, about all the things that have changed in my life. Back then, life was pretty straightforward. You know, as a child, you place your value

on what feels right in the present. You're not thinking about two years down the road or wondering what others are going to think. Your creativity and your sense of exploration are running on all cylinders. Then something happens. We begin to understand the way of things. We see what's value.

We see what's valued in society. We see what's expected. We see how success is defined. And so begins our ascent up the ladder. And rung by rung, we climb. Looking above us, below us to see where others are, see how fast they've moved in relation to us. And eventually this coincides with how we see ourselves.

And as you know, how you see yourself is the best indicator of what you will become. Which is why when so many people aren't happy with their day to day, that's a huge red flag. That's breathing, that's not living. Folks have been climbing this ladder their entire lives and never stopped to ask if it's where they were meant to be. Maybe the top of the community ladder isn't what you want.

But you never thought you only, And if you don't think, if you don't ask yourself the question, you will climb and you will climb and you will climb until you burn out. I try and spend a few minutes every day thinking about this. It's the most important thing I can spend time on. It's my life. It's more important than green paper. It means more than the opinions of others.

It's the backbone of everything. Everything around me and the meaning I give it stems from how I identify myself who I am. Which brings me back to those fireflies, to running around on a hot summer evening, not having a care in the world. There is something intrinsically perfect about those moments. Life is about peak experiences. Joy, excitement, so that you never lose that spark, because it's all that separates us from every other being on the planet. If we don't have that, what do we have?

What separates us from ants moving dirt? Monotonous action based on instinct, there's just no thrill in that. Why not create a life that allows you to feel that excitement every day? Don't act because you're supposed to. supposed to, act because you so desperately want to that there's no other option, because you couldn't live without the adventure, you couldn't pass on the experience. Here's a secret. If you become fixated on a life that means nothing to you, at some point you will probably

get to the top. And from there you will have a beautiful view of everything you missed out on. So maybe there is something to the whole chasing firefly rule. Maybe a four-year-old running after a glowing bug with a jar deserves more credit than he's given. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year? Your skin is a great place to start. Dime Beauty, founded by a master aesthetician, is more than just a skincare company. With four skin-conscious categories, skin care, beauty, body care, and fragrance,

dime offers simple, spa-worthy products that will help you enter 2025, confidence. Whether you're revitalizing your regimen with nourishing products or building one from scratch, Dime makes it easy. The work system, our all-in-one best-selling routine, includes a cleanser of your choice, toner, serums, and moisturizers, taking the guesswork out of skin care for your healthiest, happiest skin yet. Dime's commitment to clean ingredients and sustainable packaging ensures every product is as gentle on your skin as it is on the planet. With thousands of glowing five-star reviews and a loyal community, the results speak for themselves. Self. Revive your skin and give yourself the routine refresh you deserve by visiting

dime beauty CO.com. That's dime beauty co.com. Your best skin awaits. Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway. Now through February 25th, stock up on your favorite self-care items and save up to $3 shop in store or online for items like Old Spice Deodorant, always ultra-thin pads, Gillette Fusion Razors and refills, Old Spice Total Body Spray, Tampax Pearl, and Jolette Mach 3 Razors and Refills, and save up to $3. You won't want to miss out on these deals. Offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary.

Restrictions apply. Visit safeway.com for more detail. I'm going to share something that over the years I've come to know to be true. And that's that generally the answers that we look for tend to fall between the extremes. So for example, you have two people. One person is adamant that option A is right. It's a no-brainer. That'll take you to the promised land.

Then on the other side, the other person saying, no, it's option B, and it's not even close. Option B is the way to go. And well, generally speaking, the answer we're looking for falls somewhere right in the middle. That's where the winning formula lives. Not always, but most of the time. The other stuff, the detail, the A's, B's and C's, the stuff that gets the flash that we spend most of our time talking about, it's unnecessary noise and nuance. To win is to trust your instinct.

It's being comfortable with your authenticity as the foundation. And then once you have that, you can choose to sprinkle the other stuff on top as flavoring. But I want to talk about this idea because I've fallen into the trap, and I think others do too, of looking for answers in the wrong places. I'm trying so hard to replicate success to meet other people's guidelines. We're so busy asking what the other people want to hear, that we're not asking ourselves, hey, what do I want to say?

