DETERMINED | Best Motivational Speeches of 2023 (So far)

foreign there's an old quote that stays 80 percent of life is showing up now showing up means many different things to many different people but the idea is not complicated you can't do anything of significance unless you have first and foremost arrived which brings me to today see I had a list of Concepts I've been excited to talk about things that I've either read or have been recent epiphanies in my life and I can't wait to share those with you but this morning oh let me tell you about this morning all right finding the energy to do anything felt like trying to squeeze blood from a rock I woke up with a headache exhausted because I didn't sleep at all the night before and you know that feeling like when you didn't sleep at all the night before you're oddly constantly reminding yourself the next day that you didn't sleep and everything just felt off [Music] and realism speaking now things still kind of do and so I got up and I sort of played with the idea of taking today off altogether right maybe I'm due for one anyway I thought about resting uh that the little devil with the Pitchfork on my shoulder continuously uh reminded me how great sleep would feel and I was sitting there you know kind of weighing my options took some ibuprofen started the coffee sat down on the couch uh just kind of looking at the wall what to do what to do but realistically I knew and I want to explain why over the years I've taught myself through repetition that sitting down and writing and recording unless I plan intentionally to do otherwise isn't non-negotiable it's helped me see that the goal in any meaningful Pursuit should be getting to the point where despite the circumstances you show up Stephen pressfield whose voice often echoes in my mind when I come face to face with these situations he wrote Art Is War between ourselves and the forces of self-sabotage that would stop us from doing our work the artist is a warrior artist being anyone bringing something to the world that does not yet exist and he goes on to describe the battle with the Mind Over sitting down in that chair in writing when we know we must write but don't want to when a tired or distracted mind begins looking for off-ramps as mine had clearly started doing this morning foreign ly trivial moments when any rational Soul could argue for the validity of postponing their date with Microsoft Word will they come to matter more than ever because greatness is a byproduct of intentionality if you become accustomed to breaking promises to yourself if you leave that door cracked for exceptions here and there it will ultimately be kicked open and that's why I inject little reminders like that into my life to keep that mental muscle working for example there can never be dishes left in my sink when I go to bed why because if I skip it once there will always exist reasons to skip again it's a very easy thing to not care about because here is the reality progress is a lifestyle growth is a lifestyle at least if we're talking about any meaningful type of evolution I just finished reading uh it takes What It Takes by Trevor moad one of those three to five hour lessons on Audible depending on how fast it's playing it really packs a punch and I'm gonna be diving into a few of his Concepts a little more in the coming weeks but one thing he discusses that I found uh incredibly valuable is the illusion of choice and what the illusion of choice highlights is that there are a set of behaviors that must be carried out to be effective the idea of alternate routes is an illusion there are no choices when it comes to what's necessary we know what must be done to win now knowing that is one thing knowing that and having to propel yourself to action when you feel like garbage is something different entirely but that's why it's so valuable to get to that place where you can take the emotion out remove the internal deliberation and automate the things you know are going to help push you to be that better version of yourself in other words you show up for you period and that is the non-negotiable the level we all need to get to and I'm thinking about their strong parallels to a lot of different aspects of my day right the interval training I have this afternoon when you're exhausted 40 minutes in and are switching from squats to mountain climbers or whatever it is right instructor makes the announcement I don't think about anything I don't give myself a chance to try and rationalize any weakness I know if this is important to me keep that door shut no thinking just doing next simply doing what you always do what you've signed up for cannot be self-perceived as some Monumental sacrifice no it's just what you do it's neutral sometimes you feel like it sometimes you don't but you do what you do and that puts you on track to accomplish some incredible things and so remembering this ultimately pushed me through that studio door this morning and placed me down right in front of my mic sure I had to adjust some things definitely picked some you know mellower music there's gonna be no crescendos today or my head will explode but this is not torture in fact I'm really happy with the way the episode's turning out I would have missed out on uh something that I think is going to be pretty valuable in a variety of ways but what I'm telling myself is that this is not a victory it's certainly not defeat it's just what I do and so the question worth asking yourself when facing the adversity life presents then whatever Arena you were in is are you willing to show up for you can you turn that internal deliberation switch off when it comes to uh the Necessities before you minimize that rationalizing that I battled with this morning we don't need or want that there should be no thinking no crack doors no metaphorical dishes in the sink if you decide something is important and you sign that dotted line when it's time to execute you act and then you move directly on to the next the goal is to not even negotiate with weakness now that's not to say press Field's aforementioned war of Art won't rage on as you Journey to the New Horizons you've set out for thing it's an understanding that will help you focus we'll help you say no to the distractions and the minutia and continue writing your story constructing your reality line by line and piece by piece it's been almost two years since I first read it and still the main idea from the book the courage to be disliked by Ichiro kishimi deeply resonates with me the idea that being happy is essentially dependent upon the courage to be disliked in a first it might not seem like the two you know would ever be related happiness and being disliked an odd pair maybe even seemingly counter-intuitive Until you realize that happiness comes from such a personal authentic place that allowing the expectations of others to chart your course means that you'd probably never arrive there you have to do what's best for you and doing what's best for you is going to create a divide somewhere why because everything creates a divide everything is subjective I knew I wanted to dive into this topic but wasn't sure the best way to do it so the other morning I was uh trying to think of like an objective truth something that no one could disagree with was sitting on my balcony and pointed up towards the sky thought let's start there simple as it gets hard to refute that right I am pointing up and I remembered we're floating on a globe a giant sphere there is no up up is perspective everything is perspective what's the difference between one and two some might say it's one but technically there's Infinity between one and two you can have infinite decimals one point nine nine nine nine goes on forever right point being there's subjectivity when we drill down into even the seemingly obvious truth now the value here is not to go running around you know arguing with everyone that there's Infinity between one and two uh now there are certain uh aspects of society that we must adhere to otherwise we couldn't function together right but it's simply to show that uh you following the path you believe is right for you cannot be rightfully assessed by someone else it's a place trust in your internal personal judgment and when people don't understand your Infinity that doesn't mean it's wrong and by the way I don't have blinders on to the fact that it's hard to do in many ways it goes right up against our lizard brain biological wiring right we're fitting and equates to survival and ostracization becomes a death sentence but we are fortunately beyond that it's in our interest now and in fact I think the courage to be disliked is a critical lifelong journey I'm better at this than I was 10 years ago no question but do I still have a ways to go absolutely there are still things I'm working on every day to let go of I remember reading in Jefferson's biography about how it was so hard for him to be demonized in the press all the time that it almost dissuaded him from jumping back into politics before his presidential run and being attacked is a hard thing But ultimately he led his beliefs and personal values drive him his ambition in a lot of ways and came to see the scrutiny as a cost decided it was worth the price or like I use this all the time take one of the biggest pop stars of our day say Justin Bieber you look at what people are saying about him in the comments of his video a lot of it's wonderful some of it's great sure but some of it's awful [Music] and that's just the price of anyone putting themselves out there and again you think of an inverse scenario imagine if you didn't imagine if he limited himself or didn't dive fully into what he does because he knew some folks out there would have some bad things to say now we are for the most part neither famous politicians nor pop stars but our worlds contain the same elements at different scale there are things we're all scared to do or say because of how it will be received there are parts of ourselves that we repress because we don't know what the feedback will be we're all scared to fail in some capacity because of how it will look or what others will say about it which is why being disliked is courageous as Aristotle has said the only way to avoid criticism is to do nothing to say nothing and be nothing the opposite of being fully truly yourself is becoming the manifestation of that quote it's never pushing yourself never seeing what you're capable of never exploring or executing on your dreams your ambitions now this is speculation but if I were a Gambling Man I'd Place everything I own on the idea that when we're old looking back on our lives we'll spend less time thinking about who criticized us or disagreed with us