DON'T FORGET YOUR PURPOSE | Best Motivational Speeches of 2023 (so far)

fear is a headwind or a tailwind it's a red light or a green light it's an end or a beginning you can choose I talked about this exactly a few months ago so it's fun to continue now since some time has passed and the technologies They continued to evolve last spring. I heard someone say that there will be two types of companies in the future, there will be companies that leverage AI and companies that no longer exist, and I didn't really know what to make of that at the time. time, but I made up my mind, I trust myself to figure it out after all, that's what we humans adapt to and we find a way.

I was recently in the middle of one of my YouTube audits and saw something interesting, there is a section of YouTube that reveals 15 channels that are similar to

your

s, basically there is an audience overlap, for example one of the 15 right now for me is Andrew Humman, so apparently a number of people who watch or listen to his channel also visit my YouTube channel, which I thought was interesting, so I wanted to dig a little deeper and while I was poking around some of those other channels, here's what What I found: About a third of what I can tell of the channels on that list were faceless YouTube channels with AI voice automation.

AI scripting and what I can only assume is that it is also AI video editing, which means the future state is here, it is not calling, it is not around the corner, it has arrived, it is well, I noticed it means two things, I can water the seed of worry, whisper. Hello friend, now you are fighting for real estate on this platform with robots and two are asking, well how can I add value in a way that AI automation cannot correct because there are certainly many ways and as you write this you know that it was like that ? something like H, it almost seems a little tired, how many ways can you say find a way to win?

But in reality, this is a perfect example of the crossroads in which we are always perpetually correct in every difficult situation in which we are tasked with growing. or die and I really appreciate that this is forcing me to evolve or at least faster than I would have done well, it is putting me in a position to inject more into my craft, that is not optional, it is a requirement and that is what technology always has and always will. I was joking with a friend of mine who, you know, said the same thing, like chat creates GPT.

You know, a great B minus job, how do you make sure moving forward that

your

s is A+? That is the question now and will always be the question and thought. about this i don't know how anyone could think they aren't powerful when in almost every situation the same tool that gives you life can also kill you the same things that make you stronger have the ability to destroy you the results depend entirely on not the tool but about its use by the actors. I call us artists because we all are and the proof is in what you have done with what you have.

I was playing around with the GPT chat this morning to see if I could write a quote-unquote Eddie Panero-style speech and I laughed because he gives these, you know, rigid robotic essays, but every single one of them was about life as a dance and uh and the world as a blank canvas, right, I'm like, wow, I did it! I don't realize that I said so much that it was uh uh what's Wood's name in Toy Story and you pull the thread that would be like my two spinning messages, but I think so, is there anything better to describe the freedom contained in time than we passed?

We are painters, we are architects, they do not give us good or bad things, they give us things and from our handling, interpretation and craftsmanship with respect to those things, they acquire certain meanings, everything is an opportunity, it is just waiting for us to grant it first. Permission to Become One When I was growing my company in the early years, from time to time I felt both defeated and just tired of feeling like everything I did wasn't enough, you know, that hamstr a wheel kind of feeling and I would have to find a way to get up again and again, and it was always like that.

Remember that this situation is neither good nor bad, it is just a situation. You have to take it and paint it on your canvas if you think what you want is bad. The painting will reflect that everyone will seem better than you, the path will seem too challenging, personally, I will assume a Person who is not enough, but if I start to think that the situation is valuable, it is an opportunity, that is what will be etched in my In In reality, we are vehicles that give meaning to meaningless things and knowing that you have that ability can make all the difference, so my thesis here remains the same.

Technology will evolve and so will I, but I think beyond that there is a truth less than Ling. It's not really about technology, it's about our willingness to adapt and make good things out of neutral and indifferent circumstances. There will always be a reason why you can and a reason why you can't, or to put it artistically, there are imaginary castles in the sky and imaginary shackles around your feet you can choose what to believe. I was recently in Dallas visiting some old friends and I was chatting with someone I've been friends with for a long time and he was mentioning that he had been going through some pre-life changes over the last few years and was excited about the fact that after a rather difficult period he had recovered or found his exercise routine again as a sort of rebirth of his old identity because, for context, he had always been a pretty person. athletic kid growing up, but just like it happened to anyone, you know, other things came up and took priority the moment they came in and you know, they consumed him for a period of time and I guess you know somehow, uh, that part he who used to fire on all cylinders was buried, he lost it and anyway we're talking and he says he had been a little depressed, you know, he gained a little weight and, according to him, the fight was to kill time for Fitness in your now incredibly busy. life has a little boy running around uh a time consuming job on top of that he's remodeling houses, he does a lot and this is the part that stood out uh for me, Eddie said, I've tried everything I've been through, you know, quick phases . where he was motivated but couldn't, you know, maintain that consistency.

I was working and then after work I was with my son, which was, you know, very short to leave him alone for 45 minutes and this is the funny thing because it sounds very simple but you know, he says I found a gym with daycare for being able to bring my son and exercise for 45 minutes and that's when I was able to establish a routine and that action or decision allowed my whole life to return to normal. A clue like that was the rock I had to move, which is the phraseology I want to focus on here.

I think it's brilliant the way he said it, you know, basically, once I was able to figure out how to work out in the afternoons when he's with me. able to make him sometimes go from being one thing to always being a thing that was again the rock that had to be moved and now I can clearly see in the conversation that the boy is happier, he feels better about himself and you know what it's like When you're in that space it starts to carry over into all aspects of life and I'm thinking this is very powerful, right?

I told him I'm going to steal this metaphor from rock and share it on the YouTube podcast because, in my opinion, uh, it's the way to see meaningful change. He gets it, it's not what I need to get, acquire or add, as you know we tend to think in those situations, no, it's what's stopping me from leveling up, what do I need to move to get? get rid of where the boulder is that I need to move out of the way and sure there is a temptation to oversimplify, but I think that's exponentially better than the alternative that makes things unnecessarily complex and in some ways that's what humans do

best

Worldwide. they're infinite, uh, numbers, data points and variables, humans just pick a few and create stories with them, so for me there's value in truly simplifying and saying "okay", that's where I want to be, what's the only thing that I could delete it and it would free me. up to start moving in that direction where is my rock that needs to be relocated? and it's funny when we find those things right it's like turning on the light in a dark room everything starts to make sense you feel momentum you feel like you're in Over and over again, how you feel when you go to bed at night becomes your identity.

It's not because you're solving the problem right away, but because you feel that progress equals happiness. We are stuck, the painful part is not necessarily being stuck but that we are not moving towards what matters, we need that growth and for my friend to see that the mental Rock of I can't have a good workout when I'm watching my son was moving , those two things are mutually exclusive, eliminate that limiting belief and boom, and maybe in your particular situation you know that there are numerous rocks that need to be moved, incredibly plausible, but we can only move one at a time.

And just like dominoes, you have to push the first one down before the other one starts falling, so where can you push? Which I also like because it emphasizes the power and control we have in our own lives. The situations are confusing and complex. I get it, but if you can simplify it to what's stopping me from going, changing, stopping, or whatever it is for you, what's the big obstacle? Well, there it is, let's eliminate, let's move this, it's like your frustration with immobility is a dam well and what you need to do is not add more water to the reservoir, but figure out what you can eliminate to start letting the water flow Right, you want it to move freely because I think life is a game of momentum, it really is. you win when you feel like you're making progress when you feel like you're taking steps it's when you're excited it's when you jump out of bed invigorated that's where you look for Solutions so look around you there's always a step to take in fact, I simplify to the extent that my Mantra is number one, knowing that change is possible and number two, knowing that the next step is within reach from where you are right now, understanding and believing that those two things are power, right?

Disillusioned by how far away the top of the mountain feels or how long you've been in one place wishing things were different none of that matters the goal is to build momentum and that's what you do, do it by initiating a small action that will help you. release You prepare to start walking that way and it's amazing when you're moving things seem to make sense in a way that they just didn't when you were stationary, so it's important to understand that you don't need to have all the In fact, it's impossible to have all the answers that the trip provides them.

The path contains the secrets, therefore, the goal should be to travel that path. Not too harsh, out of this world. Unrealistic expectations. No, simply be your greatest ally. what you don't need and free yourself from those unnecessary minutiae, it's time to come and go often as you've heard me do here, it's as if, life is messy, it's complex, it's true, it's a culmination of infinite variables and points of reference. data, but guess what our job is, guess what your power is to focus on the select few needed to tell your story. Human beings have survived for thousands and thousands of years because we are masters of simplification.

Masters of ignoring what we do. It is not necessary and distill the complex into what is feasible and maybe that is where you are now, what you most need to do. It's like I'm not where I want to be. Good in simple terms. Where do I want to be? What does my mountain top look like? What am I doing now that's getting in the way and what rocks do I need to move to get started on that path to something new? There are some pretty basic themes that constantly reappear in most of my videos and podcast episodes. the idea that, you know us, we have a controlling agency, the idea that fear can be an ally or, as Joseph Campbell says, the cave you fear contains the treasure you seek, the idea that you are not correct in your past and there are a few more, but essentially today's episode takes them all and places them in the palm of your hand, reminding you that in its entirety it is about you being the author of your story and you don't need the whole book, the written ideas, the character development and all that. comes to your head while you write while the pen hits the paper you just need to find that starting point self-assessment identify that small opportunity that was hidden beneath the excess and start with one of my favorite anecdotes or mon Ras is to work hard in silence, let the success be your noise, that idea in my mind is perfection, let your growth, your Evolution and yes ultimately your praise do this speaking for you, this always struck me for two reasons, one because things of value They have a high price.

I know that excellence requires SA sacrifice; In many ways, it's a daunting and worthwhile pursuit, and two good things because we often conflate turmoil with progress. In fact, some of my favorite books,whether it be deep work by Cal Newport. Relentless by Tim Grover, the obstacle is. the journey by Ryan Holiday uh part of what captivates me with this is the emphasis on what we are willing to do quietly behind the scenes, that's where true meaning and value is realized, it's also where it's hardest to commit to and continue forward because in silence there is no audience applauding for you there is no validation when you are building and reading and improving when you are in the gym or on those calls this establishes that foundation putting in the hours it is easy to look around us and have doubts it made us spin The brain did the work where's the reward? that I sacrificed then where is the payment?

It's not intuitive to understand that, hey, one of my favorite metaphors isn't visible yet, uh, the lily pond you're in is a pond with lily pads that double in size every day and on the 30th the pond is completely covered in them. So what day was the pond half covered? If we think quickly, we might be inclined to say: well, half of 30 is 15, then. it was half covered on the 15th, but that is wrong because if you double every day, that pond was not half covered until the 29th and only a quarter covered on the 28th, that is, every day before, the change was so small that perhaps it was not even visible to the naked eye, so small that to onlookers the prospect of it one day being covered might have seemed far-fetched, but what was at stake was the change necessary to set the stage to begin what which would eventually become the exponential growth that is noticeable.