And in the process, we lose what's most valuable. We end up rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Imagine if Malcolm Gladwell only wrote about what was trending on Twitter or what was popular. It's like, no, he writes about what he's interested in. That's why he's so fun to read. His curiosity and passion always comes through. Or if J.K. Rowling spent her time researching, what works, what sells books, what do I need to buy, what's been done before me, before she created Harry Potter. We probably wouldn't have it. Her brilliant imagination wouldn't have been shared with the world because, let's be real, wizards and boarding school weren't exactly on everyone's radar. There was no roadmap to that.

Or I think of Jordan Peterson's lectures. Imagine if he crafted his message around YouTube or Instagram algorithms. We'll lose all its power and meaning. He's authentic. He's raw. He's real. That's why we watch him. But the reality is every day we're told in Taylor Made, strategically located advertisements that, hey, John Smith achieved success,

happiness and fame with this product or this service. And without that, you can't get what you want. Or we turn on our phones. We go on social media and it's hearts and likes and double taps. And we're not saying what we want to say. We're reverse engineering how to go. get that validation. For those with brands or those in the marketing space,

I mean, you know it's always about trying to understand this mysterious algorithm where your posts will be buried. What we're being asked to do overall every day is manipulate ourselves to meet the demands of the platform or of the external criteria. I'm not saying it's morally wrong. There's no atrocity being committed. Part of life is adapting. But what I am suggesting is there's a date.

danger that we're not aware of. Amidst all this chaos and confusion and manipulation, we tend to lose ourselves. And when we lose ourselves, it doesn't happen all at once. It's gradual. It happens little by little, one concession at a time. We don't snap our fingers and disappear. We slowly slip away, not by what we do,

by what we don't do, in order to fit in. Do you know how everything in our solar system orbits around the sun? Well, what if you thought of that sense? What if you thought of that son as who you are, right, when you're with your friends or family, when you're writing, saying, thinking what matters to you, without social media, without brands and marketing and societal pressure, just simply who you are. That should always be the nucleus of your world, your North Star. That should be the measuring stick to whether you're on the right track, not the externalities

that ask you to change your key so that it fits their lock. re-engineered the way we look at things? What if we built a world where people expand upon who they are and what they care about, where we have the courage to say no to the latest trend or item or advice, because it's just not who you are? What if you were that confident? And then if we think some of those externalities will help us, then sure, sprinkle them on top. But they rotate around you. you don't rotate around them. That's the difference. To be content, you have to be the center of your own universe.

Living by your guidelines. So instead of looking around and trying to decide your strengths, based on what will be accepted or promoted or what's been done before, do yourself a favor. Take a deep breath. Step back and just simplify. You know what matters. And that's enough.

You don't need the world to tell you that. While the masses fight over solution A or solution B, maybe you'll understand that both of those solutions solve the wrong problem. And while the masses argue, you know, which car goes zero to 60 the fastest scream about the features debate, which brand is the most reputable, hey, you'll at least know why you're driving, which is more than most of the world can say. You'll know where your car is headed before you upgrade to that sunroof. and those top of the line speakers. It's not about what happens to you. No one escapes adversity.

No one lives free of discomfort or misfortune or struggle. No, it will always be about what you do with what happens to you. In other words, it's not the event, it's the response. not the obstacle, but the ability to navigate around it. Not the wave, but the ability to ride its momentum to something greater. It is not what happens to you. It is what you do about what happens to you. The famous Roman emperor and stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius said,

you have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this and you will find strength. And I think this realization comes down to the fact that there is always a way, buried underneath it all, something powerful to leverage. But getting to the value calls for a rewiring. A change in the questions that we ask. Not how could this happen to me, but how can I be better tomorrow than I am now because of what happened to me? Not can I still be that person or accomplish what I set out to, but I am that person.

Now how will I adjust my path so that I get there? We're operating within a world of value, limitless opportunity. The difficulty simply pushes us to that value faster, expedites the process. It forces us to open our eyes and see that the world works for us. So you take, for example, the fear of starting something new. That fear, it doesn't have to be an end point or a red light indicator. doesn't mean you're not qualified or prepared or equipped. It simply lets you know that you have finally acquired the courage to step out of the safety

of the only world you knew and into the turbulence of growth. On to the path of something better. And where it's easy to move away from that feeling, to turn your back on the chaos and retreat to something simpler, maybe something more predictable or can't. What if you viewed the fear as the price that we all have to pay to pull the curtain back on the best things life has to offer? Changing the question from will I be afraid to instead? This is important. This is meaningful.

Therefore, it's inevitable that I will experience fear, but what will I do about it? How will I conduct myself amidst the fear? Will I continue forward? Those are the questions that contain the value, right? I can't keep the water from rising or the walls from caving in. No, that's an inevitability where I'm going. The worthwhile road always has its adversity. But will I use that water to learn to swim?