than how we spent our days and who we shared them with did we live in a way that made us happy that was meaningful because on a sphere everyone believes they are pointing up but in actuality none of us are we're all merely navigating the subjective Universe behind our eyes so why not truly explore why not capture the magic out there before The Hourglass runs out of sand it's hard sometimes it hurts it takes all we have it requires courage but I think we'll all come to find that the decision to live fully in our authenticity regardless of whether others agree disagreed or were indifferent was the best decision that we ever made [Music] the first step towards creating the life you want is taking responsibility for the life you have what does this mean well it's easy to accept the good things the things you're proud of it's easy to move forward under the banner of victory but what about the things that may not be under your control the things that happened unjustly or what about the things you did in your past that you're not proud of see if you're going to own the good you have to own the bad too because you can't change anything you can't alter the reality on the ground until you own it you can't make something better that you have not acknowledged and claimed to be yours see our inclination when we feel like we've been wronged by life is to shake our fists at the sky innately aware of the cosmic Injustice that has occurred and I get it we want to point out that Injustice label it as an adversary maybe even an excuse it feels good in the short term But ultimately it's depriving you of your strength the ultimate advantage which is substituting the word fault for responsibility when you're fixated on the word fault the emphasis is placed on finding the blame it's replaying yesterday's movie the responsibility on the other hand says regardless of how or why this came to fruition it's mine to fix maybe it was brought forth by your doing maybe it wasn't but you'll learn and adjust in the present [Music] attitude will place you in position to succeed in ways most couldn't even dream of when others project out it leaves you to find the solution where others desert blame it pushes you to begin the process of building again see there's nothing so detrimental as one who feeling slighted by life doesn't start where they are to make the most of what they have feeling so angry and disparaged by the path that brought them to the present moment that they forget it's not the same path that will lead them forward from here this moment is yours and there's a lot packed into that statement it means looking in the mirror accepting the face staring back at you letting go of what you cannot control forgiving yourself and the world around you for what may or may not have happened yesterday look you're here now with all the opportunity in the world everything in front of you the question is will you take it will you leave fault behind so that you can accept responsibility for the greatest gift one can be given the chance to begin again even if there were a magic box with the answer to every single question imaginable inside [Music] you'd still have to know what questions to ask it in order to take anything worthwhile away the output is only going to be as valuable as the input but why won't the world just give me what I want why can't I have something new why won't life grant me a fresh start well the question worth reflecting upon is what are you doing to prompt the change what are your inputs the Jukebox only plays this song you select what are you selecting and I say this [Music] will I say this because my expectations are sometimes inclined to diverge from the actions that I take right there can be a gap between what I want and what I'm actually spending my time doing a gap that without the necessary time and attention widens [Music] but what we want to do is close that Gap we want to take the ideal on one side and the real on the other and squeeze them as close together as possible that requires though that you recognize and take control of your input in the medical field and I were talking about weight loss not too long ago and something he said that stuck with me he says yeah weight loss can be complex now there's certainly variability but there's a simple underlying truth to all of it if you burn more calories than you take in through eating your body will lose weight it's inevitable you're creating a deficit simple your input controls your output we can move to personal finance something everyone can relate to if you spend less than you make you'll have money left over to save again personal finance also has its Nuance there are certainly plenty of variables but this piece will always be true if you want to increase your savings you can either make more or spend less your decisions here your inputs here will dictate your output it's worth calling our attention to those things we're doing day in and day out and I'm talking about the most basic of things are they contributing to what you want most or not that's why I reference my whiteboard list so often right incredibly simple which I think is what we need one column on the left is your goals you know the things that you want the other column on the right is what you're doing to bring about what you want what are your actions and if you make that list and notice that your days wildly deviate from that list there's a problem either you're wasting your time with meaningless action or you've selected the wrong goals you can wildly change the results you get by tweaking the actions you make or inputs as I've called them here and here's an example this is a an adversary I've been dancing around for a decade now I have injury problems talk about it all the time left ankle right knee left elbow right shoulder I'm constantly working around these things until inevitably something happens and I have to take a step back and rest and Rehab it right but what did I do I saw a physical therapist definitely a valuable input but not enough I'm consistently working on my diet valuable input but again not enough hydration right gallon of water a day valuable input but not enough I decided not too long ago to take yoga seriously like be obnoxiously serious about it I'm going almost every day and I think I don't want to speak too soon but I think I'm uh seeing something that I haven't seen in a decade I feel good and I'm able to do some uh weight training that previously I really couldn't [Music] you know the output here is finally starting to look like I want it to look but here's the thing right it's been so frustrating over the years like I get so angry with the situation that um I I forget that I have control over the outcome right it just seems like when you've exhausted so much time and energy like it's beyond you and I was like no there are still your inputs creating your outputs and you can continue to change those things don't stop trying testing you know and that's really it and I mean this is such a basic concept it's it's so almost painfully simple but as I like to say you know the wheels don't fall off the wagon when we get the Minor Details wrong no it's when we're getting the basic things wrong that's when we lose ourselves that's when we fall off track and that simple input and output idea is amazing to me water is all that seemingly complex stuff down into the simple right it puts the power in our hands to do something about it even when it's frustrating even when we feel like we've exhausted all our options no there's always more why because you put something in you get something out if you don't like what's coming out change what's going in you are your own experiment you are responsible for closing that gap between the real and the ideal if the people you're spending your time with don't make you feel good or bring you down adjust the input if you aren't happy with your financial situation adjust the inputs if you aren't happy with your physique or overall health adjust the input if your business or platform or personal brand isn't evolving the way you'd like it to stop blindly repeating what you're doing day in and day out and adjust the inputs the real world results will change right in front of your eyes not because anything was given to you but because your persistence your adaptability and your commitment to growth demanded it [Music] foreign look the Earth will continue to spin the sun to set clocks to tick there are no perfect moments only moments waiting to be interpreted by those passing through them and as a raindrop in this thunderstorm an actor in this play the only rational question in my mind is if time will not wait why should I if time will continue its steady March why let it leave me behind I'm in my mid-30s [Music] and here's what I've already seen I've already seen songs I grew up with referred to as classic rock I've seen some of my childhood Sports Heroes struggle to throw a first pitch before a baseball game I've seen a substantial portion of my social interaction become digitized I've seen once forever people in my life fade away and become memories I've audibly laughed at the Ridiculousness of things that at one point I was sure were important I've redefined the meaning of the word home in my life more times than I can count in fact the way I see the world and the way I see myself operating and it continues to change as the saying goes the only constant in our lives is that things change evolve why does this matter so much to me well because when I look back the single thing that would consistently keep me from truly pushing that pedal to the floor to truly capturing all life has to offer was a fear a very specific fear the fear of losing what I had at that moment I was scared to death of loss as we all tend to be to varying extent in fact we're biologically wired to respect the fear of loss to a greater extent than the prospect of acquisition there's humor in all this though a deeply rooted irony it emerges when we discover that we lose everything it all goes the song that's playing ends for each and every one of us and is this a sad thing no no more than the credits to your favorite movie Rolling after the final scene it was the show the experience that meant the world it's a beautiful thing if you let it manifest in all its beauty if you move along with it immerse yourself in its brilliance my point is that the only way to lose is to wait it's to not realize that you're starring in your own cinematic Masterpiece and those credits will at some point roll it's to sit in a chair on the side of the gym while the rest of the room dances life is finite and the power is not in a Flawless existence it's an understanding to our core that there is nothing to lose that the window is