Shocking now, of course, water lilies aren't human, but a little thought experiment, let's say they were. I would like to believe that talking about their growth, their plans getting them right, shouting about how great they are and what they will be one day wouldn't have helped them. grow faster, in fact, it might even have distracted from the necessary Evolution, growth wasn't them against the world, it was them against them and so that's the right idea, it's okay to work with you to make a deal, sign a contract with yourself that you are doing something now that only you understand and that won't be visible until a later date let success be your noise because there is often no correlation between the loudest person and the one making the biggest impact let success be your noise because you can't fake competence let success be your noise because leaders don't need to proclaim that they lead and winners don't need to prove that they've won and virtuous people don't advertise their virtue it's in doing that's where we pay the price, the high price .

I've always said that for the last 10 years for me the hardest part wasn't failing, it wasn't when things didn't go as planned, the hardest part was just not knowing, it was the whisper that hey, this could all be not to be like that. I'm wasting my time thinking the idea is a car without wheels and that's what hurts, but if I could go back in time, talk to my younger self, I'd say you know all this, the ups and downs of UPS Downs are turning you into who are you. It's meant to be and if something doesn't work out or doesn't go as you originally planned, you relax, you learn, you adapt and you move forward, that's how doubling of water lilies happens, using the same metaphor, you're learning, you're growing and that's a thing.

A few weeks ago I talked about the difference between a fee and a fine, as Morgan discusses in the psychology of money, the weight of not knowing that it's not a fine, it's not a penalty, it's the fee, it's the cost howls. enter the show the ticket to something bigger but you have to walk through that door again it's a decision it's personal it's a commitment it's nothing that brings you screaming and seeking attention you have to trust yourself believe in yourself true your effort is being doubled in size it is getting exponentially worse and you don't need to convince others, you need to be consistent and get stronger until the world has to take notice, trust the mission you are on, as long as one moves forward and two learn and adjust . destined for something greater by committing, you have stacked the deck by believing in yourself, you have rigged the game, it is about listening to and believing that voice that says there is more in store for those who take it and that you are capable of it, that It is the decision that finally Sounds so strong that it will resonate through time on that long trip in the middle of the night with the headlights and an endless road in front of me.

Everything I knew in the rearview mirror. I learned the value of making difficult decisions during times of disappointment. disappointed by those I counted on that I believed in I learned the importance of loyalty the power of being there for those who mean the most to you through failures stress uncertainty I learned that life goes on when you allow yourself to fall you build an immunity to the fear associated with hitting the ground you get back up stronger through heartbreak, loss, pain I learned to appreciate every moment to look around me and not take any of this for granted to recognize and appreciate the fragility of the present because with the snap of a finger life can change as a result of past anger and conflicts.

I learned to choose my battles. It's rarely worth my time. Our views are simply a reflection of our backgrounds and understandings and even the slightest effort. understanding the person staring at you can be the difference between building up and tearing down and not being ignored ignoring the smallest person in the room I learned the value of true leadership the benefit of empowering those around you and making them feel appreciated than walking alone Sometimes it may be necessary, but building a vision that those around you believe in is incomparable. Life is a teacher and only through the most difficult tests can its curriculum be understood, its ideas and lessons take shape.

What you need exists as long as you open your mind. With your eyes you will find an inevitable truth that this universe wants you to win, it is extending its hand to you providing you with everything you need, just understand, understand that the lows prepare you for the highs, losses establish wins, mistakes build a foundation For him The

best

things you will ever do, life is a teacher and, if you listen to it, you will see that it has no limits or restrictions. Only in the next chapter will I share something that over the years I have come to know is true and that is it in general.

The answers we look for tend to fall between extremes, so for example, you have two people, one person is convinced that option A is correct, it is a no-brainer that will get you to the promised land, and on the other side, the another person. is 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 it is the other. Fill in the details, the A's, the B's and the C's, the things that get the flash that we spend most of our time talking about, it's unnecessary noise and the nuances to winning is trusting your gut, it's getting comfortable with your authenticity as a base and then once you have that.

You can choose to sprinkle the other things on top as flavoring, but I want to talk about this idea because I have fallen into the trap and I think others have too by looking for answers in the wrong places while trying so hard to replicate the success. comply with other people's guidelines we are so busy asking what other people want to hear that we don't ask ourselves hey what do I mean and in the process we lose the most valuable thing 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 interests him, that's why it's so fun to read, his curiosity and passion always comes through or if JK rling spent his time researching what works. what sells books what do I need to buy what was made before me before she created Harry Potter we probably wouldn't have her brilliant imagination wouldn't have been shared with the world because let's be real Wizards at boarding school weren't exactly on everyone's radar.

There was no roadmap for that or I think of Jordan Peterson's lectures, I imagine that if he crafted his message around YouTube or Instagram the algorithms would lose all their power and meaning, it's authentic, it's raw, it's real, that's why We observe, but reality. It's just that every day we're told in strategically placed, tailored advertisements that, hey, John Smith achieved success and happiness and fame with this product or this service and without it you can't get what you want or we turn on our phones. and we access social networks. media and it's hearts and likes and double taps and we're not saying what we mean right, we're reverse engineering how to 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 get buried, what we're asked to do every day is manipulate ourselves to meet the demands of the platform or external criteria and I'm not saying that it is morally wrong that no atrocity is being committed Part of life is adapting, but what I am suggesting is that there is a danger that we are not aware of in the midst of all this chaos, confusion and manipulation, we tend to get lost and when we get lost We lose doesn't happen suddenly, it happens gradually.

Little by little, one concession at a time, we don't snap our fingers and disappear, we slowly slip away not because of what we do, because of what we don't do to fit in, you know how everything in our solar system orbits the Sun. Well, what? what if you thought of that Sun as who you are when you are with your friends or family when you write and say, you think about what matters to you without social media, without brands, marketing and social pressure, just who you are, that should always? be the core of your world, your north star, which should be the measuring stick for whether you are on the right path, not the externalities that ask you to change your key to fit their lock, what have you redesigned in our appearance?

What if we built a world where people expand who they are and what matters to them, where we had the courage to say no to the latest trend, article or advice because it's simply not who you are? What if you were so confident and then if we believe that some of those externalities will help us, then sprinkle them on top, but they revolve around you, you don't revolve around them, that's the difference to be content, you have to be the center of your own Universe living according to your guidelines. so instead of looking around and trying to decide your strength, you know based on what will be accepted or promoted or what has been done before, do yourself a favor, take a deep breath, take a step back and just simplify, you know what matters and that's enough, you don't do it.

I need the world to tell you that, so while the masses fight over solution A or solution B, maybe you will understand that both solutions solve the wrong problem and while the masses argue, you know which car goes from 0 to 60 the most quickly shout about the features debate which brand is the most reputable. Hey, at least you'll know why you drive, 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 overhead roofs. -line speakers if you stay calm in the midst of great chaos it is the best guarantee that it will eventually subside Julie Andrews one of the most powerful things about intentionally immersing yourself in difficult situations is that it prepares you for the inevitable adversity that will come your way When it's unexpected and unplanned the obstacles that life throws at us all is why I often draw a line between fitness and athletics and the real world doing workouts that are difficult for me, particularly resistance training or interval training, creates a level of exhaustion.

We don't tend to meet anywhere else. It is a phenomenal practice to separate what needs to be done in the moment from what we feel. Decouple those two things. It is mastering chaos in a controlled environment that improves our ability to handle stress in the world correctly. What continues to appeal to me is when you're at it going from set to set for 45 minutes straight without a break, there are particular moments where your heart rate is elevated, your body is fatigued, you're pushing your physical limits and under a different set of circumstances. you would stop maybe you take a breath because that's what makes sense to do but this is the powerful thing right in those moments you learn to float above it all that's excess it's noise it doesn't matter right you're separating anything that Isn't the question Whats Next?

You don't have to perform any Miracles or break any records. You don't just find a way to calmly perform one exercise after another, one step after another. Your job is to not stop and, again, this is a microcosm. of what we face in the world when the world is chaotic and stressful when our minds are preoccupied with what is in front of us because we are notsure of how much longer we can sustain what is happening in the present moment, that is when we get to work hectic and frenetic, sometimes erratic in our decision making, but this reminds you that you can be stronger than your environment, your circumstances, you can say no to the chaos that tries to attract you, as Victor Frankle has spoken, you may not have control over your circumstances, but you always have control over your attitude, what does this mean?

Well, the incentive is the green light to take a step forward you don't need to think about how you would like to feel you don't need to think about how you would feel 10 minutes from now the goal is not to breathe and simply consider what to do this idea is translates beautifully when something goes wrong at work when a relationship fractures when you feel slighted by life The Temptation is to let everything consume you but if you are able to take a breath to compose yourself and focus only on what must happen next, there is no Nothing that can stop you when you don't give up your control to external circumstances, you have everything you need to do it effectively.

Navigate through them, nothing matters, nothing more than your ability to carry out the task at hand to conquer that adversity that is excitement in the midst of difficulty, right? Simplicity, as the saying goes, is the ultimate sophistication and there is nothing simpler than breathing, executing and You will find your way home, dear younger self, there are many things you don't know, many, you are pretty sure you understand them , but you couldn't understand them because the most important things in life are the ones you will remember. They're the same things that seem like footnotes in your story, background noise hidden in plain sight, so younger, listen to me 'cause time goes by fast and we only have one chance to do this dance, one chance to get this right , younger.

Me when you wake up be grateful for the shoes on your feet the house you live in the life you lead because if all you do is focus on what you don't have or the next milestone happiness becomes a mirage younger me the world like you I know it's not something that was meant to be, it's here because people no smarter than you have the courage to build it, never be afraid to challenge what it is, this place will be better for it and the younger it will always be easier play. It's safe to stay comfortable, but I want you to understand something that's not where you'll find the good stuff.

If you don't take the risk, you'll spend your time wondering what could have been younger. I believe in your greatness, this world can be. a difficult place and if you don't believe in yourself no one will do it for you no one will give you heaven win excellence every day it's there I promise you, younger, don't get distracted by the little things, the little things that consume so easily our energy and emotions, don't lose sight of who you are and what means the most to you, everything else fades away. Younger me, you didn't have all the answers, but somehow you were exactly what I needed you to be.