The walls to climb, to adapt, and scale, what will I make of this? That's the question that becomes the difference. And sure, you could stay away. You could choose not to take the path that presents the danger and the turbulence. You could attempt to contain the world around you by simply refusing to experience it. But then, of course, you become presented with the question, why intentionally refuse to cash in a winning lottery ticket?

Why diminish your gift in such a way? If it's not what you look at, it's what you see. Why see the world as an adversary? Why see yourself as less than you are? The saying goes, when you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them. You'll never exceed the person you've decided yourself to be. And yes, the world can feel intimidating. It's unknown.

You in many ways can't control the characteristics that make life what it is, but you can always control you. Just like you can't control the wind, but you can adjust your sales. You can't control the tides, but you can predict and plan and execute a course. You control you and that is where the power is. And of course there's going to be times where that's hard to see. When it's not your first instinct to find the value. Take for an example a change, a loss, the end of a relationship,

the point where people tend to feel their lowest. It hurts to have something and lose it. To have what you were once social, once so sure about challenge, what you once believed in called into question. But this doesn't have to be a referendum on you as a human being. Sure, you made your mistakes, but you have the opportunity to dwell on them or to acknowledge them and ask the question, I know what I know now, how can I be better than I've ever been in my life? How can I position myself to get more of the good and less of the bad, same idea, different context.

When those walls feel like they're crumbling down, you have to know there is more on the other side. Just beyond what the eye can see. And this isn't just an idea I play around with in my head, I make a concentrated effort to think this every time something goes wrong. When my first reaction is emotional, my first emotion is anger or frustration. It's like take a breath, compose yourself, and start looking for the value. Because here's the truth, the world is not going to end today.

There's going to be a time down the road when I look over my shoulder, and right now is a distant memory. What will I have done with it? And it's the times that might have broken you that contain the greatest transformation. I like to say the greatest tragedies are the hardest times. made me who I am today. The losses taught me that I had everything I needed. The failures showed me what I'm capable of enduring. The times I was let down taught me to depersonalize the shortcomings of others,

but to simultaneously hedge against them. The times I was lost showed me we only discover or meet our potential when we leave the little day-to-day realities that we create. Why? Because we are in control. Not of the external, but the internal, and that ends up being a bridge to a reality that means something. So when you find yourself at the base of a mountain looking up, understand that there are two ways to perceive the climb. You can see it as the gravity pushing down on you as Earth standing in your way. or as an opportunity to ascend to a version of yourself that previously not only didn't exist but wasn't available. This is your opportunity.

The same opportunity that the vast majority of the world would disregard or misinterpret that most would feel fear of and be dissuaded by. Most would live in the stories about who. who they aren't and what they aren't capable of, but not you. You didn't place that mountain before you, but you sure can't extract the value from it. All you have to do is decide that you're capable and that the meaning and the value and the freedom of tomorrow means more than the discomfort of today. If you allow that for yourself, you will become truly unstoppable.

Not because the path simplified or got easier, but because the traveler trusted himself to walk down it. What can you be the best in the world at? 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? the best in the world that. 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 will 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 pass us by, or the plants we walk 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, 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 is 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 are too, 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'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. Ready to prioritize yourself in the new year, your skin is a great place to start. Dime Beauty, founded by a master esthetician, is more than just a skincare company. With four skin-conscious categories, skincare, beauty, body care, and fragrance, Dime offers simple, spa-worthy products

that will help you enter 2025 with confidence. Whether you're revitalizing your regimen with nourishing products or building one from scratch, Dime makes it easy. The work system, our all-in-one best-selling routine, includes a cleanser of your choice, toner, serums, and moisturizers, taking the guesswork out of skin care for your healthiest, happiest skin yet. Dime's commitment to clean ingredients and sustainable packaging

ensures every product is as gentle on your skin as it is on the planet. With thousands of glowing five-star reviews and a loyal community, the results speak for themselves. Revive your skin and give yourself the routine refresh you deserve by visiting DimeBeautyco.com. That's Dimebeautcom. S skin awaits. Hey there, it's Ryan Sechrest for Safeway.

Now through February 25th, stock up on your favorite self-care items and save up to $3 shop in store or online for items like Old Spice Deodorant, always ultra-thin pads, Gillette Fusion Razors and Refills, Old Spice Total Body Spray, Tampax Pearl, and Gillette Mach 3 Razors and Refills and Save Up to $3. You won't want to miss out on these deals. Offer ends February 25th. Offers may vary. Restrictions apply.