small that we should carry out the human equivalent of a fireworks show we should be obnoxiously bold absurdly courageous we should go live try experiment explore build create and yeah sometimes you'll fail and sometimes you'll fail spectacularly but sometimes you'll Triumph and along the way the mistakes they become wisdom they become courage both of which are integral to any meaningful Grand Finale and as I make my way around the Sun for the 36th time the priority is to remember that these rides are not forever they are precious and that I have the strength to live accordingly fearlessly courageously My Hope Is that you find it within yourself to do the same to pull back the curtains and see now that failure was never the adversary no not even close the adversary is an unwillingness to make the most of your moments the adversary is freezing amidst the constant hammering away of ticking clocks the adversary is the prospect of removing failures mask years down the road only to stare directly into the eyes of regret these outcomes constitute your greatest adversary so for the sake of all that is Meaningful go push into the questions and the risk and the Curiosity that makes life worth living after all it is not about failure it's about time [Music] [Music] [Music] we have so much to let go of to dismiss ideas narratives they're not ours not in our best interest anyway yet we carry them around carry them around like we're perpetually tied to the lies they espouse the fiction they propagate we have to let go before we add a single thing before we adopt another way it all has to go I don't remember where I've seen it but I know I have maybe cartoons when I was younger but I'm imagining that character that is taking off their jacket or shirt and there's always another one underneath it right and they're like confused frantically pulling off shirts and more and more keep emerging they had no idea how many layers they were carrying around with them and funny enough 20 years later I'd be thinking that we are no different there are so many layers and so many of them should be gone should be left should be confined to the dust bin of History those boundaries in your life set them who said this is as far as you can go who put that little fence around your world and ask that you stay obediently confined to its borders who said that what you have is all there is who said upside is too dangerous who said life is about predictability and routine so stop asking questions no one no one said those things so hey there's a start empty your pockets of the boundaries that are making life heavy what about yesterday might as well take off that backpack tip it upside down and pour out the yesterday you made mistakes yesterday ah but that's not today you didn't like certain aspects of who you were yesterday but that's not today either your friends may be family maybe others in your life knew you to be someone you don't think you are or someone you wish you weren't well more breaking news that was yesterday do you even realize you're still carrying around who you were yesterday on your back your next step has a lot to do with now and very little to do with yesterday so Embrace and wave goodbye to those calendar Pages you've already turned that's the best move for everyone oh and those concessions you make you didn't think I'd forget those you can't forget those unshackle them from your ankle those things you say you're not ideal but it's easier to live a lesser life with you in it than it is to go through the trouble of pushing you away perhaps the people that darken your light the actions that you know are not you the time exhausted living for someone else gone gone and gone it has to go and look we all know life is tricky it's hard to walk away from things so ingrained into our daily lives for so long but let's play a game let's pretend it was pretend life was that simple things I need to leave behind a b and c well that's definitely simple perhaps not easy but simple and now through this simplified lens you have a Target to aim for something to chip away at you have your block of marble now comes the process of chiseling a little bit at a time and that's the goal because to not carry these things ends up meaning everything space no longer occupied by the wrong things creates space for the right things knocking down what doesn't belong creates a platform to build what does so onward we must go not falling into the Trap of pointing at externalities blaming the world for our confinement but instead understanding that we have been perhaps without even realizing it taking our confinement with us in our pockets on our back trailing behind our every step a subtle resistance [Music] and when it goes we can finally grow we can become more so what can you do now to live a life that's more meaningful that's more true to yourself well you can start by doing less of what weighs you down [Music] foreign I put on my shoes stepped outside and as I made my way down the street for my midday run I felt the wind at my back Tailwind my first thought well nice this is convenient especially running along the beach where it can be pretty windy it's definitely a luxury to have wind at your back sure enough my mind went oh but that leaves me a headwind when I turn around and come back up the coast my mind started to wander I started imagining what it was going to be like turning around at that 6.6 mile mark I was doing a half marathon that day and knew that you know the way back would require that I level up and every once in a while the thought popped into my head sort of reminding me of the inevitable and sure enough the moment arrived the sun pressing down onto my skin the humidity wrapped around me like a blanket I hit 6.6 miles turned around on A1A and there was that headwind but the first thing I noticed was not the force pushing back against me no in that moment I felt the breeze the coolness it was refreshing and there Underneath It All was my light bulb moment but we are presented with day in and day out is a question it's a choice would the wind become my adversary something that yeah pushed me forward on the way down but then held me back on the way up or would it be what pushed me forward on the way down and then cooled me off as I made my way up think that mental alteration or perspective shift uh is just Nuance or too small to matter I suggest you give it a go when you're doing whatever your equivalent of total exertion is whatever your mental stressor is that pushes you beyond your state of usual comfort when you're in the middle of let's call it hurt whether it be physical activity or a personal situation entirely unrelated to Athletics how are you internalizing the world around you it's become clear to me over time that winning during our most trying moments comes down to mental shifts so small that they seem almost laughable in normal conditions but your mind will always stop you before life will so why not put yourself in a position to win everything around you is trying to help you in some capacity allow that to be the case remember that what you look for you'll find so if you look for resistance and obstacles and adversaries they'll be everywhere but if you look for and seek out value you'll see that you were surrounded by nothing but value even those metaphorical headwinds become hands reaching out working to cool you off as you make your way to greater things so understand that when they arise those headwinds the ones that typically hold you back they hide within them small wins small wins that will be the difference the deeper one descends into chaos the more important it is to find those victories the ones hidden in plain view the ones that look to many like problems but you'll know you'll know just how malleable this world around us is the world seems to provide not definitives but tools so which will you pick up what will you build with them see life is never happening to you it's happening for you so keep your eyes open keep your feet moving and remember that you will win not despite the headwinds of life but because of them because you've trained yourself when those around you seek can't and won't to find a way to pull from the chaos the very thing you need most life gives you the canvas but you are the one who must paint [Music] I saw a quote that read people wait all week for Friday all year for summer and all their lives for happiness in many respects waiting is what humans do we wait to start or wait to stop wait to go or wait to leave we wait and we wait and we wait and in doing so full not time but ourselves that clock is going to tick away regardless of the ious we write to it it will take those plans and dreams and ideas and with its two hands carry them away as part of the Perpetual rhythmic March see one of the most dangerous words in our vocabulary is tomorrow a concept illusion a hesitance that becomes oxygen to the eventual flame of regret it becomes the stories we tell about what could have been if only tomorrow arrived a little sooner but the problem with waiting for tomorrow was Jim Rohn has famously said is that when it arrives it's called today tomorrow is the Box in which we place the things we've not yet Found the courage to start want you to be that courageous I want you to you to shot to step out to create momentum knowing that your journey will be one of imperfection but imperfect is how everything valuable begins perfect on the other hand do you know what's perfect tomorrow is perfect ideas that never start that contain no mistakes are perfect wishing is perfect hoping is perfect but capturing the beauty contained in today that's not a perfection game [Music] that's a willingness to start and adjust along the way it's a commitment to begin now so let's disarm tomorrow by making our magic today [Music] by pointing directly at all those things you've been worried or scared or intimidated by and simply taking one step towards them foreign rather than waiting for life to push you forward walk yourself there and let life react [Music] [Music] dear 2022 a few days remain before we officially part ways before you become another chapter in my story and I become one of many characters to have passed through yours I'm writing to you as I've made an annual habit of doing to both share my gratitude and say my goodbyes to both celebrate and reflect because while we'll physically no longer share the same stage your lessons will be deeply ingrained in an older wiser me and as the curtains are pulled back on the next stage and the play of Life Goes On our time together will live in each passing moment 2022 in totality this year felt different in fact I've grown more with you than any other year of my life I saw a lot of the usual people coming and