You created. a map that showed that change cannot occur until one falls victim to life's imperfections, that risks are not taken until you have experienced regret, that confidence is not gained if you do not learn to be a student and, most importantly If you don't allow yourself to get lost you will never discover who you really are in 20 years when we meet again, younger me I know that you will do the same I know that you will have given me everything I needed nothing more and nothing less because time passes quickly and we only have One chance to do this dance, one chance to do this right and I promise you, younger one, it won't be in vain, you weren't put here to live in the shadows of life. exist beyond the reach of the sun to remain on the outside looking in no, you were not put here to live in the shadows of life it is important to remember the difference between now and forever the distinction between today and tomorrow because of They occasionally look deceptively similar, especially when we inevitably find ourselves in the darkest of times when, despite our best efforts, our world is reduced to hopeless shadows, when tomorrow and today have merged into one infinite entity, always It seems to be in these times that we

forget

that right.

Now it's just a moment, not an assigned permanent, but a bridge to something great, as Victor Frankle says, if there is meaning in life then there must be meaning in suffering, we all suffer, we all suffer, we all go through periods of time in which we can. I don't see or hear or feel anything beyond the darkness we find ourselves in, but it's there. Darkness cannot be defined without light. It's in the definition. Darkness is a partial or total absence of light. They need each other. Darkness and light are the only things it can bring. Knee-deep darkness is out there everywhere around you and if there was ever a reason to have hope and excitement, there was ever a reason to believe it's that a new life is always just a light switch away, it's that darkness is as temporary as day and night.

The antidote only requires that you believe it to be true, only that you find the resolve to reach out a foot to remind yourself of the warmth of the sun and the infinite beauty of a world beyond this temporary darkness because you were not put here to live. the shadows of life, but to rise like a rocket through the Earth's stratosphere, to swing from a scar like a star, as if life were a playground and you make the rules, and I think when we look back We will be nothing but grateful for those times of darkness. in a sense it prepared us for the road ahead by giving us what we need most, life lessons in perspective, a road map to follow because you don't appreciate the light, the sun, the clear blue skies, the wind in your face, the sound of the waves, the screeching.

Not from birds, you don't see the beauty in any of it until, even if it is taken away for a moment, you don't learn about the abundance of life until you come face to face with scarcity, you don't learn to give until you They have taken away your world. You don't learn to love until you experience heartbreak. You don't learn to have courage until fear overcomes you. You don't learn to grow until you're really stuck. You don't learn to believe until you look in the mirror and doubt tears you apart. You don't know who you are until you learn what you don't see.

Everyone finds themselves wandering in the dark, sometimes for their own sake, sometimes for destiny, but like the leaves changing color in the fall, the Earth on its journey around the Sun, a wave that emerges and falls back into what came. It is not an end but a beginning the way in which life prepares us for what is to come by introducing us to the infinite possibility of tomorrow because you were not put here to live in the shadows of life but to emerge from them to illuminate the world. I know you were not put here to live in the shadows of life.

Human beings do not see, we interpret. we don't assume what happened, we take into account the implications of what happens, everything in our world is a story, it is similar to the idea of ​​two ideologically different news organizations correctly reporting on the same event, neither will be completely objective, both They will defend their individuality. The narratives are not black and white, they are interpreting gray space and our individual lives are no different. We are our own broadcast channels using data to support our individual narratives. We know what history is going to say before it happens because we will do it so that life fits our beliefs, that is what it means to be human and this is where value lives in the context of this message, when we find ourselves in a constant state of despair, frustration or anxiety, is nonsense.

Errand to look for solutions in the external world because everything we encounter, everything we encounter will support our current beliefs, our current story, that is what we will continue to play in our heads and that is why money cannot bring us satisfaction and another person. No. taking you from incomplete to content that's why status will never equal happiness those acquisitions are like putting premium fuel in a car with a broken engine it's just not the answer we expected it to be to change your world you must change your story whatever it is Either you need to change the location, the objective, the characters, maybe the journey all together, but it's the neural network behind your eyes that needs to change, not the details it picks up, so if you feel stuck or you feel like where you want to be seems unrealistic.

You have to know right now that the mere fact of thinking that way is the problem, so ask yourself not your girlfriend, not your boss, not your neighbor, but ask yourself what a change of direction looks like. Do you know or have you gotten used to being unhappy? You even wondered what happiness is like or is your personal broadcast channel so hell-bent on ensuring your life Outlook stays the way it is that it doesn't even pay attention to the data it takes. I wholeheartedly believe that the first step in any facet of transformation. It is remembering that you have control that the things in your life that depress you or hold you back can be changed;

In fact, the same things that work against you can work in your favor, but you must be aware that you must think about it now. I'm not a believer in Magic, right, I don't think you'll sit back and say, I don't want to be unhappy again, snap your fingers and smile until the end of Eternity, but I do believe that once we become aware of our shackles manufactured. and our self-imposed limitation we can start to eliminate by doing two or three small things every day, little swings on the tree until it falls well if I am not happy with my work life, well, what would a better situation be like?

What closes that gap? I will wake up 20 minutes earlier on weekdays and master Microsoft Excel. I'll send a message on LinkedIn asking an expert about the field I want to move into. I will read 20 pages a day in a business related book, you think those things are small, look how they compound in a year, not only that this is the most important part, you are taking back the power, you are taking control and that is what feels good, that's where we get our identity from, you get a little disappointed in how you've let your physique slide when you look in the mirror, don't be sad about it every day, ask yourself what the opposite is like and start doing small things, subtract a sports drink and add a green smoothie, double your water intake do a daily 10 minute workout on YouTube like the pieces are out there and finding yourself again is realizing that are out there realizing that you're playing a movie on Loop in your head that's not right just isn't you and well, what movie do you want to play in an ideal world?

Scroll through the library, find it, click play, and start doing the little things that make it real. There is so much power in progress. I've seen this play out in different areas of my life, but particularly as a writer and speaker, it's like you identify who you want to be, you start doing Tiny Steps and after a while you're surrounded by the change you've created, how can you not believe something? What you are beginning to live has to become your identity because it is you, it is around you, you breathe it, so look around you and realize the malleability of your situation and if what you find is not good for you, here is your opportunity. to tear down the old and build the new, you can do it because you are in control because it is within your Gras, so start the new movie, the new story, become the hero and prepare to find yourself again sitting in my office with your head weakly illuminated in my Hands disappointed mainly with myself for letting the opportunity slip away because I had it.

It could have held in place. I saw her run away and in frustration I leaned back in my chair. I looked up and noticed a small rectangle of light subtly bouncing off the wall I had made. its path from a small gap in the curtains completely breaking the uniformity of the darkness its presence indicates how much exists outside our periphery during those difficult times reminding me how much our darkest days only remain as long as we refuse to let the light in and how the periods Cravings are inevitable, but now it is up to us whether we lay down because of them or pile on and lean on them.

I don't know why what we need is harder to understand during our most vulnerable moments, but I do know that we are capable. to get up or light a match in the middle of the shadows of life. I know we are strong enough to take the curveballs and complexity and not just exist with them, but transform them into our stepping stones, so many times the endings we didn't think we had. We wanted to become the beginning We didn't know what we needed It's not about being perfect, it's about getting up when your soul feels heavy and your body weak, making your way to the window, opening the curtains and letting in the light and the key to maintaining the perspective.

Never giving up your control or composure is understanding that there is value in what apparently has no value and that when we want it mostTo bow our heads and retreat to a place of sadness we must hold on to the fact that somewhere beneath it all is the reason why you will not only press on but emerge victorious from the ashes of despair stronger than ever when the light goes out. the light and shake your world to its foundations, not to check your progress but to remind you that you can be the light. You can endure the din beneath you that we will never fully mitigate adversity, but perhaps we were given the greatest gift of all the power to decide what will become of this, here is the way even when you don't want to move forward when you don't feel comfortable stepping forward when you're afraid.

Here's the courage. Today I was talking to a friend of mine about how to understand the difference between two things, on the one hand, the fear that comes when we are leveling up like we do." We have all felt nervous before a big event or a major life change, things like that, on the other hand, the emotions that arise when we start to feel that something is not right for us, similar discomfort, but not exactly the same, we feel nervous or uncomfortable. because we know we are out of alignment and where we landed in our conversation was that when you were on the edge of that metaphorical cliff and your body is pushing back your heart is pounding your mind is racing you are nervous you are afraid the question is worth it The question is: Will I be disappointed in myself if I don't follow through with this?

Will I be disappointed here when I return? You have to jump into the future and imagine that you know the future. You're sitting at the table pondering this if you see. If you feel regretful wishing you had moved on, then it's not a problem of alignment, it's a matter of courage and when you think about it, it usually feels obvious looking back, like I can easily recognize in Hind the things I stopped doing, uh, because they weren't aligned with what I wanted to be. When you stop doing the wrong thing, it feels like a breath of fresh air, like a step.

Back to Leap Forward those decisions create a more fulfilling life, but those times I stopped because you know I let the moment become bigger than my ultimate goal, those times I gave in and decided I didn't want to pay the price solely for the temporary discomfort. I remember those that are a different feeling, together, a feeling not so good as we all know, Jim Ron puts it like this, there is a pain of discipline or a pain of regret, choose your pain, one of the things that makes life challenging is that we have to be open to some level of discomfort in our lives, that is what it means to be human, now our power is that we can choose where we let that pain in and what it means, what it will do for us, it will be the type of pain that It makes us grow or the kind of pain that reminds us of what could have been.

I truly believe that most of the time we stop not because the path was wrong for us, but because somewhere along the way we

forget

that most of life's best experiences and circumstances and opportunities come with a high price, they demand of us. a lot and in those moments when the lights shine brightest when we feel the weight of the world bearing down on us, it's easy to misdiagnose that discomfort as a stop sign, it's like, oh, I feel. I just feel insecure I don't have any validation my pride hurts my confidence shakes whatever it is these things you know even when I say them out loud now they seem horrible when in reality they're just the cost of admission right, it's like no You might have to know it before you can know it, but try to tell yourself that as you walk around feeling nothing but pressure, right, it's a whole different story, it's a challenge, but here's the good news, it's a challenge you're capable of. .

Coping with life is about tackling things we don't feel ready for and then repeatedly learning that we can rebuild knowledge along the way; It reminds us that fear will appear regardless of what we do in life, but it will grow. towards the people we are capable of becoming, we have to understand that fear is, in its own way, an invitation, discomfort does not mean that something is wrong, often, quite the opposite, it lets you know that there is more available, that you are right where you need to be. But you have to change to be worthy of what is on the other side.

Life is not about saying no, it simply requires courage and the courage you have. I was watching a masterclass by author Margaret Atwood, um, it was on storytelling and you know, I knew it would be interesting to do. I'm not a particular fan of her work, at least from a content perspective, but look, we're talking about someone who, as you know, really left a mark on the world. There is much to learn. from her, so I buckled up and listened to what she had to say and, as expected, there was a lot of wisdom there and there was one idea in particular that really resonated with me as a writer, yes, but also outside the creative space between quotation marks. which I'll get to in a second, the idea was centered around finding the moment to begin the true starting point of a story and it was interesting, she said, you know, people think that stories start on page one, but she takes a book and I don't remember if I was referencing new authors or maybe someone, a book that just came off the shelf in a bookstore, but you'll be reading it and you'll think, "Okay, so this story really begins on the page." 10, that's the starting point." I think she even referenced her own writing process when they were a few chapters in and she thought, "This must be the starting point." and Captivate an audience, you need to give the reader a reason to stay, but you could also easily draw a parallel between that and, you know, a bigger picture of our real world.

