Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero - You’re One Decision Away from a Completely Different Life

Episode Date: October 5, 2026

This episode is brought to you by:Talkspace: Get $80 off your first month with promo code SPACE80 at Talkspace.comPuori: Get 32% off your first omega 3 Subscription at https://www.PUORI.com/eddie with... promo code EDDIE at checkoutMy NEW Performance Tee - - Code "YWW20" for 20% off► http://www.agns.lifestyle🧠 Join the free community: https://www.agns.lifestyle/pages/raise-your-standard📖 Get my Free Ebook While the World Sleeps https://eddiepinero.com/ebookYour life doesn’t change when you have everything figured out. It changes the moment you decide to move.In this powerful motivational speech, Eddie Pinero dives into the life-changing impact of making a definitive decision, overcoming fear, and taking action before you feel ready.Most people wait for the perfect plan, perfect timing, or total certainty but momentum is built one step at a time. Even a move in the wrong direction gives you feedback, experience, and something to adjust. Standing still gives you nothing.Stop waiting for certainty. You don’t need the whole path illuminated; you just need the courage to make the next move.📱 Follow Along:Support the Podcast on Spotify - https://spoti.fi/2BLf6pBInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/your_world_within/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@your_world_within📝 Comment below with what's been holding you back as of late. Would love to help you 🙏🙏🙏#liveinspired #yourworldwithin #motivation

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Starting point is 00:00:00 In communities across Canada, hourly Amazon employees can grow their skills and their paycheck by enrolling in free skills training programs for in-demand fields. Learn more at aboutamazon.ca. Okay, when I sell my business, I want the best tax and investment advice. I want to help my kids, and I want to give back to the community. Ooh, then it's the vacation of a lifetime. I wonder if my out-of-office has a forever setting. An IG Private Wealth advisor creates the clarity you need with plans that harmonize your business, your family, and your dreams. Get financial advice that puts you at the center.
Starting point is 00:00:41 Find your advisor at IGPrivatewealth.com. Can life change in a day? Well, what if we made today a day of action? Of being decisive, of promising ourselves that our goal or objective? is to make a single move. However small. What if today action is king? And we live by the notion that
Starting point is 00:01:15 whether the results of our courage is good or bad, whether it's the result we hoped for, the one that we didn't, at least now we have something to work off of. And that means we've moved beyond where we started. What if today we live by the notion that a vision can change our lives? But a vision without that small step is powerless. And today we take that small step.
Starting point is 00:01:56 It's easy to forget how good progress feels. How incredible it is to know that we're moving towards something meaningful in our lives. Something that we chose, that we're building. We had the courage to break life down so that piece by piece we could build it back up. We are our happiest when we are progressing. We're designed to map out the unknown, unexplored territory to make it our own. We're not just flesh and bone, but travelers with godlike capability of seeing that, which is not yet. there. And with an idea and courage, there's nothing we can't do. And that's why when we stop
Starting point is 00:02:48 seeing infinite opportunity, when we pretend that settling is okay, that the status quo is enough, we know deep down in our souls that something's missing, we need the next door to unlock. So today, let's find just one door that we can open. It reminds yourself of the shock wave that goes through your system when inspiration guides an idea and progress turns that idea into reality because momentum connects every aspect of life. Not hitting the snooze button can mean seeing the sunrise, which can mean you read three pages in a book you wouldn't have read, which could mean your day improves, which could mean your day improves, which could mean. you make a call that you've been meaning to make, which could mean a dozen wheels start turning, not because you did everything, but because you did one. Today can be the day that changes your life, and you don't even need the miraculous
Starting point is 00:04:04 to make that happen. You just need to push back against the normalcy of your everyday. Create little microcosms of chaos that you can tame, you can understand, you can and make your own and then stack on top of each other. Today, treat that little voice of uneasiness or nervousness in your stomach as assurance that the path before you is the right one. Remember that almost all decisions are reversible,
Starting point is 00:04:40 but that a decision at least puts you somewhere, right or wrong. It moves you along and shows you more of life, the things, the people, the places you've never seen before. And the only bad decision is no decision. Some folks never moved towards meaning, towards the things that they want in, well, their entire lifetime. Because they didn't realize it wasn't an earthquake they needed to shake the old world at its foundation. They needed to make one decision. One decision that might be wrong, but at the very least would reassure them that wrong decisions aren't fatal.