Visit Safeway.com for more detail. She had a picture framed on the table that said make today amazing. Place there to remind her just how much of life is a choice. How much we get to decide. It symbolizes that on our worst days, life hands us lessons. And on our best days, the highs of existence. During our low points, currency, and during our high points, the chance to cash it all in. Yeah, make today amazing.

Because todays are few and far between. Todays are not an inconvenience nor an obligation. Today's are what it's all about. Today is the big show. the answers we look for, the destinations we long for. Today is a place of dreams, that is, if you choose to leave room in your world for dreaming. Today is the beginning of wherever next is for you. A chance to see the new and normalize it,

to stretch, to reach further out and pull it, impossible a little closer into your orbit, you can do that. And while one often can't control what they are given, they can control what becomes of what they are given. Like architects and designers engineering what will be and what the malleable world around them will become, when one raises their standards, life seems to accommodate. Because believing it means acting the part, means making the changes, means the external world makes room, means your identity is reinforced, and so the cycle goes, by making today amazing, you are making yourself more. Decisions are the beginning of all things. See, very rarely is the two.

cool in and of itself the differentiator. It's the vision that pulls us through. And if you take something arbitrary, say a hammer, there's no way to, based upon its existence, determine what it will mean or what will become of it. A hammer can be an agent of chaos. It can smash and shatter and destroy. It can be the thing used to tear down.

Or it can be what built. It can connect. It can alter and redefine so that something, when all is said and done, is brought into an existence that never was. It was never the tool. It was how the eyes viewed the tool. It was the vision that designated the roles that made today amazing. And the reason we all need this reminder, as far as I can tell, is because the difficult things just so happen to be the meaningful things. Because we are fighting, not against some little rule or idea we picked up along the way.

We are fighting against our DNA, against thousands and thousands of years of evolution, because the fear that kept our ancestors alert and alive now in a totally new world keeps us contained and our talents minimized. The approval of others that kept us safe and secure as we once traveled the landscape in small groups, hunting and gathering, while now it keeps us needlessly looking over our shoulders and craving acceptance. The unknowns that kept us out of our own. the dark cave with the predator living in its shadows now keeps us confined. Looking out at life's potential through self-made windows.

We need to be reminded to make today amazing because those things are quite the adversaries. Because our default is to just let the ship sail. Our default is to simply survive. After all, that is the standard and the rule by which living things abide. Make it another day. But I believe you are more than a living thing. The Godlike ability to not just exist in a world, but create new ones is a miracle. Both a blessing and a responsibility. To drive towards a more fulfilled you, a happier you, a healthier you, a more complete you.

But one must first become aware that around them exist the pieces required to build something never before seen. The vehicle to those far-off places that were once only dreams, thought, illusions. I've always believed that if it means something to you, it's not stupid. It warrants exploration. For even if the thought doesn't end up being all it was. was cracked up to be, even if it's not the destination, but only a stop along the way, it still pushes you to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing. It still moves you forward in this beautiful game of life.

So decide. Decide to make today amazing. Choose to make it better. Let the obstacles lift you up and the momentum carry you towards some. something meaningful. When others stop and find reasons to doubt themselves. How about you find this small wind buried, tucked away underneath it all? The little key that may do nothing more than get you through that next door.

After all, sometimes that's what life's about. Picking up your head when it's most difficult and finding the next door to walk through. And the magic is knowing you can always do that, because there always exists both the doorway and the key, but we must be willing to find it. That's the obvious thing about those doors. The right ones will open, but they require we find the strength to approach them. They require that we seek out amazing. And so with this in mind, what is the next chapter like for you?

Are you currently enduring one of life's winters? Are you navigating those inevitable valleys of despair in which the value is in finding that single ray of light amidst the storm? Looking within yourself for the courage to take one more step forward and another and another, are you seeking out that spark that will reignite the fire in you because it's there, so long as you choose to make today amazing. Maybe you've climbed yourself out. Maybe you're looking for whatever is next, the new evolution, seeking to follow your

heart and continue the beautiful progression that is light. Let the external world support that vision, choose to see the detail not as trivial but as the answers. The tools that will lift you up and support what you are building, it's there. She had a picture framed on the table that said make today amazing. Place there to remind her how much of life is a choice. Because in a world of option, what a gift to choose the journey of a lifetime. But a ride that awaits so long as you decide to step in.

I saw an interview by one of my favorite authors today, Stephen Pressfield, where he highlighted what I believe to be a critical and often overlooked point. He says a lot of people think life is short, but life is actually long. He goes on to explain that he didn't even get his first book published until well into his adult life, making the point that people are not. people at 24, 34, 54, 64, 64, they think they've won or lost. And they've got a lot of game left to play. And this message, it does a few things.