The only thing I could think about was knowing what story you're telling yourself. and where did it start or, more importantly, has it started? There is something both liberating and beautiful about the fact that all of us in the stories we are living could at any moment recreate that metaphorical stage of the first page and I think with all my heart I like it. We think, oh, page one started years ago, this is how things are now, this is where I exist in life, but what about the idea that beginnings don't have to start on page one?

What's with the idea that you can cut back as much as you need? to create the right beginning, the story that feels right to you, we owe nothing to the words that have been written so far, we are not beholden to the chapters that came before Robin Sharma talked about the idea of ​​killing off Your Darlings. which is an old saying that refers to that very challenging task that the writer faces by eliminating things that are not absolutely essential to the main narrative of the story. It's hard to do. We place value and importance on these things because we feel them as part of us.

We feel that they are too important to discard when in reality the act of letting go is ultimately value-added because it ensures that what matters is what remains, It is the ability to understand that history does not begin when thoughts become words. It begins when there is alignment when the story captivates inspires and in which you write what is your life you can always make that moment right now there is always a new novel that can be written with new objectives and characters and plot lines it is okay to cut Anything that is there brought to this moment it is okay to create a beginning just as you are here today.

It's the idea of ​​sunk costs that changed my life years ago. Just because you spent a lot of time making a mistake doesn't mean you have to continue making it. Just because you've been writing your life story for years doesn't mean the beginning is behind you. You can start this novel here. You can start this epic adventure now. I think there is tremendous power in looking at life like that. It's never like that. too late for a new beginning is never wrong or impossible, even in chapter 4, to point to a new starting point and say this is where everything begins, where the new ideal takes shape, we are all authors and if authors have any Control over the narrative is the ability to design a world that aligns with the one you imagine finding because, first and foremost, there is always a way to find a way because you are more than strong enough because anything other than a solution or a semblance of progress It means you gave When I called it, I quit, I threw in the towel and giving in is not who you are.

Find a way because that discomfort today becomes our greatest source of pride tomorrow. The simple decision to continue or endure is now much more than it seems. being poorly dressed, sure it's easy to turn around, but it all depends on you moving towards that Darkness, find a way because while we may think we want security and need predictability, our souls want Adventure, the meaning of life is made up of mountains climbed and dragons they slay. So go out and slay your dragons, find a way, because an evolved self must be won. Keeping the promises you make to yourself is no small test.

Putting your head on the pillow at night knowing that you fulfilled who you decided you would be. That is the power, create a trajectory towards infinite possibilities aim for the stars find a way because you must reinforce the fact that the world is clay to be molded not a checklist it is a game not a task a gift not an obligation when you find a way you become the ruler of your own view of the Kingdom there is a way a way that is not the question the question is one of effort is there the will to go beyond the parameters imposed by others by the past by the thoughts that bounce in your head?

Willingness to endure duress in the short term Is there a willingness to fall now to look foolish and not always be perfectly packaged or put together? Are you willing to endure that in exchange for infinity? I remember hearing the Mantra there is always a way to get to your finish line it is not possible it is not possible it is not how I get there the points exist you have to be the one to connect them you have to build bridges over the oceans of the unknown The compound valleys for the unforeseen oh there is a way remember that remember that it is not destiny that is in question but one's will to knock and knock and knock until the right door opens remember that you have everything you need that you are armed with everything What is required for you were created to connect those same dots before you you just have to decide what is more important to you that feeling of reaching the top of the mountain or the feeling of its shadow at the bottom what will you give to be more than what You've never been to do more than you've ever done, there's always a way, are you willing to find it?

If you have the capacity to love, love yourself first, Charles Wowski, so last week I was in Utah and while I was there I did some guided breathing work that I had never done before and honestly I was a little skeptical at first , but I try to keep an open mind and gave it a try, glad I did it, it ended up being potentially one of the most important things I've ever done that I want to share. Because? Because this defining moment or aha moment, if you will, was exactly what I needed when I needed to hear it, so this episode will be a little different than usual, but I feel compelled to pass it on, so to set the scene I arrived with a friend. me to instructor Jen's location, she gave us an overview, explained to us what the next hour will be like and gave me a notebook to write down my goal for the session and the notebook becomes quite important as the story progresses but I opened it and wrote what I would like to use in the session to reflect.

It turned out that it was the walls I tend to build around myself that very day that felt like the most pertinent obstacle in my life. I saw it as an opportunity to fight against that reality that human beings love to create normal and then cling to it, that is not ideal because when we do that we stop looking for places to grow, we stop pushing, we stop trying to live life. to the maximum and in other words we settled in and then I wrote them down, uh, I closed the notebook, I laid it down on this incredible furry blanket and the music came on, we started the breathing pattern in, out, in, out.

Jen began to guide us verbally and took us back to a Conversing with our younger selves, the journey had begun and this is the part where things get really interesting because my thoughts really felt like a strange mix of dreams and hallucinations alone. by breath work, but at some point she referenced the need to let go and said. the words you know we were not meant to suffer or hold on to suffering and that really hurt me deeply because I know there are so many places where I have rationalized continued suffering in my life that I would speculate that somehow we all do it when the difficult or the uncomfortable already You know, when they stop being stepping stones and instead become the way things are, it becomes a concession.

Hey, this doesn't feel good, but it's my life, thisperson stops me, but that's how things are, I don't. I don't like doing this every day, it devours me, but well, life, I'm right, it's learned helplessness, it hides in the nooks and corners of life, it subtle enough that we don't think much of it and I very vividly imagined myself going down. a ladder placed on the edge of this Dark Canyon going down, down, down, my entire landscape was black and white, there was no color except for the barely visible rays of light at the bottom, all the way down. down as he descended into the canyon. the colors that become a little stronger, a little brighter as each step puts a little more vitality in my life, each downward movement made things a little clearer, the staircase became faster and faster and Finally it became a slide that took me to the base of the canyon where when I landed and when I got up everything was illuminated fields of sunflowers waterfalls birds singing the sun shining and it was there at that moment I realized my intention for the class that I I wrote down in that little notebook, well, it failed, not necessarily in the feeling of being incorrect or mistaken, but it was simply not enough to see at the root of everything or at the bottom of that Canyon, there was life with the courage to love yourself, not just accept yourself. yourself not only be okay with your existence but Love yourself with all your flaws and your struggle with all your mistakes and your story It became clear to me how much changes when you love with all your heart the person who looks at you in the mirror the opinions of others do not guide your decision by asking how others could know you better than you in fact those opinions are part of the black and white landscape that is left behind on the top of the mountain the constant suffering to which you have become accustomed the learned helplessness that you endure that is not It is acceptable for someone who truly loves themselves or themselves to love themselves means to push away what is not you is to find that ladder to the beautiful world of authenticity and Truth The Magic of being aligned with what really matters and The funny thing is what I can talk about breaking down barriers, they should be broken, torn down.

I can talk about entering into fear because you have to face it. I can talk about finding a way out when we are stuck and a way up when we are down. I can talk about all that. every day of my life but none of that matters if you don't learn to fully love the reflection in the reflection more more than you ever thought you could think about the gift you could give that younger version of yourself think about what you could give to your loved ones your family your friends think about what you could do for the world if you put those black and white concessions behind you and lived a life true to yourself of course it's not always easy but that day I learned that it is the North Star, it is what we build on, so before we ask ourselves how to shape the world around us, maybe we can We should ask ourselves how we embrace the one within us, maybe we should learn to love ourselves ourselves so deeply that it is not necessary to tear down those walls because, in time, we will learn not to build them in the first place. to learn that in a world of black and white it is acceptance and trust and love that gives color the miracle is not that I finished the miracle is that I had the courage to start John Bingham we all share something in common the runner the pillars of starting the one who is at work the one who studies the one who is trying to create the best possible life for his family look we are all at the beginning looking up but an idea nothing given nothing to adjust or react to not just an idea and ideas when they are in the bottom looking up are deceptive by nature their size their weight their breath they like to present themselves as much more than they really are and that is why to turn ideas into things one needs to see oneself not as a descendant of Mount Olympus charged with raising that 2,000 ton rock before them, but as someone armed with the understanding and awareness that the 2,000 ton rock before them can be broken down piece by piece, that it is nothing more than a façade and, although it may stop to the majority in your path, you are simply not the majority not because the world treats you differently but because you see the world differently knowing that you are greater than the sum of your parts, you have defanged this wolf, you have put yourself in a position to do what makes the world shake, what causes even the most trusting to doubt, you have put yourself in a position to begin to see, there is a time to look at the mountaintop breaking through the clouds. powerful and majestic and then there is a time to look at your feet and right now is the time. last you are not worried about big things no, not at this moment your job is to move towards this Haze to not see but adapt to not know but trust that things will materialize Mater and you know it but at the same time you cannot control the future, Your battle is right now and it is with the space immediately in front of you, it is with the thoughts that try to deceive you, it is with the things that the outside world will tell you, but Forward Motion is the antidote to all that and so on.

We have to start, it is always difficult because our thoughts are a more powerful enemy than life's obstacles. Thoughts take on a life of their own. They become monsters. Demons. Dead ends. Obstacles. On the other hand, it only asks that we adjust. There is no obstacle that cannot be. It is approached by entering into it and so, while the Temptation is to sit back and speculate about how challenging the path ahead is, this is where you think less and move more, taking advantage of the world as it comes because the truth is that nothing is as great as life seems to be.

It's incredibly solvable Every problem has a solution Every bad chapter ends Every setback has the chance to be more than you've ever been But how would you know that if you bowed down to the mountains in your head How would you know that if you never So stop May today be the dotted line that you sign with your future self, a promise to be aware that the top of the mountain is watching you, but not to be distracted by its shadow, to climb one rock, one step, one second at a time. , let it be a recognition that nothing the light throws at you can't be torn down and conquered as long as you don't get in your own way.

Gone are the days when you were held captive behind steel bars of insecurity and fear that the path ahead is not the best. The problem was never to refuse to give yourself permission to travel down, that was the problem, so, without restraint, face life head on, let the trials and tribulations arise because they will, but know that you will rise to face them, Let the unknown highlight everything you don't do. I don't know that you can't, you can't see well, the only thing you are sure of is that, one by one, you will transform the Invisible into strength and when those thoughts arise telling you that you have gone too far, that you are at the end.