Starting point is 00:05:28 A decision allows you to remap a new reality and take another step and another and another. You can change your life today by picking your arena and simply stepping into it. You don't need to be the best or the greatest or the most innovative. No, that's for another day. Today, if you want to change your life, open the door, and step in. You'll be amazed at what transpires. On the rooftop where I live, there's a view of Scottsdale, Arizona. And particularly at night when you're up there looking down to the city facing north, there's a ferris wheel.
Starting point is 00:06:26 And every night, this ferris wheel is lit up different colors and it really stands apart. from everything else. A few nights ago, I was up there walking around, kind of getting some fresh air before I called it a day. And my brain took me on one of these little side quests, right? I just could not stop thinking about this Ferris wheel. And it turns out for good reason. And so per standard operating procedure,
Starting point is 00:06:59 I want to take you on this little journey. with me. So let's start with a simple question, really. What is a Ferris will? Well, it's a portal to see the world differently. Think about it. People take time to travel to it. They wait in line.
Starting point is 00:07:19 They pay money to get on this thing. Which, by the way, doesn't move fast. It's not an adrenaline rush or anything. It's merely a chance to get to the top and see a view. A view of the same. same place these people were just walking around. The exact same place. The same place they live.
Starting point is 00:07:43 Same place they spend their days. Same place they drive around. But they knew there was something beautiful about seeing all that stuff from a top. The Ferris wheel, from a new lens, a fresh perspective. They knew that it would feel different up there because it is different up there. And this is sort of an obvious thing.
Starting point is 00:08:04 If beauty exists, if only, we can get ourselves atop this circle-shaped elevator thing and prove it to ourselves. And I'll speak for me. There are days where I walk around and I feel excited. I feel energized by life's upside, enthusiastic about what I'm bringing to the world. And then there are days where I walk that very same path, retrace those very same steps. And I don't see it. I don't feel it. Things seem difficult, impossible, colorless,
Starting point is 00:08:41 but I've danced this dance. And I know it's not a reflection of reality. It's merely the story I'm telling myself in that moment. So how do I solve for it? What do I need? I need to get to the top of the Ferris wheel. I need a new perspective on this. Not something new, but a new perspective.
Starting point is 00:09:08 I know there's magic. right here. I just happen to have blinders on at the moment. The other day I was talking to a friend of mine who is a YouTube data, I will say, analyst, a very good one, right? Strategic thinker. And we're going over some stuff.
Starting point is 00:09:33 He's looking at the watchtime and retention of some of my videos. And he goes, you know, man, this retention is really, really good. A lot of people watch these 30 to 60 minute videos all the way through, which is very rare on YouTube. And then he kind of makes the offhanded remark, you know, you could be the next Tony Robbins if you wanted to. And I say that, not as a humble brag, he was half, you know, playing around. But for a second, right, hearing that, I was like, man, Ed, did you forget the type of impact you could have.
Starting point is 00:10:19 You could help more people. You can do so much more. You're still at the base of this mountain. Infinity is right outside. If you're willing to dive deeper. If you're willing to see it. And it was this jolt of hell yeah, just excitement. I felt myself going up that Ferris wheel,
Starting point is 00:10:52 which is exactly what he was. me in that moment, right? In a sense, elevating my perspective. And isn't it funny how when things click or suddenly we feel ourselves capturing momentum, right? You get that energy, that charge. It's like often nothing around us changes. It's our thoughts about them that changes. How we see them changes. That's why to me it's not a small thing or minor detail to know when you feel down and out, your absolute worst even. It's not that the complete inverse doesn't exist. The solution doesn't exist. It's just that from your vantage point right now, you can't see it. You don't have the view. And knowing that, that simple truth changes the
Starting point is 00:11:56 question from, well, does better exist for me? To Of course it does. How do I elevate myself to see it, to get there? How do I help myself better understand? And then as things evolve, when you find your grounding again, because you will, you get to then be that ferris wheel for others. You get to lift up the world around you, not making them. brilliant or beautiful or powerful, but showing them how brilliant and beautiful and powerful they already are.