going ideas emerging and receding I saw what were once concrete plans require alteration and patience at times 2022 you pushed me further than I'd ever gone you asked that I bend but not break wander but not lose sight of this Summit you initiated through failure and increase in confidence that I'd never had prior to our knowing one another 2022 you essentially became a new Baseline allowing me to turn last year's ceiling into this year's floor which is wonderful I think bigger I understand more expect greater things of myself but also Now understand that what was required to get to this point is no longer sufficient to arrive at the next level and that's probably the most valuable gift you've given me the reminder that we must be evolving that the tactics required to reach the 5 000 foot Summit are very different than those required to progress on to the twenty thousand foot Summit and so as I continue my ascent your voice will be echoing in my ear the reminders that growth is uncomfortable because change is uncomfortable but that discomfort is and always will be the cost of admission looking back 2022 I can see the value tucked away in my endeavors you didn't necessarily make it obvious you didn't highlight them but you knew what you were doing losing some things in my life made room for others thank you for that space doors closing pushed me into new rooms with new people and new ideas thank you for those opportunities struggling to find answers forced my Innovation thank you for that vision [Music] you know with the turn of every calendar year I used to sit reflect on the ride and think now next year next year is when the stars align The Big Break happens the world opens up next year but 2022 if you've showed me anything you showed me that that line of thinking is somewhat inverted things won't happen next year because it's my turn to stumble across the winning lottery ticket now the things that arrive are directly proportional to the opportunity we create your successor 2023 has nothing to Grant or give to me it merely provides the arena for me to perform it's going to allow me to carry on to progress to take the magic of the last 365 days and make something beautiful with them it's not so long as fate allows it's so long as I don't get in my own way 2022 we set the stage for the performance of a lifetime reassure me that my world within mattered that I was hit to the correct star that so long as I don't stop so long as I continue to believe so long as I trust the man in the mirror the external world can be manufactured like pieces of a puzzle I am stronger wiser Bolder I've honed in on my vision reduce the dead weight specify that which means the most I am not the same person I was standing before you on the day we met and now 2022 it's time to take all you've gifted me on to New Horizons adjust my sales to The ever-changing Winds of time I'll use the carefully selected stars to navigate fully understanding that you didn't show me the way but you showed me I was and am always equipped to uncover the way the metaphorical teaching of the man to fish so that he never goes hungry again and so I leave our time together with a heart a mind and a soul fully nourished and ready for all that comes next goodbye 2022 and thank you for everything the good the bad the ups and the Downs while our dance inevitably couldn't last forever your Melody will Echo across time foreign [Music] [Music] looking down at my reflection I asked the man looking back at me if he was willing to make a deal what kind he asked seemingly intrigued well I need you to be there see I have big plans and big aspirations and sometimes things get really hard sometimes I feel lost and confused and overwhelmed and I need you to be there I need to know you'll always be I see he said eyes shifting up towards the sky as he thought through my request this is doable but I'll need something of you in return horse have responded anything okay do I have your word that when you fall that when you don't succeed you'll get up until you do yes have my word do I have your word he asked that when you're lost when the world shakes beneath you you will continue on until you find Steady ground yes you have my word [Music] do I have your word that when you feel life's resistance like wind pressing against you with all its might you'll keep pushing into it not hoping it gets weaker but knowing you'll get stronger yes I said for a third time you have my word [Music] then I'll be there I'll be there every step of the way I'll be your biggest fan I'll have your back when you feel alone I'll remind you how strong you are when you feel weak I will point to the upside when you have a hard time seeing it but you have to keep moving forward that's your end of the bargain I'll open those doors for you I'll be your light in darkness but listen to me it will all be in vain if your feet are not continuously in motion it will all be for naught if you don't regardless of what life throws at you commit to carrying on so for the last time look me in the eyes and promise me promise me that you will not stop yes you have my word I said then my friend we have a deal and I will be there for you [Music] always [Music] [Music] pressure as in those burdens we sometimes feel as we navigate life it's complex it's powerful but like all powerful things also delicate that same pressure that creates diamonds and create diamonds it does well it can also remind you that in the meantime you are beneath the surface buried away amidst that process of creation [Music] in other words pressure is a beautiful driver because it is in many ways a standard of Excellence of more it pushes us towards a life of abundance like wind at our backs but see two things can be true at once and it's impossible to look at the word more without acknowledging that in order for more to exist something must be lacking in the present and there lies the challenge pressure gone too far becomes a feeling of inadequacy the same driver to explore the depths of one's potential can also if mismanaged take them to the spiral of Never Enough see you are a brilliant human being with natural strengths and talents and while certainly imperfect we all have something to offer the world this floating rock is a better place because you are on it and as we go about figuring out what it all means and how to bring it to life we have to also understand the nuance we want to get better every day not because we lack value in the present but because the journey is a remarkable Adventure progress is happiness humans love and need progress growth and expansion and exploration inject meaning into life they help us manufacture Peak moments it's taken me a long time to understand that distinction right I want to be more not because I'm inadequate in the present but because Against All Odds I'm here and what a gift to be able to push that pedal to the floor to squeeze from life as much Beauty as I possibly can the pressure doesn't say because without it you're less it says oh but what a ride awaits if you're willing to step up and seek it out I used to get so annoyed when I'd see like stories or memes on social media that are anything along the lines of you're special just the way you are right it felt tacky it's lacking substance and sometimes to be honest it just felt like a lie but my thoughts on that have changed I don't think it's a lie it's just an extreme in One Direction just like never being good enough is an extreme in the other look you're not perfect just the way you are we're all flawed and we all have room for opportunity but you're also not void of value until you reach point x y or Z right if we're going to grow we need to understand why we're growing my favorite thing about this platform you know over the years has been trying to identify the obstacles in my life understand them to the best of my ability and then share that hoping maybe there's a piece or two there that's relatable that you can take value from but this topic in particular I've never really felt like I've solved or been able to grasp this constant weight or pressure uh I'd consistently feel to do more and I know others feel it as well I talk to them about it consistently it can be almost suffocating I do attribute a lot of good to it right it helps me get back up it makes me want to be better find new ways to share add value to as many people as I can when I have my down times that pressure says Hey Man You're Made for More lift your head up and go I wouldn't be where I am without it but then there's also the ugly side right like I mentioned above the cost of ambition is sometimes the inability to be in the moment always reaching for more is the younger brother of never being enough it can be exhausting and so what to do what to do right the question that I've been playing in my head and here's where I am in the present I think this is an ever-evolving process but as I mentioned above I believe the answer is in why the why is everything there are no have to's in life life is a collection of get to's we're not dipping into life's infinite abundance so that we fill holes within ourselves no we're doing it to take in the show to absorb so that we can consequently add our verse to the play of life as the saying goes the ship in the harbor is safe but that's not what ships are built for and that's where the distinction lies as far as I'm concerned where the ship is in the moment doesn't make it more or less beautiful or valuable but to deprive that ship of Open Water to deprive its sales of the wind well it just feels like a shame like something's missing and so with all that said here's what I'm thinking I'm thinking that as I move towards Those Distant Horizons I need to remember that the journey comes with a few understandings I need to know that at times it will feel exhausting I need to know that while building you can become so fixated on the plans that sure you'll forget about your progress I need to know how easily the future can steal from the present but also I know that taking in the best life has to offer comes with the price tag and being tired from time to time seems fair I know that the Builder with the plans can ground him or herself by looking over their shoulder every so often and appreciating how far they've come I know that the future is always Out Of Reach like that carrot hanging just beyond the grasp of the runner on the treadmill but the gratification can be both delayed and current when we're pointed to the right North Star [Music] so I invite you to re-imagine the word pressure understanding the notion that you've already won the lottery you're here on Earth Against All Odds with your strengths and the greatness that makes you you venturing deeper into life's potential asking