Your head thinks this is not for you. You don't know them as truth but as the only obstacle that can derail and distract. You don't have time to pretend monsters. No, not today, so go ahead and map the unknown to tame the untamed. living your life as it should be lived it is not about what happens to you no one escapes adversity no one lives free from discomfort or misfortune or struggle it will not always be about what you do with what happens to you in other words it is not the event it is the answer is not the obstacle but the ability to navigate around it it is not the wave but the ability to harness its momentum into something greater it is not what happens to you it is what you do with what happens to you the famous Roman Emperor and Philosopher Stoic Marcus Aelius said that you have power over your mind, not external events, realize this and you will find strength, and I think this understanding boils down to the fact that there is always a way buried beneath everything, something powerful to harness, but Getting to courage requires a change in the questions 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 I cannot continue to be that person or achieve what I set out to do but now I am that person. person, how will I adjust my path to get there?

We are operating within a world of value. Unlimited opportunity. Difficulty simply pushes us to that value faster. Speed ​​up the process. It forces us to open our eyes and. Let's see that the world works for us, so let's take, for example, the fear of starting something new, that fear that it doesn't have to be an end point or a red light indicator. Fear does not mean you are not qualified, prepared or equipped. it just lets you know that you've finally gained the courage to step out of the safety of the only world you knew and into the turbulence of growth toward the path of something better and where it's easy to walk away from that feeling and turn your back on it. chaos and retreat to something simpler, perhaps something more predictable or contained, what if you saw fear as the price we all have to pay to pull back the curtain on the best things life has to offer?

Changing the question of will I be afraid? Instead, this is important, this is significant, therefore it is inevitable that I will experience fear, but what will I do about it? How will I behave in the midst of fear? Will I move forward? Those are the questions that contain value. I can't keep the water. of rising or the walls of sinking no, that is inevitable where I am going to go, the worthwhile path always has its adversity, but will I use that water to learn to swim the walls to climb, adapt and climb, what will I do with this what is it? the question that becomes the difference and sure you can stay away, you can choose not to take the path that presents danger and turbulence, you can try to contain the world around you by simply refusing to experience it, but then of course you are presents the question why intentionally refuse to cash a winning lottery ticket why diminish your gift in such a way if what you see is not what you see why see the world as an adversary why see yourself as less than what is the saying goes when you fight for your limitations you can maintain them you will never outgrow the person you have decided to be and yes, the world can be intimidating, it is unknown, in many ways you cannot control the characteristics that make life what it is, but you can always control yourself just like you can't control the wind but you can adjust your Sals you can't control the bonds but you can predict, plan and execute accordingly you control yourself and that's where the power is and of course there are there will be times when it will be hard to see when it's not your first instinct to find value.

Take for example a change, a loss, the end of a relationship, the point at which people tend to feel lowest. It hurts to have something and lose it. May you question what you were once so sure of what you once believed, but this does not 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 recognize them and do 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 the same idea different context when those walls feel like they're crumbling you have to know there's more on the other side beyond what the eye can see and this is not just an idea I play with in my head.

I make a concentrated effort to think this through every time. something goes wrong when my first reaction is emotional my first emotion is anger or frustration it's like taking a breath pull yourself together and start looking for courage because here is the truth the world is not going to end today there will be a moment in the future when I look out over my shoulder and right now it is a distant memory, what have I done with it and it is the moments that could have broken you that contain the greatest transformation. I like to say that the biggest tragedies or the most difficult moments made me who I am. today the losses taught me that I had everything I needed the failures showed me what I am able to endure the moments when I was disappointed they taught me to depersonalize the flaws of others but at the same time to protect myself against them the moments when I lost myself They showed me that we only discover or reach our potential when we leave the small day-to-day realities that we create because we have control not of the external but of the internal and that ends up being a bridge to a reality that means something so that when we do it If you are at the base of a mountain looking up, understand that there are two ways to perceive The Climb: you can see it as gravity pulling you down while the Earth stands in your way or as an opportunity to ascend to a version of yourself. which did not exist before. only it didn't exist but it wasn't available this is your chance the same opportunity that the vast majority of the world would ignore or misunderstand that the majority would be afraid and deterred by the majority would live in stories about who they are not and what they are not capable, but you are not, you did not place that mountain before you, but surely you can extract the value from it.

All you have to do is decide that you are capable and that the meaning, value and freedom of tomorrow means more than the discomfort of today,If you allow yourself to do so, you will become truly unstoppable, not because the path became simpler or easier, but because the traveler trusted themselves to travel it. The other day I went to see an open place. microphone and basically people sign up to share their short stories, their poetry like that and I'm sitting there taking it all in enjoying each one as they go up on stage and finally this girl comes up, the first thing she does is she says to the room hey , I've never done this before, but I've always wanted to, so here I am.

She pulls out her phone and starts reading some of her poems and two things quickly caught my attention. One is that she was brilliant. She's so incredibly talented that I'm thinking, man, if she keeps doing this, she's going to find herself in some crazy places, she's really going to have an impact act, that was the first thing and the second thing, as I sat there and watched, uh, was that I realized. that her hands were visibly shaking. She was pretty close to this stage and I could see this happening to the point where she had to place one on top of the other to keep the hand holding her phone from bouncing around as she read This is how visibly nervous she was and my mind immediately went down this path. reflecting on the moments I've had like this because the man and I have been there where you are determined and terrified at the same time, but somehow the desire to try overcomes the fear enough that you find yourself in that exact situation, enough so that you enter a strange world and still wonder if you made the right move.

You know every step of the way from the car, the building to the stage. until you get to the point where it's okay, well, now you can't go back, now you're here, you can't leave and the thing is this is what was so beautiful to me, she was never forced to do this at the point of gun, no one did. Her step into that chaos was of her own making, she could have stayed home, she could have closed her journal or the notes app on her phone and that would have been the end of it, but not today, today, one yes would lead to another. . to another and another and despite the nerves, sweaty palms and trembling hands, she would open a new chapter in the story of her life, she proved to herself that she is bolder than she thought just a few hours ago and that there are advantages when faced with those unknowns. in life and as I sat and watched I felt incredibly moved, very proud, very impressed, partly because I know that to a lot of the people in that room it might not have seemed like a big deal, you know, okay, a big round of applause for the new. welcome artist or poet, but I knew the gravity of the moment, I understood how great he really was and, regardless of the words that came out of his mouth or how well they were put together, that night was not about the performance, no, it was about of New Beginnings, it was about Spread Wings, opening your eyes to learned help and pointing out the opportunity that was just waiting for that first step to happen and seeing that that's what I want to emphasize that that's what I think each of us You need to understand to achieve the most important steps we make in life.

It is easy to convince ourselves that they are not necessary or that they are not worth it. The things that transform us are often hidden. They don't feel urgent They aren't life or death decisions They can be the stages we never step on the people we never talk to the risks we never take because well, what happens if we just stay where we are? Say thank you, but. No, thanks to those fleeting opportunities, nothing, nothing happens more of the same and, realistically, nothing is less scary than all those other things. We do not fear anything. We do not inherently fear more of the same.

No, we are afraid to go on stage. Fear of vulnerability. We fear making mistakes, looking stupid, and being judged. And yes, when you do nothing, you can skip all that and avoid all that discomfort and potential pain, but you also miss the feeling of victory of closing your eyes at night knowing how much you wanted to. Just letting that ship sail, how terrified you were of what could go wrong but you did it anyway, you feel like you've earned the rush of taking a step into a chaotic world and even if you temporarily mastered it, that's what you know.

It's about life, always remember that. We have a natural propensity to avoid pain, to not chase the things that make us feel alive, deep in our DNA there are instructions, instructions to run from the things that could hurt us, embarrass us, our minds will race, our bodies will kick and scream. . hands will shake, this is how it works until we prove to ourselves that everything is conquerable, that reality can be relearned, it is a layer of resistance that must be faced and then dismantled, why I was so moved that night, because I could actually see it.

When someone dismantles that fear on their way to something incredible, it is courage to enter the arena not for the people next to you or for anyone else, but for yourself, because you know there is more, you know that where you are pales in comparison to where can you be I am definitely someone who looks back from time to time and reflects and I will tell you that I am incredibly grateful for the difficult times that shaped me, the challenges that were imposed on me and made me who I am, but beyond that and perhaps even more so the times I went out on my own terrified and made changes the times the fear of staying the same overshadowed the fear of failure the times I could have stayed home I woke up the next morning and lost nothing but instead saw what there was I had to win it and I threw myself into that metaphorical fire so that trust could be forged and new chapters could be written.

Let us all remember how out of focus the present moment looks. Let us remember how inclined we are to look at life through a lens of scarcity. You're trying to avoid, avoid, avoid, but if you can even briefly find the strength to step back and ask what's to be gained, you'll see that not going is the real danger and that those seemingly arbitrary stages seem like optional stops on the road. path while they are as imperative as the air you breathe, they are not some things, they are everything, we all reach a point where we look back at the paths we traveled and see the culmination of steps that have come to constitute our lives and that we want. that moment to feel full as if no stone was left unturned as if we put everything on the line so you will enter this stage of life stand strong as the curtain opens read your poems to a foreign audience you will share your voice even though it trembles because if you do you are giving yourself permission to truly live to feel look, we won't be here for long, this is a very short trip, so why not give as much of yourself to the world for as long as possible?

Why not go out knowing that the difference between nothing and everything is what you do with shaky hands? There's a saying that just because you spent a lot of time making a mistake doesn't mean you have to keep making it. There is an incredible advantage in life. those who can separate the past and the future, who can recognize the sunk costs and move away, move away from the past, move towards new things, but here is the challenge, like so many things, our instinct is to preserve, yes, but I have invested so many years. I've spent what you do The direction you take from here on out - there is no reason to think you have to maintain the same trajectory or hold on to a specific identity or behavioral pattern - yesterday is not the focal point here the goal is simpler what matters now and how you will achieve it Now you've grown, you've evolved, you've changed, and your goals have changed, so why shouldn't you?

The idea of ​​sunk costs is so important because it is essentially about realizing that you are not beholden to the resources you have spent. or exhausted, there is no need to be a slave to previous decisions you have made, just write it down as an integral step in your learning process, an aspect of growth and moving towards what matters, what matters to you, if that seems obvious. I challenge you to think about the decisions you've made over the last year and I guarantee you've let factors affect your decision making that are irrelevant to your goals because we feel this camaraderie with yesterday like there's a debt to pay, but Man , life is too short to run in a place if it doesn't push you forward, leave it if it's not what you need, forget it, in other words, don't be one of those people who wakes up and makes the same mistake every day because I have spent a lot of time making him see that reality only exists in your head and that is why it is beautiful, you can open the cell door and leave, do not lose sight of the greatest gift you have, the new beginning that lives in every second where you can.