Starting point is 00:12:46 It's the product of having learned that yourself. Not once or twice, but repeatedly. What you need exists. What you want is there. And I ask that you hear that. Truly, take that in, understand it, because you won't drive towards it if you don't. You won't buy a ticket to the Ferris wheel
Starting point is 00:13:20 if you don't believe in the view. So remember when you are at ground level, feeling stuck or lost, or whatever your situation is, it's not that there's no solution, it's that you need to elevate yourself and see the world from a new lens. This episode is brought to you by Peory.
Starting point is 00:14:06 So a lot of you know about my love for endurance sports. And as my training in that arena has increased, so as my focus on health outside of the standard fitness and nutrition. And omega-3s have been a big part of that. Specifically, because of inflammation in my lower body, I've been relying on their omega-3s and just really integrated them into my lifestyle. Omega-3s are also great for brain health and just long-term cardiovascular performance.
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Starting point is 00:15:04 Reality comes down to what we do with what we have. This is an idea I brushed shoulders with again right over there this morning, staring out the window. My mind sort of wandered into this place of, I wish I had a few more pieces. I wish I had a few more things in my arsenal. before moving on to this next chapter, right? And I think we've all been there. More tools in the toolbox. Maybe more advice or guidance from people that I look up to.
Starting point is 00:15:37 Maybe more research. You can go down that rabbit hole forever. Before sort of remembering that life always gives us some of it, but never all of it. And some of it is always enough. Let's call this the law of broken crayons. Go back, go way back. Grade school.
Starting point is 00:16:09 You're sitting on the floor at the table with the other kids, blank piece of paper in front of you. You reach into that box of crayons. Grab your color, and you go. The crayons cracked, probably broken in half. Somehow always had other colors intentionally drawn onto the wrapping. But like, who cares, right? I don't ever remember thinking, if only this box was pristine, you know?
Starting point is 00:16:41 If a new box is opened right in front of me, that would be amazing so I could create with the flawless, untarnished instrument. It's like, no, it wasn't even on the radar. We used what we had and what we had. It was always enough. because we made it enough. So flash through time, boom, back to the window this morning. I'm longing for, metaphorically, a fresh box of writing instruments,
Starting point is 00:17:13 unopened and in perfect shape. The stuff I'm carrying around is cracked and drawn on and feels no longer pristine. But that's not what life provides us when it calls us to grow. When we're ready to step into something. bigger. Now, life gives the cracked ones. Maybe you have to grip the little piece that remains tightly with your thumb and your index as though you're threading a needle, but it's usable. Maybe the color you need is missing, but there's a shade close enough to make do. I think you get what I mean. It's a lesson we need more than any other, because it's not that every once in a while
Starting point is 00:18:01 we don't get that fresh box of crayons, it's that life rarely ever provides it. Life simply says here are the fragments, the pieces, the blueprint. They will work, but that's not up to the instrument. It's up to the artists who hold them. And personally, I've been blown away
Starting point is 00:18:25 by how many times I've seen the same set of circumstances produce wildly different outcomes, depending on who happened to be the artist, depending on who was holding the instruments. Back in the day, when I was criticized, I would struggle. Someone would say, for example, you're not good at basketball. That comment would make me think less about myself as an athlete, how I played ball.
Starting point is 00:18:51 It would plant this tiny seed of doubt that I would have to navigate my way out of. And then I remember learning about some of the toughest, minds, right? Notoriously strong mentalities, the Jordans and the Kobe's, you tell them they suck. That doesn't create doubt. That ignites a, well, I'll show you mentality. They shined in those moments. Same instruments. Just different interpretation by the artists. And you realize that the world has nothing to do with this. Criticism has nothing to do with this. It's the relationship I have with me. And if I trust myself, if I believe in my growth and my commitment to excellence, the other stuff, it's just detail.
Starting point is 00:19:41 And it will always be detailed. Starting a new business, right? No one has ever had what they needed out of the gate, ever. I think it was Alex Hermose who said, you know, starting your own business is like running a marathon out of shape and getting yourself into shape along the way. I thought that was spot on. It's the only way to do it, and is the opportunity perfect? No. Is your body acclimated?
Starting point is 00:20:12 No. But life provided those metaphorical running shoes, a road, and a journey, and it turns out that's enough. So what I'm asking of you is that you keep this realization as close to you as you possibly can. It's that you remember having to you. Having everything is wildly different than having enough. One is an illusion and one is your superpower. And maybe you're looking around at a world that feels cracked and flawed. Maybe it feels like it's missing pieces.