more of the world and from yourself is not to compensate for anything it's not an obligation it's not even required of you no it's an extension of the human soul the best of Life the magic all around us an invitation to live fully that pressure like water through a channel will flow in the Direction You Lead it it's nothing more than your vehicle to Distant Shores your process for crafting diamonds with the adversity most would refuse that pressure doesn't always indicate where it's taking you or even guarantee that its destination will be preferable to where you are now but it does promise quite the ride and that for me is enough [Music] 22 lessons from 2022. number one life has hidden costs this is an idea that Jim Rohn spoke about a lot really resonates with me and it's uh something that I tried to keep front and center in 2022. here's a quote from him he says it isn't what the book costs it's what it will cost if you don't read it in other words sometimes in an effort to avoid a price up front we end up paying a greater price on the back end along the lines of if you think going is expensive wait until you see the price tag associated with not going missing that opportunity is what's expensive but he also comes at it from another angle he tells a story about his friend who bought a TV when Jim asks him hey how much did that TV cost his friend says four hundred dollars Jim says I don't think so try again and his friend says Jim I bought it it was four hundred dollars and Jim says no I think it's costing you Millions [Music] referring to the amount of time that he wastes sitting in front of that TV when he could be improving his life his business his relationships his health right the moral of the story is sometimes what we don't do cost us more than we can imagine and we have to be aware of those hidden costs lesson number two find the good so this Christmas I just got back from uh spending it with my family up in Boston and while I was there our cat that we've had for 20 years since I was a kid basically you know passed away and you know when we went to uh to put her down I was definitely sad about it but it was even harder for me to see my mom and my sister you know really uh devastated by it all you know having to say goodbye to fuzzle right it's hard to see people you love in a dark place and so as we walked out of the vet clinic the day after Christmas I thought to myself what's interesting is this whole thing was unavoidable obviously 20 years alone is a very long time for an animal or a cat to live our time here is temporary we're passing by and death aside there are devastating things in life that are unavoidable but you can't miss them right pain is very good at making itself recognizable we always seem to see it and feel it but contrast that with the happy things the meaningful things the things that we appreciate for some reason they tend to be better at going undercover right like we don't realize some of our most important moment were our most important moments until they're gone and I look at this and it's like okay fuzzle wasn't just our cat for 20 years choose her childhood and in a unique way she represented the Christmases in the birthday parties the sports games the friends uh graduating high school going to college moving to new places a lot of things along the way and I use this code all the time because I just think it's so perfectly captures the essence of what I'm trying to say here the Ed Helm's character in the office Andy Bernard since I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them [Music] in other words we can't be reminded enough to look for the meaningful things the happy and beautiful things I believe they're more numerous than the painful stuff they're just so well camouflaged that we walk by them we don't realize until 20 years later we look over our shoulder and go yeah that was special [Music] 2022 taught me to be better at recognizing and appreciating those good things lesson number three sometimes progress is unremarkable I was going through some older videos on my YouTube channel and I found a few that I couldn't help but cringe watching back and just to be clear I'm proud of everything I've done everything played a role in getting me to where I am now it's all a journey and I did a lot of experimenting and pivoting and trying things and I'm proud of that right but I took a little trip down memory lane to roughly 2017 to 2020. I was really experimenting trying to craft my style and I remembered how during that time the viewership had dropped pretty substantially finances were inconsistent I was looking ahead and starting to worry right and and a lot of the time I just felt embarrassed to still be going like my ego hurt when I woke up in the morning that's just me being truthful [Music] I was working so many hours more hours than I'd ever worked and was just seeing things slip and looking back now I realized how easy it would have been to quit during that stretch specifically to have walked away and done literally anything else but I didn't I made adjustments I got better ultimately pushed through it but the most important thing I've done in my life was keep going during that stretch a powerful reminder just how unremarkable the most important progress we're making can seem James clear's ice metaphor water placed in a freezer doesn't immediately turn to ice no things are happening transformation is occurring long before we see that physical confirmation takes a while to hit that 32 Degree Mark and I hope everyone is aware of that every step counts and I learned this again and again lesson number four find and push out the negativity in the book it takes What It Takes author Trevor millad performed an experiment where he made a point for 30 days and actually I think you only got to maybe day 27 or 28 but regardless he made a point to listen to and consume negative media his list included country music which was eye-opening for me I listened to it all the time but he references that joke you play a country song In Reverse you get your wife your trailer your dog and your job back right a lot of it's inherently uh sad stuff um he listened to national news non-stop sad movies and the list just goes on and on and he said the change was so drastic that it was hard for him to function he stopped feeling good about himself in Social settings he stopped early because it was so debilitating and this got me thinking about what I consumed let me tell you there's a lot of negativity that Creeps in there from a wide variety of places and this is number four because I think we can all be better at recognizing and mitigating those things number five it's not about you or at least it's rarely about you this is a quick reminder I picked up while working through the end of a lease for my apartment a couple months ago I decided I was going to renew for another year but it just so happened that uh the process was a nightmare right everything seemed to go wrong eventually I got to the point where I started to get angry and uh took the situation personally enough was enough right so I went down kind of barged into the office to ask what in God's name is going on only to find the people that work there running around trying to put out fires help a bunch of folks with all these questions and they were being patient and kind under the circumstances and in that moment I was reminded that I made something about me that has nothing to do with me like was it annoying sure but Chill on the emotion right it's like detach yourself from the problem and instead of throwing a temper tent from like a seven-year-old reallocate the energy to finding Solutions that was a great reminder at an important time you know it goes for so many things stop taking things personal that are in actuality not personal at all lesson number six it's okay to say no all right and this applies to a variety of areas when things aren't right A lot of the time you know immediately whether in my case it's a project I said yes to but felt burdened by and not excited about maybe a relationship that felt like a chore but instead of walking away you've tried to negotiate with the pragmatic side of your brain or something you're spending a lot of time doing that you know isn't pushing you closer to where you want to be you know a lot of life is being able to break the complex down into the simple and while immersed in these situations or situations like them you know I frequently saw them as more complicated than they were right rationalizing well maybe it's right maybe I'll see down the road you know whatever the the situation is but there's a pretty simple rule here if you get that feeling in your stomach that what you're doing is not aligned with who you are or or something isn't right probably isn't and at the very least it requires some thought I think we need to be better about trusting that intuition the things you spend your time doing the people you spend your time with they shouldn't feel like a burden or a chore they shouldn't break you down no they should more often than not light you up lesson number seven is hope versus pragmatism this year both personally and professionally I grew in a few areas one of them was keynote speaking took part in some of the biggest speaking engagements of my career so far and it was really cool to have taken part in them but here's what I find interesting things seem to have happened so incrementally that I didn't even realize each event was an accomplishment or the completion of a personal goal until after the fact like on the car on the way to the airport or on the plane thinking nice that was awesome right each of Interest seemed like the next logical thing and that's one of my biggest lessons when you're ready for something it doesn't feel like the universe is doing you a favor there is no hoping there are no crossed fingers it's just you doing you it's the compounding of effort and when I go back to some of my previous uh New Year's Eve thinking it was man I hope this is the year I get that big break I hope this is the year I reach more people everything happens it all changes but at the time I wasn't ready for any of those things I was hoping for what we get is proportional to the value we add and I had a lot to learn the overall point being don't ask the world to give you anything ask yourself to live your life in such a way that you are ready for it build yourself up in such a way that you don't even notice the transformation lesson number eight turn your goals into a lifestyle third things that I wanted to change in 2022 I wanted to stay healthy and that meant less injuries it meant cross training diversifying my workout it meant eating healthier and where I saw the most progress was when I stopped