Take a turn you've never taken before Take off your mask and play a role you've never played Let that feeling of excitement lead you to new things Let go of what you can't change and chase what you can forget in the time spent Think now Where can you invest now? Your environment didn't magically arrive. You chose it and you can just as easily take that wheel and leave a simple formula of what is best for you and how to get there, not where you feel obligated to be or where you are expected to be. or pressured to be where you need to be everything else is noise everything else is a rope that keeps your ship on shore and you are not confined to that port or to yesterday's destination you are built to chase the horizon follow your curiosity until the sunset no You make decisions based on yesterday's history, you sculpt it with the possibility of tomorrow.

You don't have to know everything, in fact, you don't even need to know most things, but you do have to know that progress often requires us to move. moving forward without knowing it requires that we be willing to learn along the way to pick up the pieces as we go through them that is a vulnerability that is sometimes difficult to face truth is a nakedness that we never really get rid of the idea that in order to grow We have to leave now ill-prepared for tomorrow, but knowing that we have everything we need to make the transition, losses become lessons, failures become data points, mistakes become our clarity and until Let's understand this, there really is no upward trajectory. placing too much value on the known the things we understand the cyclical nature of a day to day that is as much as life can be predictable and certain characteristics that are actually the antithesis of growth in fact, one could argue that in this incredible era of information, our need and ability to know often comes at the expense of true transformation.

I studied podcasts for so long before starting one that I could have created and improved on my own. I don't know 400 times more. I had to figure out who wears what, when to upload, how long the episode should be, and so on, there are books and videos, there are classes and trainers, all wonderful, I'm sure, in their own way, but nothing as powerful as that University. of experience of Life the idea of ​​the Thinker and the Doer The Thinker who absorbs and contemplates weighs one option versus another and another exhausting long enough for the Maker to fall on his face twice picks up the pieces makes the necessary changes and continues on his way see the Information is out there, it exists, and it can be incredibly valuable, but at the same time it can help us think our way toward stagnation.

One thing can only be what you do well. Things provide the value that you decide to extract from them and I like to use the example of Water because it is simple, water is necessary to sustain life without it, you cannot consume too much of it, however, it can sink a ship or flood a excessive building, it is disastrous and you can know that, more or less, fill in the blank with anything else here to demonstrate. At that point, life is a balance between insufficient and excessive, scarcity and excess. My opinion is that now, with respect to information and technology, we exist on the excessive side of the spectrum.

I mean I can't even remember the last time I had a conversation about something I wasn't sure about without interrupting it to pull out my phone and Google the answer again this has its positive aspects knowledge is power but to what extent and I'm talking about the big picture here it's about so much more than you I know that picking up a phone to Google information is about never feeling like we're equipped enough to step into something new because we can always get more and it's like where? Do you draw that line? Now, due to the accessibility of information, I find myself.

I frequently stare like a deer in headlights because some minor detail has not been clear to me because not everything is perfectly resolved my brain has been conditioned to know because knowing is now incredibly easy but life is about generating a meaningful existence, the Meaning is carved from unknowns, not sought inGoogle isn't even on Wikipedia, a podcast or a YouTube video can't give you meaning, they can help you prepare or point you in the right direction, but meaning is about self-discovery, it's about, yes, taking those things that you learn , but give them, life, you know, is drawn from the world around you like diamonds from the earth, necessarily calling to go when you don't know exactly what the destination is like, starting when you don't know what the end result will be in which we are consuming . the cost of living absorbing the expensive feeling there is the idea that a book of business is not the same as creating a business being on social media is not the same as being social is one aspect of those things that are offered without the risk or the good thing is that it is not real life and one of my favorite movies Goodwill Hunting Robin Williams' character a therapist is talking to Matt Damon's character he plays This brilliant young man who has a photographic memory, has read all the books in the world library, he is a genius, but even with all that, he does not have the courage to step out of his small world into something bigger and take advantage of the opportunity that is available to him if only he would find the strength to seek it and here is an M section of Robin Williams. trying to explain that to Matt Damon, he says if I asked you about art, you'd probably give me this detailed information about every art book ever written.

Michelangelo, you know a lot about life's work, political aspirations, him and the Pope, sexual orientation, it all works out, but I bet. You can't tell me how he smells in the Ctin chapel. You never actually stood there and looked at that beautiful SE. Seeing as if I asked you about women, you'd probably give me a syllabus of your personal favorites. You may have even been late a few times, but you can't tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You're a tough kid. I'd ask you about war and you'd probably throw Shakespeare at me. just once in the gap dear friends, but you have never been close to one, you have never held your best friend's head in the lap of your life and seen him gasping for his last breath, looking to you for help.

I look at them. I don't see a smart, confident man. I see a cocky, scared kid and the quote continues, but the idea is powerful and one of the reasons I've rewatched that scene over and over again isn't because I'm trying to put down the guy. character who is trying to help you explore. the depths of your own personality, your needs and desires, trying to arm you with the understanding that you are strong enough to go beyond the walls you have built around yourself, that all that knowledge you have gained and acquired has no meaning unless you give it life, knowing that it is not enough. and I want to qualify this again because it's important that you meet me where I am.

I'm not advocating ignorance or books, knowledge, understanding, that's critical, but it's the other piece that makes life worth living, you don't get the reward. without the risk and the risk requires one to step into the fog without a clear understanding of an outcome, you are moving towards life without complete certainty and we are programmed for that certainty, we are made to want to know and now, on top of that , we have the tools uh to acquire infinite knowledge I want this to be a reminder that we have to circumnavigate that idea to a certain extent we have to trust ourselves to figure things out as we go that waiting until we have everything figured out Just leave the door ajar For I regret sneaking in and getting comfortable, there's a whole world out there waiting for you not to have it all figured out, but to stumble upon the realization that you don't have to know that to move forward you have to just trust, that's when The world It will transform before your eyes.

I want to share with you a topic that continually resurfaces in my life and every time it does I am grateful. I'm a little bolder, a little wiser, a little more grounded. The idea is simple. It's creating a low barrier to entry. Let me explain you. What I mean is, I was on a call the other day with Ashley, who was a brilliant member of the team here and we're talking about social media and as we talk, I go on and on about the ending. Say how I think things should be in a perfect world, you already know our platforms and the outcome, and it's important to know that for this particular project we're on the ground floor, so I couldn't really know what the end state is.

There will be many epiphanies to be had, there will be twists and turns that you could not anticipate. I think it's great to have a North Star in a vision, obviously, but winning in the long run requires observation, reflection, adjustment, and more. So, as I'm talking, you know she's listening, she nods her head, you know you agree with the vision, but after thinking about it a little bit she says, well, why don't we start with what we have now? We keep the barrier to entry low so there's less friction and we can start to see how you know things evolve and I thought that was just amazing, right, that's what I temporarily lost in the moment, sure, you win if you go and then you evolve.

It would be amazing if so many chases were never started because I know we make starting them too complex. The same thing happened on another call that same day and I'm talking to Tyler, a business partner for another project coming up and I'm sending him videos talking about ideas for Roll Out. different avenues we could take, which again is great, it's better to have a big vision of Lar and cut it down than to have no vision at all, but the conversation is the same, you know, Ed, I love it, it's great, but what about If we start with one thing? idea, let's get the gears moving, that had to be the topic of the day and I appreciated it well, so some thoughts: one, surround yourself with smart people like Ashley and Tyler to keep you grounded, but second, and perhaps the main point, stop creating friction for yourself. when you're starting new things, I've talked about this in different contexts, you know, and I've included it in my daily life in many ways, like if I go for a run, you know, I have the ability to run. things by the door and ready to go with a glass of water the night before so that when I wake up the process feels so easy that not going would seem stupid, but life is complex and so are we.

It was a great reminder that your Managing something in one area of ​​life doesn't mean you'll implement it across the board and I appreciated that reminder. It was what I needed at that moment. The reminder that winning is going to win is starting because you are diving in. in the process and you're acclimating, you're seeing what works and what doesn't, you're growing instead of taking 3 more months to set parameters that will probably change anyway. One of my favorite mantras is Simplicity. It's the ultimate in powerful but sometimes elusive sophistication, but if you can keep it front and center, it adds immense value to your life.

The most powerful thing you can do is have a general sense of direction and follow through with what Ashley and I have now. We will change our social media tactics many, many times in the future because we are collecting data and we are moving forward. Tyler and I will approach our business in probably countless ways because we're not in love with one particular strategy. in love with the end goal and maybe you in your world are at a point where you are looking to start something new and you are playing with the pros and cons, you are listing ideas in your head categorizing details and nuances that surely seem important at the moment , but will it always be correct?

My advice to you is to mitigate the details and instead value finding the courage to start now, before you are ready, before you have all the answers, before you know how X Y and Z will play out to mitigate friction to such an extent. that you will know that the chase feels like an ice hockey rink where you slide towards what comes next, never underestimate how powerful it is and rest assured that in 3 months or more. a year from now the journey will not be the same you will be better at execution and wiser at strategy because you simply created a low barrier to entry you took advantage of perhaps the most important skill you possessed you started the other day I was on a podcast with Evan Carmichel, who is a YouTuber and entrepreneur, and we were talking to Shaquille, who was the host, about the mental side of the entrepreneurial journey, how we set goals, but also prepare for the inevitable adversity associated with growth and a question that Shaquille asked.

We were, where do we see ourselves in 5 years? Okay, so she notes on the side. I have a unique relationship with this question as someone who was unsure and experimenting with her career for much of her adult life. I never knew how to answer it. I know it's like two things can be true at the same time. It is a very reasonable question. But I didn't like answering it correctly either. I hated him to the core. You could even say that I could never really articulate why it made me uncomfortable. years is a lifetime, how am I supposed to know?

And again, don't call the host at all. It is a very common practical question. I'm glad he asked it because it opened the door to a pretty interesting conversation, so he asked the question anyway and uh, I'm thinking, oh man, how am I going to approach this? And before he says a word, Evan blurts out, look, if you know exactly what you're going to do in 5 years, you're thinking too small and that comment saying it made me happy was an understatement, it was like thank you for saying what you said. my mind has been trying to rebuild for a decade and a half you know, if you know exactly where you're going to be, of course you're limiting yourself there's just too much predictability too much routine process and not enough experimentation not enough life why because growth is unpredictable takes us places we didn't expect shows us things we didn't anticipate reveals truths and small miracles about ourselves that we must face We would never have seen it if we had disregarded all the variability and opportunities of life.

Now, does this mean that we are not moving with conviction in a general direction? That means no? We have no goals or ambitions. No, I certainly have them. I don't think it's right, you can't achieve goals you don't seek, that will always be true. It simply means that life is not about being perfect and achieving a particular result, but about making adjustments throughout your search for meaning if you feel closer. to your

purpose

when you change the medium then change the medium if that means you know your heart tells you that the left is where the value is and not the right then go left and go right to me it's essentially a reminder that life is not a black and white, yes or no checklist or test, it is a game and you have to give yourself the freedom to play, you have to give yourself permission to grow.