Starting point is 00:20:49 Requiring that you make trade-offs and improvise. That's not the world working against you. That's life placing a map in front of you. Like Jim Rohn has said, it's not where you're going. It's who you become along the way. The truth will always be, if you want it, the pieces to take that necessary first step are there. Some people wait for perfection.
Starting point is 00:21:14 Sure, that perfect box of crayons, a life without curveballs, twists, or turns. Great. But as it turns out, they find themselves waiting a very long time. So why not step into the world now? Armed with two things. First, what you have now. And second, the understanding that what you have now is enough.
Starting point is 00:21:41 It will multiply, it will evolve with time, exponential growth is bound to occur down the road. But first, pull up the shades and let light in. Give life a chance to enter the equation. Let's not forget those basic unspoken truths, those things that at one point, way back in the day, were intuitive. Open the box of crayons. Turn on the camera. Make the call.
Starting point is 00:22:13 Write the book. Try the workout. Apply for the position. Share your thoughts. Is the moment perfect? No. And maybe even a hell no. But is the moment enough?
Starting point is 00:22:31 That's the question you should be asking. And the answer is yes. always we live in a world that tells us to go big or go home the change must be loud that impact must be massive and that if you are not shaking the world well then you're wasting your time but I believe that narrative misses something critical in fact it skips the most powerful part of transformation and if the light bulb hasn't gone off yet. That powerful part I'm referring to is you. You are not a spectator to this life. You're not here just to observe. You are the author, the builder, the one with the pen in your hand,
Starting point is 00:23:40 and a beautiful story to tell. And beyond that, yes, you also have the power to create massive change, not just someday, not just in theory, but now, today, in this moment. Here's my point, them in the case that I want to make. I think most people approach it backwards. They aim to change the world while skipping the only part of the world they actually have control over themselves.
Starting point is 00:24:11 They rage against the machine but ignore their own gears grinding from neglect. One of my favorite quote, as Tolstoy once said, everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of, changing himself. We want to change systems, governments, culture, communities, but we leave our own habitats untouched.
Starting point is 00:24:39 We leave our own lives in chaos. We try to fix people, but we haven't yet learned to lead ourselves. And that leads me to a story, a very simple story that I think brings this home. There was a young boy walking along a beach, short of course. after a storm. The tide had gone out, leaving thousands of starfish stranded on the sand, drying in the sun.
Starting point is 00:25:10 And one by one, the boy began picking them up, throwing them back into the ocean. A man who saw it from the distance walked up and laughed. He said, boy, you're crazy. There are thousands of those things. You can't possibly make a difference. The boy picked up another starfish
Starting point is 00:25:32 threw it gently into the waves and said, yeah? Well, I made a difference to that one. See, we overlook the truth. Every single day, we underestimate the power of one gesture, one disciplined mourning, one hard conversation had instead of avoiding. Because of its size and granularity,
Starting point is 00:26:01 we think it's nothing. But in reality, that little decision is everything. Because greatness, real greatness, is completely detached from applause. It's built on alignment. It's when who you are, what you believe in what you do all match.
Starting point is 00:26:28 Now, I say a lot of quotes are my favorite quotes, but this is absolutely, I think, one of the best features ever given by Admiral William McRaven. The University of Texas. And one of the premises to his speech, he said, if you want to change the world, start by making your bed. Because the simple act of doing something well, something meaningful,
Starting point is 00:26:55 but small with discipline and pride begins a chain reaction. It tells the world, hey, I respect myself. I'm not careless with my time. I'm not a victim of the chaos. I am a force within it. That's what we forget. Change doesn't have to start with the world. In fact, it can't.
Starting point is 00:27:24 It can start with your morning. It can start with your breath. It can start with how you treat your spouse, your kids, your teammates, your body, your craft. You don't need to carry the weight of the entire planet. But I strongly advise you carry the weight of your intentions. See, I've learned that broken people trying to fix the world often just project. They spread more brokenness, but healed people. They create ripples that outlive them.