looking at each of those changes as uh one-off alterations and saw everything in totality as a lifestyle change I was making one of my favorite quotes is people follow through on who they believe themselves to be well when I started thinking of myself as a healthy athletic person living a healthy athletic lifestyle not only did things feel right but I found everything easier to maintain when something's your identity almost subconsciously you push out the things that don't fit that personal identity you invite in the things that do and of course our lives are the manifestation of the little things we do right the compounding of habits but to me this highlights the value of creating an umbrella for those little things to fit under human beings are storytellers so tell yourself the right story reverse engineer the big picture goal when you adjust and create a lifestyle change is inevitable lesson number nine Make It Count so this is uh about the Charlotte Airport someone once asked me if I'd been to Charlotte and I thought not really right the airport doesn't count I didn't see any of the culture or the food or the sports teams or any of that stuff uh which got me thinking what does make you present what makes anything count did you really have dinner with someone if you were both on your phones the whole time I'm not so sure did today count if every second you were consumed with worries about what's coming in the future constantly replaying the past Maybe who's to say obvious gray area here but I'd like to more frequently and definitively move the needle in 2023 to that it counts category of life now I still have to figure out exactly what that means and how it will play out but I know I can't let my time on this planet be a metaphorical passing through the Charlotte Airport in a world where distraction seems to be everywhere I want to position myself to live fully lesson number 10. first find faith in yourself one of my favorite stories this year was when I was having dinner with a friend of mine and he was reflecting back on an investment he made to be mentored by someone he thought very highly of it was like a two-day job shadow and he's going through the experience telling me how he flew over there met up with the guy and the entire thing was underwhelming he was unorganized seemed to be winging it wasn't a very nice guy and my natural reaction was to say man I'm so sorry to hear that and I'll never forget him pausing and saying the line oh no Eddie that was the best investment I ever made I learned that if this guy can do it then so can I right what's my excuse so much of our success is predicated upon us giving ourselves permission to achieve it step one is always believe your self-worthy the journey lesson number 11. what you do speak so loud that I cannot hear what you say that's a quote from Emerson and this one's short and sweet remember that what people in your life tell you is one thing but it's what they do that means the most the way I see it words are meant to supplement action and nothing more lesson number 12. the old way is in always the right way something that stuck with me as a Creator and a business owner was someone telling me that I had to make some substantial changes to the way I approached my business and after explaining that hey this approach has been incredibly valuable to me in the past they responded well if if where you are is where you aim to stay then yeah of course don't change and that simple statement helped me gain some perspective right as the saying goes what got you to where you are is not the same thing that's required to get you to where you need to be next you don't climb a 1 000 foot Mountain the same way you climb a 20 000 foot Mountain you don't make six figures the same way you make seven figures adjustments have to be made and that's not a referendum on your previous approach that's just Evolution you have to evolve along with your ambition lesson number 13. embrace the turbulence [Music] I was on a flight and we hit some turbulence at some point no matter how many times I go through this I can't help but feel that unease in my stomach when I got home I actually Googled the question you know how many flights have crashed due to turbulence surprising uh to find that answer to be zero no plane has ever crashed because of turbulence still even after that right when I uh sit through turbulence on planes that same feeling surfaces fear no matter what we're doing in life we'll never completely detach from Fear the the unknown is an innately scary thing now this is not that feeling of moral or personal conflict I mentioned earlier when you know in your heart you're stepping into shoes that aren't your own I'm talking about knowing something is right but fearing the road before you a very human thing change comes with turbulence it's inescapable it's unavoidable but down the road we often find it was a small price to pay for the new reality we've just made for ourselves [Music] lesson number 14. expect a lot of yourself but give yourself Grace life is often a dance between extremes aim high but step small hold a vision but make you know tangible pragmatic moves there's something I'm guilty of doing it's setting the target incredibly high and then when the swings and misses inevitably happen you know being very upset with myself you know sometimes you don't get through everything you plan to do sometimes the outcome falls short and that's okay you know make the adjustments be proud of yourself for expecting great things of yourself and come back better tomorrow being your own toughest critic only makes sense if you are your own greatest Ally which leads perfectly into lesson 15. yesterday is merely a data point there's a quote that states the windshield is bigger than the rear view for a reason but one thing that life has emphasized this year is that when you attempt to innovate and try new things you'll make mistakes you just will that's how it goes it can be frustrating you know replaying the story in your head again and again the if onlys and I wish I had but there's no sense in doing that because life gave you something valuable they gave you a data point so take that and use it to guide and shape future decisions the rear view gives you a condensed depiction of what's behind you because its role while valuable is is nowhere near as powerful as what's before you in the present lesson number 16 distraction versus achievement this is another quote I came across in 2022 that is the extraordinary it's Robin Sharma says you can either be distracted or you can do incredible things but you cannot do both that is everything and it's something I come face to face with every day you know to the point where as I've said before I have to put my phone in a different room sometimes even cut the internet when I write because if there's room for distraction it always seems to find a way you know when there's so much distraction in our world a very obvious example right I post uh my work on like nine or ten different social media platforms it would be crazy for me not to care at all about them once I send it out there right of course I'm intrigued and curious I want to see how it affected people what they're saying right but being better at emotionally detaching once I hit that upload button has been incredibly valuable for me as well as like I alluded to before creating boundaries between myself and the technology that houses that back and forth you know and it begs the question what are your distractions what can you do to mitigate them deep work by Cal Newport is an amazing read uh for those looking for strategies on this topic to build upon I cannot recommend it enough number 17 you're never alone I've noticed that when we feel most vulnerable we feel the most alone those two things in my experience always seem to go hand in hand but I think it's a feeling that's detached from reality right we are all working fighting climbing so many folks out there are battling their own private hell in fact I hear every day from so many incredible people overcoming such a variety of obstacles that it's changed the way I look at The Human Experience I see how powerful human beings can be on a daily basis how we all have our own battles but we are also all equipped to persevere and sometimes I imagine in our darkest moments how incredible it would be to jump into this instant conversation or or Zoom call with millions of others going through something similar everyone feeling like they are the only ones until they see that reassured until they hear the voices of others battling as well because half the fight is knowing that you are not alone and I can assure you you never are [Music] lesson 18. it isn't until it is remember that everything is crazy until it's not everything is imaginary until it's in front of your face it's the ability to as many people describe it play the fool that changes things to do big things you have to start at square one you have to be vulnerable enough to step out to see the Unseen walk the path untraveled and it's a gauntlet that while not fun to run is the only way to get to Innovation and change you have to step into a world that is not yours in order to make it so everything isn't until it is lesson number 19 invest in yourself often effort brings tangible results right but sometimes the most important Investments don't pay dividends immediately it's a long-term play on our personal capability right like reading every day for example doesn't bring a tangible result you don't close the book and see more clients or a bigger bank account but when there are one or two ideas or strategies from that book that you can now Implement into everything you do moving forward those hours spent reading become truly invaluable and that's just it we want results and we want wins but we have to remember that investing in ourselves positions us for an unlimited tomorrow [Music] lesson number 20 life is an adjustment game as I've been trying to expand what I'm doing I consistently find uh standard operating procedure being something I stumble into now basically things rarely work flawlessly the first time throwing things against the wall picking up the pieces adjusting and repeating right that's how you learn oh wow okay this works let's do more of that and that's an entirely different philosophy than expecting Excellence out of the gate you know in many ways I don't even aim for the bullseye I aim to be near it with the trust and understanding that I'll get there in due time life is not a perfection game it will never be a perfection game it's an adjustment lesson number 21 you are always one decision away once you understand this you understand that you're never down and out it's never the end you've never lost