I think about how long 5 years is and how 5 years ago I wasn't even thinking about creating media that way. Now I do it with the incredible team of people who help me. I wasn't speaking on stages. I hadn't created my creative style. I didn't know the people I know now who introduced me to not only new people but also new ideas. These are characters, these are stories, these are opportunities that present themselves only when you immerse yourself in the journey and it was okay not knowing exactly, but just moving forward in a general direction, the most important decisions in which you know, look back, not at what I said yes, but to which I said no as I went through life experimenting, learning growing, I was able to create something that worked for me, not for other people, not for what's in the books, there's no one sheet. route, no, it's an experiment and this is more of the peace of mind I would have wanted during those years from an earlier version of myself like it's okay to not know exactly where you'll be, just promise yourself this, if you care, you'll find a way to move towards that and if not, then Let it go, surround yourself with people who encourage you and if they don't let them go, you will hear a lot of conversations about the right way to do things, especially in this information age, those ideas and decisions have been correct. but they can also be wrong for you try to prove it and if not, let it go the experiment that is your life is the reward it is a luxury it is such a beautiful journey you know don't lock yourself in for some invented theoretical plan no I don't avoid the path to a new world because I checked my list and this doesn't line up with where I said I'll be on February 23, 2028 now go live your life do the best you can to exist in that place the intersection of what love and what adds value let it bend, let it transform, let it teach you things about yourself and the world, there are no right ways to live, but I think there are certainly some wrong ways and that is time spent out of obligation to adhere to a story that means nothing to you.

Press to see what brings you back to life. Your steps together will reveal truths and tell stories you could never have imagined. It is in the future that your book is written and it is just afriendly reminder that people don't read books for the last time. page the end no, they read them for those things right in the middle of the trip, so the next time they ask me what my 5 year plan is I will probably say the same as my 10, 20 and 30e plan. I don't know, but I can tell you that I will not lose sight of that North Star that calls my name but at the same time I will not be afraid to wander in the night, dance in the moonlight, even get lost in the shadows from time to time.

It is directly correlated to one's willingness to move into darkness and into that Darkness we will go. What is the difference between paying a fee and paying a fine? The answer to this question may not be as small or insignificant as we are inclined to believe. I recently picked up the book The Psychology of Money by Morgan House. It presents some very valuable concepts and ideas about how to invest and manage our finances to increase our wealth, but there is one idea that I wanted to share because yes, from an investment point of view, it is important, but it is relevant to much more. and I think understanding it will help us in many aspects of life, so let's first start with the financial part and then we will expand the metaphor correctly because Housel talks about how we should look at investing in the market and one of the most difficult things for us to face is market volatility, right, it's hard for us to invest our hard-earned money and then watch the market go down, say, for example, 20%, like seeing that huge drop in Our investing is not fun, all the The world knows that can be stressful and deters many people from investing or saving their money when they should.

Ultimately, it prevents them from earning the returns available, but this is the point. ago, he says that those people who see volatility as a fee and not a fine are more inclined to win in the long term, understanding that market returns are never free, they demand a price and that price is the roller coaster that everyone we have to face. That's what the market is with, it's the ups and downs, the ups and downs, the volatility is the cost of admission and if you understand that you are more inclined to stay calm, keep your long term vision, you are more than likely to come out ahead.

On the other hand, if when that turbulence comes you know the sudden shocks, the ups and downs and you see it as a fine, as something terrible that is happening, as a punishment, you are more likely to act emotionally to be reactive and make decisions that do not suit you. make it clear that he mentions Disneyland, for example, the fee is $100 and people will gladly pay that fee because you know that they will get that great experience with their family and their children that they will have for the rest. of their lives that 100 dollars is not a fine, it is not a punishment, it is an intentional and deliberate exchange of one thing for another and if you saw it as a fine, you would never enjoy that experience if you thought that 100 dollars was not a fine.

A punishment, uh, just wouldn't be the same, right? So why do I mention all this? Because I firmly believe that the best things in life have that price or a fee like home status, but I also think that Sometimes I have a tendency to see that cost, that same admission cost, as a fine, as a problem, when Not really, it's just about exchanging some turbulence now for a reward a little later, sometimes the right thing is the difficult, the uncomfortable. The dividend thing will pay off as long as we understand that it is opening the door to something greater.

Leaving a situation that you know is not good for you hurts, right? We've all been there, we all know it in some way, but it's not a punishment or even a bad thing, right, it's that the discomfort associated with walking away is a toll that will allow you to live a more aligned life in the very near future or let's say that you're building something meaningful, something you care deeply about, but it's just you, you and the idea, there's no validation, certainly, no external reward yet, and moving forward in those moments is difficult, it's emotionally draining, even, but This feeling again is not a punishment, it is not a fine, it is the fee, it is the cost of admission to bring something to life. that wasn't it isn't there The best moments in life are expensive it's just you're going to do it pay the fee to achieve it with a cost of regret at a different time and you understand well you can take this and apply it to so many things fall criticism feel lost having to start from the bottom these things are not fines they are fees they are price tags and often the initial price is a bargain compared to what we will receive in return we just have to stop perceiving their mere existence as if the world works in against us, no, these are opportunities in disguise, they are easy to miss. the important things to discard the uncomfortable things the hard truth is that our greatest opportunities are often intertwined in our distress that's why so many people shy away from the things that will improve their lives that's why so many people withdraw their money from the market uh when you have to sink so many people walk away from a project or idea when things get challenging or on the contrary that is why so many people do nothing at all they stay in situations that they are not happy with and they know they need to change because The fee to get from point A to point B seems too expensive, but I think the value is in comparing the inconvenience, the cost, the fee and what it will bring you in the future, because it is often a bargain, we must remember that it that will ultimately provide has the potential to change lives understand that resistance is not a fine, it is not the world telling you no, it is life asking you, hey, do you really want this?

Because if you do, it's yours, as long as you sign the dotted line and pay the price most people will pay. Let yourself be dissuaded by this, most people will turn around and walk away, but most people also leave a lot of things on the table and I don't want that for you, you don't want the world we live in to be one. of abundance. So when life pulls back, understand that it is simply positioning you to go beyond your limits. We define their worldview and while it's not free to enter, it's worth the price, you have to see it before they do, you have to believe it before they do it.

You have to be the architect of your plans and your goals because no one will build them for you and that's it, in a world where victimhood is becoming commonplace and blame is becoming the norm, we have the option to create a temporary and fleeting escape or create a life. that matters, you know how much easier it is to project yourself into the world so you 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 that person who is there to do Make up stories and scenarios about what life would be different if it weren't for a b and you see that it stops you.

I mean, in the short term it's like winning the lottery. You don't have to take any responsibility. You don't have to have difficulties. conversations with yourself you don't have to reflect on painful memories or decisions you can't put your feet up sit down point at the world and say look what they made me do if only but this is what isn't said every time you point your way away your finger on your own chest every time you project blame you are disappointing yourself why because we only grow when we take responsibility yes, responsibility can be painful, uncomfortable, but in that discomfort there is the only bridge to a better tomorrow, that's right, go to the gym you stress your muscles you break them down so they can rebuild stronger personal responsibility it can't be the muscle we refuse to develop the stakes are too high it can't be what you avoid why because it's what injects meaning into our lives.

I will never forget it in the 8th grade and I bet every person in that class, to this day, remembers my teacher, Mr. Bon Court, walking to the front of the classroom, he had his hands in a bowl. he formed and held it against 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 wait and hope and blame, you will lose, that is the recipe for bitterness. and resentment thinks of it as a fork in the road where our two options are very different, you go left at the fork and enter a world of escapism refusing to face your problems finding reasons why you can't do what you know what you need to do Do you hate others, those who have grown or created themselves or do you go straight to the fork, you learn to do the hard thing, humble yourself and take control of your life and your world when things are not as they are. you want them to be.

Look around and immediately ask questions about things out of my control that may have brought me here, but what can I do to fix it? Those of you who have been listening to me for a while probably know that my favorite expression of this idea was explained by Will Smith. He basically he said, Look, you can't control where you start and how true that is. Life is not fair. Some people are born with more resources and opportunities. Some people find themselves in social situations that are not ideal and that list can go on and on. and by the way, human beings are all different, so there will always be disagreement, but and this is Will Smith's point, where you go from here will always be your responsibility, what happens next is all your choice whether to complain, shake your fist at the sky and blame. the world around you or pick up the pieces and move on and, as I said a minute ago, don't be fooled by the temptation to hold on to that fleeting moment of relief of running away from responsibility;

The only way to win in the long run is to face your demons is that saying when you drive shotgun you can race the route all you want but ultimately it is the driver who is in control, when will you take the wheel on your own? life and surely the stakes are higher right now? in you now you can get lost now you are responsible for the maintenance now if you don't end up in the right place or I don't know you are late to a destination it is your fault but now you can also be the one who supervises the trip now it is yours and that is power and as our world becomes more and more one of escapism, it becomes more frequent, it is easier to avoid or not fix something, but tweet about it, how easy it is not to confront our problems but to open up.

Instagram Facebook Tik Tok and scroll without thinking how easy it is to leave that message in red and move on with our lives because that is easier than saying what needs to be said, strength is being the one who in the midst of all this escapism and evasion confronts what that must be faced whether it is an interaction with another person or that difficult conversation with yourself, a personal change that must take place, life is a great gift, it is a great opportunity, but we have to go through it with our eyes open, we have to see things that matter and that we gravitate toward. truths that will shape us, as Mr.

B said over 20 years ago, we can now never fall into the mentality of raising our hands to the sky and asking life to give us something that we cannot point only to ourselves when things are going well. the way we want them to go, no, let's talk about empowerment of responsible skills, 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 the most important thing is that I have everything I need to make that happen, it's all awareness, the idea of ​​victimhood is a wolf in sheep's clothing and I know it can seem like harsh, maybe even lacking in empathy, but abandoning that narrative was truly the best thing I've ever done. in my life and I know many others who would say the same you can't be a perpetual victim and be in control no life is hard it knocks us down and sometimes brings us to our knees but this is a reminder that you can't stay there it's a reminder that those who contributed to the situation are now minor details and background noise, it is a reminder that the path forward is about you, it is about you putting all that aside and asking yourself what it will take to move in the direction I want most.

You want to go because you are so powerful, you are strong enough to make that move and there will come a point where you will look around you and the circumstances of the change, the people are different, the environment is different, you are different and you will smile at it. knowing that it's not because of what the world gave you it's not because of what someone gave you it's not because of what people did or didn't do it's not because when you were at your lowest point when life threw you curveball after curveball When I looked around and maybe even thought: There is no way forward here.