Starting point is 00:28:00 If you fix your routine, you fix your energy. If you fix your mindset, you fix your response to setbacks. And if you fix your response to setbacks, you become unstoppable. This isn't about perfection. never was. It's about presence. It's about the courage to stop pointing fingers and start pointing forward. Look, maybe you're not where you want to be. Maybe the mountain feels too steep. Maybe you feel invisible in a world addicted to noise, but let me remind you something. You can change your life. You can redefine yourself. You can stop living on autopilot and start building a story that matters,
Starting point is 00:28:44 not to the masses, but to you and to those close to you, your family, your friends, your community, those who look up to you, that is real power. So no, pragmatically speaking, you may not save all the starfish. You may not reach everyone. You may never get a standing ovation, but you can reach someone.
Starting point is 00:29:14 You certainly can be a light in one room. You can change the direction of your life. And that's the only place change has ever started. You are the stone dropped in still water. You are the start of the ripple. So make your bed, keep your promises, say what you believe, push through, lead yourself. And when the world asks what difference that makes, you can smile. just like that boy on the beach did.
Starting point is 00:29:56 Pick up one more starfish and say today, here in this moment, I made a difference to this one. I talk a lot on this podcast about the idea that you don't need to settle for where you are. There are tools, there are resources, and there are people that can help. Sometimes the hardest part is just reaching out to them. That's where today's sponsor, Talkspace comes into play. So Talkspace makes getting professional help easy, accessible, and affordable. With licensed therapists and psychiatrists you can connect with from wherever you are.
Starting point is 00:30:50 I've had plenty of conversations with therapists before, and one of the things I've come to appreciate is just that perspective from someone who's outside of your everyday life. A great piece of this is that cost doesn't necessarily have to be a barrier either because Talkspace accepts most insurers. most people that are covered are paying $0. As a listener to this podcast, you'll get $80 off your first month when you go to Talkspace.com and use code space 80. That's SPA-C-E-80. To match with the licensed therapist today, go to Talkspace.com and enter promo code space 80.
Starting point is 00:31:30 Imagine you're standing on the edge of a cliff and you're looking out at this giant abyss. And you know that what you want is on the other side. That the very thing you're called to do, the journey of a lifetime that means the most to you that you know you should be on. But instead of, you know, making one giant leap, you hedge. You grab a handrail or a rope. You sort of tiptoll along the outside. bracing yourself for the possibility of a fall. Look, in a perfect world, we'll say.
Starting point is 00:32:18 When we know that we should be somewhere when something's calling us, we would always take the leap. And the times that I've done that in my life, I don't regret it at all. In fact, I attribute taking massive action to a lot of the growth that I've had in my life. But I think it also benefits us to be practical.
Starting point is 00:32:44 We can't always do that. We're not always ready to do that. Sometimes you have to earn confidence one little step at a time. And so what I want to do is tell a story about that very courage, about using what you have, where you are, to start taking action now. even if you're not ready to leap without reservation. It's a reminder that beginnings are rarely graceful, but they're necessary.
Starting point is 00:33:25 And years from now, when you look back, you might laugh at the ways you softened your first steps that you hedged. But you'll also realize that starting, even imperfectly, even with training wheels, was everything. And so I want to share a quick story about my friend Clayton. I was recently on his podcast. And we were talking about this, right? Particularly with him, he shares a lot on social media. It's a big part of his brand, his business, what he does. And he also happens to enjoy dancing, right?
Starting point is 00:34:03 And by the way, I'm not throwing him under the bus here. He'd be happy that I shared this. So he's saying, I love this. a big part of what I do, but it's outside the scope of what people know me for and really struggled to share it for fear of being criticized or laughed at or, you know, you can fill in the blank there. And he says, so one day I did. I filmed the video and I'm sitting there for 40 minutes looking at it, terrified, thinking, how can I soften the blow here, right? And he goes, I know what I'll do. instead of just posting the video,
Starting point is 00:34:42 I'll post it, but I'll write this really long essay underneath it in the description about vulnerability and the difficulty in life and some of these things so that people will see that and comment on that and send some positivity there to counteract the negative comments that I'll get about, you know, dancing and being made fun of and all these things. You can just see like the circus going on in his brain, right?