no it's about using what's around you to make the decision that will change your life there's a change you can make right now in this moment that will redirect your life trajectory there's something you can do in this moment that will make you better happier more fulfilled step one is understanding that step two is seeking that decision out no matter how lost or stuck you feel I wholeheartedly believe this to be true and lastly lesson 22 you can often get two for the price of one this is the ever relevant idea that although we feel like working harder is the answer it's often working smarter it's utilizing what's around us and I'm speaking after a year of primarily being in the digital space but this applies to so much more there are so many ways to utilize and streamline what we do to repurpose our effort to take our work and utilize it in a slightly different way take a concept and share it to a different audience maybe in a different place on a different platform I've noticed that so many of my greatest wins come from very small alterations to something that already exists or repurposing an idea maybe the story is slightly off maybe the delivery needs a little bit of a change or maybe it just wasn't the right time the first time you know I catch myself looking outward for never before seen Solutions when what I need is already in the palm of my hand start from the premise that you have everything you need and work backwards you will be amazed at what you find I hope these lessons will bring you as much value as they brought me and that next year we will all be better off because of it wishing you a safe happy healthy prosperous two thousand and 23. [Music] [Music] a cheat code in life is understanding the significance of getting to one because if you can get one you can absolutely get two and if you can get two you can get three four five five thousand five hundred thousand or five million once you realize that something is possible you're no longer the same person you once were your hands need not be held to the sky as though the universe is going to drop something into them no you've cracked the code you have the info and the burden has now been placed directly onto your shoulders that little question is this possible dissipates getting to one was your proof of that and then the obvious accompanying question now what are you going to do about it what are you going to do because the race isn't to 1 million it's to one one is the power one is the reassurance one is everything you need if you can sell one painting you can sell fifty thousand paintings if you can make one three-pointer you can make thousands of three pointers if you can create one genius marketing video that goes viral you can create hundreds thousands millions again the evidence you got one anything beyond one is procedural it's a testing of methods it's becoming Relentless in your pursuit to repeat the process with the pieces at your disposal but make no mistake those pieces are there everything you need is there so long as you get to one I had to recently break through to this realization like so many of us I'm an ambitious person I love the game I want to add value to more people reach more listeners generate more Revenue scale impact all that stuff of course but for a while I just couldn't figure out how I became almost disillusioned what am I doing wrong Maybe what if maybe do I dare say do I dare even think for a second that I've gone as far as I can go but was ultimately rescued rescued by the realization that I was asking the world for things I didn't have instead of leveraging what I did I needed to separate the value I possessed from the logistics that would transport it because and this is what we forget I've already performed my Miracle I've added value to one person and if you can add value to one why not ten why not 10 million it's not a product issue it's a scaling question the car Works figure out how to get it to the racetrack the tool is effective now get it into the hands of the builders you see the difference the confidence that comes with that instead of doubting all that you bring to the world asking yourself if more is possible you say yeah of course it is because I've already done it here is my proof now what's around me that I can use to deliver it how can I try things reposition things figure out how to scale and get further but I know it's possible [Music] so many of us have already gotten to one we're adding value we're doing what we believe in but we're asking the wrong question we're still asking whether more is possible it is the burden is just on you to bring it to fruition the burden is on you to find a way to scale the value contained in your one thing and by the way if you haven't arrived at one yet buckle up right getting to one was one of the best periods of my life right finding your value proposition enjoying the process exploring finding that intersection of value and personal contentment you'll eventually arrive there [Music] but remember for you the goal is not one million it's one one idea that works one approach that lights you up one action that opens your eyes to the upside that makes the world better to those around you when you found your one thing when you know it makes a difference then you move on to the scaling chapter right then how do we turn one into one million but they're two different questions so remember that moving forward no matter how stuck you feel if you have one you simultaneously have a little seed capable of producing Infinity it just needs attention trust yourself to work through the logistics because that's all it is transform the if into how and start building that staircase straight to the Moon [Music] laughs [Music] in 1519 hernan-cortez arrived on the shores of Mexico with roughly 600 Spaniards all of whom quickly realized that a mighty Empire waited for them not too far inland in Cortez inspired by Spain's current golden age and the encompassing sense of ambition and Adventure that gave life to the whole journey to the new world he pushed his men forward into the unknown ordering them as Winston Reynolds writes in hispania to destroy the ships behind them symbolizing the Valiant pushed forward with no return everything would be on the line and over the years this act has become folklore evolved into the famous phrase we all know burn the boat foreign [Music] why is this an important idea well I look at it in very simple terms doing anything meaningful is hard [Music] not planning on it or hoping to do it but actually doing it and when you're in the heat of metaphorical battle right when you're on your way facing the adversity and the challenges and the hardships whether it's social physical or mental that growth comes with discomfort our instinct is to want out when we are in pain our brain's default is how do I stop the pain and what I've learned is that if you give yourself off ramps you'll take them if you allow for a plan B it will become more and more appealing if the mentality is give it your all until it's inconvenient well we all know what happens right since Excellence doesn't allow for skipping the inconvenience [Music] when you can't turn around and get back on those boats you're forced to create outcomes because suddenly everything depends on it [Music] is this mindset come easy no I don't believe it does took me into my mid-20s to realize hey I've never done anything without a life raft or a safety net I always carry an option b c and d around with me in my pocket and the result was above average at plenty of things was great at none but when your back is to the wall and those demons are closing in it's incredible what you can do which you can create you will shock yourself with your competence and your ability waiting to be unlocked foreign keep jamming this square peg in the round hole if you know something's not for you I'm simply saying if there is something you want something that you know in your soul is pulling you in and you really want to see that thing come to fruition you can't have pre-made off-ramps for yourself and the inevitable difficulty comes in because it will it always does I refer to those moments as checkpoints areas of internal deliberation high security guarded Gates where many arrive but few get to pass through not because they couldn't but because the cost of access was expensive too expensive mentally physically and socially expensive taxing most simply say no thanks they get back on that boat waiting for them by the shore they arrived on and return to the world they've always known the way I see it this is not about right or wrong no that's missing the point entirely I see the question being how bad do you want it a little a lot how about enough to go all in because if you want to see levels of yourself you never thought possible you need to kick the ladder down behind you force yourself to rise to the occasion amidst the chaos map your path straight into the darkness of night not because it's the most convenient but because you gave yourself no other choice you burned the boats and are content to watch their Flames slowly disappear behind you as you go where few have gone [Music] when I was younger I want to say maybe third grade I remember reading this poem by Shel Silverstein called Where the Sidewalk Ends this place where the cement stops and the grass begins an inflection point of sorts and I obviously don't remember what we talked about you know back then but I certainly remember the book and a few weeks ago I happened to be at the airport I was walking through and I saw a bookstore and a Shel Silverstein book propped up in the front and I couldn't stop thinking about it I had that title stuck in my head right playing on Loop Where the Sidewalk Ends some things just hit you like that title sounds perfect to me this Larger than Life transitionary place it feels like uh some sort of graduation but graduation from what to what that's the question is it simply checking off the current box before moving on to the next one is at the end of a paved calculated path and the beginning of something a little less defined a little more free is it the place where you step away from what's expected of you and instead do what you are called to do what you know when your soul is right I guess depending on who you are and what you need it could be any and all of those things but as I sat 36 000 feet in the air kind of dawned on me you know not necessarily what Michelle Silverstein wanted the takeaway to be fair right I mean it's a famous poem there's a lot of analysis and writing on this but I'm more interested in the question what do I need personally now with everything going on in my life what would I want that place to be Where the Sidewalk Ends and the more I