I think first and most obviously it creates a kind of calm. Like, okay, I can take some of the pressure off myself. Life isn't a sprint, it's a marathon, I'm not doing so bad. Sometimes we lose that perspective. We forget that the best things in life evolve. over time. Often not an avalanche, but the chipping away of a stone until the statue reveals itself. As frustrating as it may be, clarity is often an evolution. And the second thing is, it plays a role in defining what success means. If games are won in the second half, as they

frequently are, then we learn not to define ourselves by the outcome of the first, quarter. But more importantly, to put ourselves in position to win in the fourth, the score at halftime is not defining. It's a treasure trove of lessons and information and data that can be tapped into to get the result that we ultimately want. And I often think of running in South Florida where, you know, I joke that I don't sit at the beach, but if you run during the day, you know, you kind of get the best to both worlds. A little bit of sunshine. get your workout in, but the obvious disadvantage, especially in the summer, is that the heat is taxing on the body. It's more challenging to run under that sun, and what I find is that when I push my pace

right out of the gate, right from the start push my physical boundaries, the second half of the run is a nightmare. Always, I'm dragging, you know, speed isn't even a factor. I'm pleading with myself to simply not stop, because I haven't positioned myself well. But on the other hand, when I'm disciplined, and when from the start I ease into something comfortable and progressively increase my speed, my body somehow responds exponentially better, I get the most out of myself that way. That's why I've said in the past, I'm proudest of my results when the last few miles are the fastest miles. It means I had the discipline in the foresight to make that happen. And ultimately, the big picture is affected in a positive way. And I know the same can be said for other aspects of life. I know the same can be

said for the moments of temptation when my ego pleads with me to do what someone else is doing, or things aren't evolving as quickly as I want, so my pride says, just walk away from it all. Why? Because the current moment doesn't look how I wanted it to. So the mind says panic. It says change things. It says you're losing or not good enough. It says you better pick up the pace right now because you're losing this current moment. But no, the question isn't is right now the goal. The question is, is right now moving me forward consistently. so that when the time comes to sprint,

so that when I'm ready to go faster than I've ever gone, be more than I've ever been, I've positioned myself to do just that. When things were challenging, I kept moving forward. When the world around me seemed to be moving at a faster pace, I ran my own race, I stayed consistent, I remembered what mattered to me. That's the question.

And by the way, this doesn't mean ignoring today's results. It means asking yourself whether today's results are meaningful in the big picture. Using Stephen Pressfield's example, if you don't get published or your work is rejected again and again and again, you have not lost. It's the beginning. It's the first quarter. But what info can you gain from this? What tweaks can you make to your work so that it's in some way more captivating? How can you sell it a little better?

What can you do to connect with people who will believe in you and help push you forward? Remember, you only lose when you decide to stop. Why? Because as long as you're willing to adjust and keep going, there are no stopping points. People don't realize limitations are self-imposed. Losing or quitting just means you stood up and said, I'm going to stop learning and evolving with regard to this pursuit. I no longer want to adapt and move on. No outside circumstances can impose that upon you.

It's truly an internal decision. I remember Jim Rowan saying success is easy. Doing the thing that's best for you in the long run is easy. Doing the right things every day is easy. And people would say, well, that doesn't make sense. Why isn't everyone successful? Well, because doing the wrong thing is easy too. It's easy to think right now is the end-all be-all.

To forget the big picture, that life is a journey, that you are equipped with everything you need. And when you don't see success to your left or right when your ideal world hasn't been created, to panic. To seek drastic change, instead of remembering one step in front of the other, gets you to your finish line. Instead of remembering the second half is where you make your move, is where you make your push. Not every swing is a home run. Not every swing needs to be a home run. It's about on-base percentage. It's about setting yourself up for success.

Step by step, day by day, allowing yourself to evolve. Because if you hang in there long enough, if you say yes and trust yourself long enough, You will get your Super Bowl. You will get your midday run when the sun is at its fullest. You're exhausted. You're tired and you don't want to keep going. But because you invested in the big picture, because you played the long game,

you'll be one of the few who understands, who has created the weapon, the answer, the key that will open the door. Very few people get to open and walk through. The best things in life take time. And time requires patience. Patience can be painful. It can cause suffering, chaos.

But from that chaos comes order. From that suffering comes meaning everything we needed and wanted is on the other side of that evolution. See that your short-term losses are not crippling you. They are creating.