Starting point is 00:35:07 The loops he's jumping through. to rationalize this in his mind. And he says, I'm so embarrassed that I did that. I can't believe that. Right now, I dance and I just post it. Who cares? And not only that, people like it. And I'm listening to this and I'm like,
Starting point is 00:35:26 but that's exactly it. Right? We look back at our beginnings and we often laugh to ourselves. Oh, back then, I was so naive. I was so scared. I tiptoed in. I crawled before I walked, before I ran. Like, it's a sense of shame.
Starting point is 00:35:47 You know the phrase, meet people where they are? Well, how about meeting that older version of you where you were? Because back then, it wasn't a silly hedge. Back then, it was courage. It was everything you had. And yeah, maybe you had to make some small concessions in order to get the train on the tracks. You had to go the roundabout way.
Starting point is 00:36:12 In a perfect world, would you have just dove in? Would you have just shared yourself with the world and said, whoever doesn't like this? Oh, well, it's not for you. Yeah. But we live in an imperfect world where the most powerful thing is not a direct line to a goal or objective. It's starting when you're terrified to begin. Perhaps when that heartbeat in your chest is reminding you that being scared
Starting point is 00:36:41 and feeling alive aren't all that different. It beats the same way. The question is, what do you do with it, right, in that moment? And see, by starting, even with the training wheels or holding the edge of that cliff and tiptoeing around, you're able to breathe life into something that matters. You're able to give yourself an opportunity to say years later, wow. I remember how slow I moved back then.
Starting point is 00:37:10 I remember how I tiptoed back then. I remember how much I cared about people's criticism back then, but now, now I don't. Now I get it. That is the entirety of the point. You may not have been able to pick the fruit, but you planted the seed that would become the tree that would bear the fruit. And in the real world, that means a lot. Sometimes it's not about how you start or where you begin. that you do, that you do start, that you do begin.
Starting point is 00:37:47 I'll never forget a quote that Jim Quicks shared. It said, when all you have is 40%, 40% is 100%. And I've spoken about that in a few different contexts in the past. I think it applies here beautifully because time passes. And Clayton, for example, could say, man, I was operating at 40% back then. No, my friend, you were operating at 100% back then. because that at the time was the obstacle in front of you. Simply starting was the ocean you had to cross, and you did.
Starting point is 00:38:24 And what's interesting to think about is you right now. Are that person your future self someday will look back on and smile at? Oh man, I remember. I remember that version of me. I remember being scared, slow. I remember not knowing. I remember feeling stuck and lost and insecure. But guess what?
Starting point is 00:38:46 I found the courage somewhere to set sail. Ill-equipped, ill-prepared, and in that moment at that time, that was my Everest. So my friends, here we are. And I pose this question, what will you give life to? What is it in your soul you want to share, to explore, to give to the world,
Starting point is 00:39:14 but you're sitting back thinking, I can't because I don't have all the answers. This is too big or too much. Now is a good time to remind yourself that it can be ugly. It can and it should be something you laugh at down the road. You should smile at this novice version of yourself beginning a journey completely foreign to you. But the key word is beginning.
Starting point is 00:39:47 Give yourself the gift of an impact. imperfect launch into the ether. Let your world expand. To places you've never been and things you've never seen, give yourself that gift. In all, it's imperfection, because going through the imperfection is the perfection. Give yourself the gift of someday laying back,
Starting point is 00:40:20 closing your eyes. imagining the starting line and saying, thank God I did whatever I had to do in order to put one foot in front of the other. That little footstep, that hedge, that tiptoeing around the canyon, it was a leap. It was traversing the ocean.
Starting point is 00:40:53 And so because you found this courage ultimately a door opened to the infinite. I lost everything. And when you lose everything, God shows you what's real. Those words came from a good friend of mine. A man who walked away from the life he thought he was building, but not because he wanted to.
Starting point is 00:41:49 He separated because, well, it all collapsed underneath him. the career that he'd worked so hard on, gone. A lot of the people that he trusted and relied on seemed to disappear. Certainty essentially devolved into chaos. He blinked his eyes and went from successful and on top of the world to homeless and on the streets of New York. Everything he'd built, gone. he thought he knew, shattered. And although that seems like the end of a story,
Starting point is 00:42:31 what it was was the beginning of one. Because it brought about transformation, not only of his circumstance, but seemingly of his soul. This is not about someone just enduring or surviving, but it's like he awoke, eventually seeing through the noise, false perception,
Starting point is 00:42:57 through the performative layers that so many of us call life. And a few days ago, in Austin, I asked him, hey, how do you walk so freely? How are you so unapologetically yourself, right? You say what you mean to an extent I've never seen. You don't tiptoe. You don't chase approval. How?