You found a way to get up and create something new. I was running over the weekend, in the middle of the day, right under that hot South Florida sun, I was doing a stretch of about 3.7 miles that is one of the six or seven legs I was doing for the ultramarathon that day against the watch fighting the heat, you know, starting to really suffer, which is the perfect environment for the thoughts that we don't want to let in, that's where we design the commitment. I made excuses and I was running all morning, so as I got more and more tired, you know, my mind inevitably started searching for a solution.exit, rationalizing, slowing down.

I think everyone has been there in one way or another and after struggling with this for About a Mile I realized that I am doing too much, not physically but mentally, building cognitive enemies that create complexity. See when you feel uncomfortable when you are in pain. Things become incredibly complicated, seem chaotic, lack of clarity at least to me. It creates anxiety, but that lightbulb moment was, you know, during that leg running into Key West at 12:00 p.m. With miles to go and unanswered questions there is nothing complex about the situation, there is no mystery to solve, a riddle to solve, in fact, on paper, this is one of the easiest things I have ever done, Why, well, because all I have to do is not stop.

Doing nothing, maintaining this rhythm, one foot in front of the other, that is my only task. There are no rabbits out of the hat. I don't need to create the unthinkable. No, at that moment, all I had to do was not stop and that really meant that. the heat didn't matter, the distance didn't matter, the world didn't matter, those are details too complex for me right now, at that moment, they are way above my pay grade. I reduced the objective to the simplest. of tasks embark on the easiest thing I had ever done, just keep going and I started thinking about the things I accomplished in my life that I am proud of being knocked down, getting back up, fighting for what I believed in creating, seeking answers and now here I'm really going to entertain the idea that I can't just move on.

I'll be mad because this beat doesn't feel like lying on a feather bed. No, I like it simple. I love the simple. Simple equals Clarity. equals progress equals happiness who cares what's around the corner because knowing that won't mitigate the next 10 steps I have to take and eventually that's exactly what I did. I started counting my steps in groups of 10 because that was really all that mattered and I liked it. you know all the things before you know it you look up and the storm has passed and I reached the end where my teammates were waiting with water and cold towels and I got there without abandoning my only mission, not by an act of heroism but for thousands of small acts that will remain invisible forever and disappear into the Universe I simply carried out a mission that I cherish my favorite quote an old coach of mine used to always remind us that sometimes success is simply holding on when others let you go, that's it all.

That's all because we are so inclined to overlook that simple truth because we believe that great results require monumental action and when you are exhausted, when the miles ahead feel like a huge task, we search deeply for enormous solutions, but the answers They are not huge. They are tiny, they are small things that do big things and when I think about my youth, my childhood, the times I gave up or got discouraged, it was always because I didn't immediately cross the finish line or hit the home run. I didn't immediately get the immediate answer, but now I can look back and think if I realized that a walk or a single day takes you to the moon, that it's not about the miraculous, it's about just continuing, which It becomes miraculous.

We cannot be fooled by the appearance of immediate triumph or false expectations. No, let's remember that anyone can simply move forward. Anyone can take one step further and that is all that is required of you. That's all you can do. that next step because if you can do that, the big picture, things materialize, you start crossing the finish lines, the balls start leaving the park, the small victories accumulate and evolve. Life changes don't miss what matters, don't overlook the simplest things because that's what finally takes us home today we're going to talk about how to keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground simultaneously, manage the big picture and the small things, endlessly believing that things will work out, that there is an answer that you will eventually get. there and that you will not give up until you do and at the same time you are brutally honest with the facts on the court and the reality that surrounds you many times.

I think there is a tendency to combine positivity with detachment from reality, but they are very different things. right, you need them both for success to develop, you need the big picture and you need the details, the steps, the little things that add up over time in the book, well, Jim Collins calls it the director of Stockdale, where Admiral Stockdale, um, I think. At the time Commander Stockdale was shot down during Vietnam, he was a prisoner of war for over 7 years in Vietnam and it was obviously a brutal experience and you know. One of the things that helped him survive was being painfully pragmatic and at the same time at the same time knowing in his soul, with every ounce of his being, that he would finally get out, that the men he cared about and helped so much would finally get out, and so, when Jim Collins is interviewing him, he knows, Admiral Stockell says, what set him apart. those who made it and those who didn't, and the response is incredibly surprising, it says optimism because the people who were overly optimistic said we'll get out on Christmas and Christmas. comes and they don't come out and then they say okay, okay, we'll go out, we'll see our families at Easter and Easter comes, they're still there, okay, maybe next Christmas next Christmas comes nothing changes, he says those are The people who died of a broken heart there was too big a gap between reality the components necessary to progress the way they wanted to progress the way they thought you know you have to be willing to look in the mirror and diagnose a situation you know that that applies to business it applies to your personal life dream of a big small step believe but act be aware of the world around you the reality in which you are living well you cannot change something you do not intrinsically understand you cannot progress if you have not analyzed something and this is not about your capabilities this is never a call to doubt yourself it is to be strategic this just says that you need to understand reality in order to improve it if you want to be the next Michael Jordan, it is a big ask, it is a lot , it is possible, you can do it and you must believe with every ounce of you that if that is what you want to do, it is a pursuit that you know is worth undertaking, but you also need to know what it means to be Michael Jordan, you must understand the commitment , how he sacrificed relationships, he sacrificed, you know, his friends, his love life, he got up every morning, all he did was basketball, how he made thousands of shots a day. how his mentality and aggressive behavior corrected his way of thinking, his way of looking at life and approaching it on and off the court required him to be so intense and so obsessed with winning that some people couldn't handle it, it meant everything stopped except being the best, which is a big task that a lot of people can't do and don't want to do, but that's what it takes and to think that you're going to be Michael Jordan without understanding the commitment that's required and how you behave is going to be in vain I remember the CEO of the company I work for at a university used to say look, you have to be able to be honest and say when your baby is ugly, look what you have and be able to draw a line from where you want to be so you can fix it, that's the point, if you can juggle those two things, you will be unstoppable, capable, unstoppable, if you can be the one to trust yourself enough to know that.

There is a big picture, you will pursue it tirelessly and you will achieve it if you can take it and you can combine it with the little things, directly with awareness, promising yourself that you will continue to analyze, evaluate and do what needs to happen. on the basis that you're going to be realistic, you're going to be pragmatic when things fail, you're not going to sugarcoat it, you're going to dive in, you're going to see why it failed so you can pick up those pieces and build something stronger and keep building. and continue to build and lean on what you have done those are the people who change the world those are the people who do things that get results dream big with small steps see you tomorrow what is failure maybe when the plan falls apart such time when the project results are disappointing no, not at all when your heart breaks, the momentum stops when your world is shaken to its foundations, no, to put it simply, failure is not going to fail, it's just that the plan will never fail.

It falls apart because you were too afraid to commit one. disappointed by the results of that project because you couldn't find the courage to start failure is not heartbreak there are no setbacks there is no challenge to your worldview because you stood still I see the disappointing OCC events of life it's some kind of transaction no temporary discomfort in exchange for the very wisdom you sought placed in the palm of your hand you endure pain to obtain the answers you accept chaos today in exchange for the map that allows you to navigate the terrain how can something be a failure if it places you right where? you need to be, how can something be a failure if it brings you closer to the life you dream of?

Maybe we don't see life as failure versus success, but rather as being stuck versus moving, immobile versus mobile, maybe it's that simple if you're moving regardless of how quickly you're giving yourself the opportunity to improve yourself. To gather wisdom and pick up armor, you are giving yourself the opportunity to be more tomorrow than you are today and that means we stop accepting the notion that we are standing strong. Still, for our best benefit, we justify that we are only stationary because we are waiting for the right time. We're here because we need this to be perfect.

No, there are a million different ways to get what you want out of life. A million different ones. paths to get there none of them require sitting still I already cringe at the amount of time I've wasted waiting for the right moment how would I sit on letting go of this or starting that oh it's because I'm a perfectionist just to learn that Perfectionism is actually just fear in disguise, you can sit there and wait and refine and refine and refine, but I'll tell you what the one who moves, the one who creates, shares, collects feedback, adjusts and repeats, will have reached that level of quote, unquote, Perfection before you feel. prepared to recognize and share its prototype, it was simply that Evolution took place and it took me a long time to grasp this to understand it and a part of me didn't want to believe it because I found it inherently uncomfortable, but life rewards the bold, it always has. been and always will be, calling for a kind of calculated recklessness.

Great things are accomplished by doers who can put their egos aside and let the world humiliate them on their way to the next attempt at r no biography about Washington, one of the common themes that I believe made Washington a One of the most influential people in the history of humanity was his ability to think, analyze, seek the opinions of the people around him and then, once he decided that everything was on target, he had found the way this was now the path and I find power in that, as overthinking is often our right to undo weighing worst-case scenarios contingency plans this versus that when progress requires us to spend a little time deciding what general direction we are going, but most importantly we We started out and I think we've all been guilty of overanalyzing planning, but just as a sailor can't predict victories, we can't predict all of life's variables again, it's deciding a general direction and then trusting ourselves to navigate it. life. obstacles as they arise is to find trends and patterns along the way and do our best to use them as we go, there will be points where the road ahead seems overwhelming, the obstacles are too abundant to make sense of where the Mind forces you to stay.

If you are and stare in amazement, it will suggest that what lies behind you is safer, that the world you know contains fewer monsters than the world you don't know, it might even convince you that whatever ambitions you had weren't really as important as you might think. . you live easily without them and the longer you stay there, the more you listen to that voice, the louder it becomes, you dismiss it with every step forward, your momentum a dagger into the heart of any doubt that ever tried to occupy the precious space behind you. . eyes, you don't have to be smarter than him, you just have to keep going and what you find is that the mountains you once looked upon were not all they saw, a culmination of small hills that could be climbed, manageable rocks that in the reality can be used to propel you up the mountainside, there was never a perfect path up, no magical transportation to the Summit, you might even think what a shame that so many are still on the sidelines waiting to divide their perfect approach, making plans and drawing maps, but none of this works like that to win, you will progress, you move knowing full well that you will find dead ends, you will waste time and exhaust energyFollowing certain paths that do not alter will ultimately lead you. where you wanted to go but what a gift the ability to reverse course and take the right at the fork instead of the wrong left you previously took your mistakes are not permanent your mistakes are correctable stagnation is what is permanent wishing is permanent someday is permanent but right That's pure courage, so the next time you find yourself looking outwards, as we all do, remember that there are many ways to transform your reality for the better, many paths to the top of the mountain, but there is only one way to make sure you never get there and that's it.

Be still, so trust yourself to discover life as it is, take the pain and draw from it wisdom to find strength beyond uncertainty. Life is giving you everything you need, not a few things or a few things, everything it asks of you. may you dismantle the deception of perfection and begin