Starting point is 00:43:22 And this is sitting across the table at breakfast. You know, he's holding his coffee. says, look, I've already had life take everything away. What's life going to do? Take it away again. When you've been stripped down to nothing, you realize that most of what you feared losing was never real to begin with.
Starting point is 00:43:46 And that really hit me. I don't know that old version of my friend, but I know the version sitting across from me at breakfast now. And I can only imagine what that process, what that pressure cooker felt like. But here's where it gets important for you, because his story is extreme. I'm guessing most people will never face the depth of loss he did.
Starting point is 00:44:14 And let's be honest, we shouldn't have to lose everything to find clarity. We shouldn't need devastation to become free. What if we could learn the lesson from his journey without the extent of the tragedy? What if we could simulate that fire without having to burn everything down to ashes? See, that's the difference between waiting and creating. Tragedy forced my friend to wake up. But maybe you don't have to wait for life to burn it down.
Starting point is 00:44:50 You can choose discomfort. You can manufacture suffering. You can create situations that challenge your comfort. that earn your confidence, that build the clarity he found without the collapse. It's like forging steel. You don't wait for the sword to break in battle, no, you temper it beforehand. You introduce it to heat and resilience, pressure, so that when the time comes, you are ready. If you want to grow, jump into the cold water.
Starting point is 00:45:35 Say what you mean. Yes, even when it's awkward. Get up earlier than you think you can. Stand your ground when you'd rather nod, smile, and conform. Walk into the gym, the meeting, the room when every part of you wants to shrink or hide. Because the little manufacture battles, they become stepping stone. each one proving to you that you are more than the voice of fear, each one turning you into someone new.
Starting point is 00:46:08 Talked about a moment recently about a kid standing on a rock ledge high above a lake. Summer Day, his friends below, already laughing and in the water. But he's shaking, toes curled over the edge, mind racing, his brain like any brain, I'm sure, scanning for disaster. What if I fall wrong? What if I hit something? What if it goes poorly? But standing still is its own prison. And in this situation, perhaps the only prison, right?
Starting point is 00:46:37 And so eventually he jumps, and when he comes up for air, breathless, eyes wide, he isn't just relieved. He is alive. He opened himself up to let the light in, becoming something new on the way down. He met a version of himself that hesitation could never reach. And that's the path for him. all of us. You can wait for the storm or you can learn to dance in the rain. You can wait for the loss or you can strip away those things that do not serve you. You can float through life hoping for peace or you can go to war with your fears and create it, which brings to mind an old tale from
Starting point is 00:47:22 ancient China where a great philosopher would tell this story about a wealthy man. who captures this bird and locks him in a golden cage, but feeds him the rarest, most extravagant seed. The best food offered it everything it could want, everything except freedom. Day after day, the bird sat still, wings tucked in. People marveled at its beauty, but it never sang. Then one day the cage was left open,
Starting point is 00:47:58 and though that bird was weak from confinement, it flew away and never came back. And when asked why the bird would leave a life of luxury, the old man said simply, because to be free and hungry is greater than to be full and imprisoned. Only in the sky could the bird remember who it truly was, and that's what we're talking about.
Starting point is 00:48:20 You're not here to be admired in a metaphorical cage. To be playing a role in someone else's story. You're not here to be acting out a place, prescribed for you. You're here to fly, to live truthfully, to sing your song, even if it shakes the room. Freedom, it doesn't mean chaos necessarily. It means choosing what you give your energy to. It means protecting your time and honoring your energy and chasing what makes you feel alive
Starting point is 00:48:52 and unapologetically cutting those things that don't. Because here's the truth. When you lose everything, life cannot take from you what you you're willing to rebuild. And when you choose to give things up, the people pleasing, the lies, the masks, you gain something worth far more. Yourself.
Starting point is 00:49:17 We're not here to tiptoe through life. We're here to run through it like we were born to, scraped knees, heart open, unshaken, to jump, to break, to rise again. Not as the same person. But as someone who knows what's real, we know what's possible. We know what's out there. The question is not, does it exist?
Starting point is 00:49:45 The question is, will you choose it?

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