thought about it the more I realized it's not a transition I don't think Where the Sidewalk Ends is where you step out from one place and arrive in another but I think what's more applicable In This Moment is a perspective shift almost a lifestyle invitation to straddle that line where you have one foot on the cement right the stable ground holding on to that structure we need to maintain healthy lives to build to take who we are and effectively share it with the world and one foot on the grass unpaved no parameters where our childlike curiosity runs rampant and reminds us that life is no standardized test right like if the cement represents the frame the capsule that rocket going to the Moon the grass represents the precious cargo it will be taking into orbit that substance that must be found and I think the reason my mind goes here is because in my life I've swayed too far in both directions you know I've spent entirely too much time on the sidewalk where I've limited myself my beliefs in my trajectory I've abandoned what I wanted to do because I was terrified to stray from what I was supposed to do I've let routine kill creativity I've let plans suffocate freedom and exploration but I've also spent too much time entirely in the grass beyond the structure dreaming but aiming for no target free but not grounded perhaps at times having worked so hard to tear down the parameters and the structure in my life that I found myself with no Foundation to build upon right and I think the deal is sometimes we need more sidewalk than grass and sometimes we need more grass than sidewalk there are times in our lives that call for exploration and there are times in our lives where we put our heads down and build the cool thing is we remember that beautiful balance between the structure that's ultimately imperative in the freedom to Step Beyond it so that we can pull in more life that when things feel too stiff or constrained maybe you lean more towards the edge of that unkempt undefined world and when you crave structure when you've been wandering too long when you want to build something with the pieces of Life you've been casually collecting along the way [Music] nin towards that Foundation towards that which is both known and dependable and maybe that's where we leave it as you navigate each segment of your life it's knowing that you have your hand on the dial the dial that will allow you to be your best at that particular moment in time something no one knows but you so think of that spot what are you going through now and how can you best position yourself to handle it this awareness is a power it's a strength it's not merely passing through that place Where the Sidewalk Ends but I think it's an opportunity to embody it to adapt and carry on as each new chapter begins [Music] [Music] a good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week that's from George Patton general in the United States Army integral to the Allies victory in World War II so why what makes this statement so powerful well it rings true because we have to move Beyond the idea that we can manufacture greatness with one swing of the bat one stroke of the pen that if we wait for the right moment Perfection will come the light will turn green the Stars will align and the path will emerge I feel like I could scream this from every Mountaintop and it wouldn't be enough life is not a perfection game life is an adjustment game and I'll speak anecdotally here in my experience looking over my shoulder reflecting you know those times that I'd clung to perfection rationalizing my immobility by saying hey uh you're not ready this isn't good enough I'd only have to dig a few layers down to see that my not moving wasn't out of some loyalty to Excellence no I was standing still because of fear a fear of going of starting a fear of the unknown Perfection is the biggest con there is it's a scam it says wait here your perfect moment will arrive hang tight the right time is coming no there are no perfect beginnings there's merely the courage to move into something new or the regret that will ultimately come from wishing that you did and sure a part of it's almost counter-intuitive it's like why isn't it beneficial to wait why would you want to take the leap before you're ready here's how I see it one of the most important distinctions to understand is that between the Thinker and the Doer The Thinker who Ponders who reflects who studies and studies and studies thinking he or she can create for him or herself a perfect jump off point thinking they can obtain for themselves all the necessary information all the answers before they begin the journey the truth is greatness is forged through repetition via Wheels on the road and yes you are terrible at first completely unsure at first you get lost at first but this becomes the knowledge that shapes the journey when you go before you're ready two important things happen first after falling down and feeling embarrassed and insecure you get back up you look around and you go wow okay I'm still here that sucked sure but it wasn't as bad as my brain told me it would be next you learn from The Exchange you can start doubling down on what works and eliminating what doesn't and eventually as you take this confidence and wisdom onto the next step repeatedly the curve becomes exponential in doing you begin stacking bricks creating a foundation those experiences that humbled you become what you lean on they're what turn into the experience the knowledge The credibility and see thinking you can skip all that ugly stuff by waiting on the ledge for Perfection to arrive in your hands that will be your undoing that's just as crazy as a sailboat waiting for the wind to stop it's like no you need that friction that resistance to reach your destination and no we cannot control everything yes there are powers Beyond us but if you go now you learn to use and navigate them the greatest gift we can give ourselves is permission to go it's looking a year ahead and dreaming of the moment we pause and say wow what a year the twists and turns the lessons the highs the lows the peak moments all brought me here and how different here is from back there how far I've come knowing by the way that life was never asking me for Perfection but rather a willingness to start to dive in to adapt along the way I know a lot of people with businesses that exist in their minds but not in reality a lot of people in shape when they close their eyes but not when they look in the mirror a lot of people living their best lives when talking about the future but not when they pull up to work on a Monday morning we shorten the gap between our ideal existence and the Present Moment by going by stepping now even when we can't imagine how the process will unfold because let me tell you life will bend and twist in ways you can't even fathom it'll take you places that ignite your soul show you things you never dreamed of seeing but you have to put yourself in position to receive that from life the world wants to help people who help themselves so give yourself the gift of progress of momentum if a dream is only worth the action one is willing to take to bring it to life let that action start now move beyond the illusion of perfection and towards the opportunity to take the imperfect every single day and transform it into greatness every time your mind says you're not ready let that be your invitation to step forward see life may not be a race but that doesn't mean time will politely wait for you we must say goodbye to perfection as we evolve as we grow [Music] I can guarantee you it won't be missed [Music] laughs today is not an obligation today is a gift why is it important that this distinction comes through loud and clear because the same action can differ wildly depending on what brought it about was it an order or a choice were we told or did we arrive there ourselves and we know this innately from a child being told to go to his or her room for punishment that place where they'd gladly be if it wasn't being mandated by angry parents when we're instructed being told to mandated when we're doing something because we have to we process this differently than a choice or a conclusion we came to on our own we think about it differently when it's something we get to do [Music] when I talk about transformative perspective shifts this was one for me going from what's expected of me how do I not mess this up what would make me look like the person I'm supposed to look like [Music] to instead understanding that listen today is a gift and I'll never get it back a series of opportunities and decisions and Choose Your Own Ending Story waiting for me every day as the sun comes up and my eyes open to me the difference is more than semantics the difference is between feeling free and going into autopilot so that I mitigate mistakes and blend in that's not Freedom that's becoming a prisoner of your own making you can walk the same road and see it differently every time you can take in the same event and Come Away with very different interpretations of it all depending on the role you chose to give yourself as you walked down the path or peered in at the event were you the hero in the story or an extra someone who capitalizes on all to be gained or someone who hides from the fear that they might misstep [Music] obligations are about minimizing risk and doing what is merely required an opportunity on the other hand asks what more could you do with what you have how could you take what you love and multiply it how could you capture your inspiration and delve further into it the one living out of obligation will always find the problems and the negative but the one who knows they have in their midst the greatest winning lottery ticket of all time [Music] will they be foolish not to cash it in and so look you might be going through some problems as we all do you might have your challenges and your struggles they're unavoidable but these are part of a greater narrative they're what will build you up and push you forward as you move deeper into the miracle that is your life [Music] step in being able to capture the opportunity is understanding that you are living in one life is not obligatory it is a giant get to and when you realize that you are truly I was at the heat Celtics game with my brother a few days ago and the Celtics at the moment are the best team in basketball which is fun being that we're from Boston originally and you know right now the team has a handful of really good players but one of them Jason Tatum has essentially separated himself as one of the most dominant players in the game right he's a superstar and as we watched him play from the stands we were talking about a narrative that I don't hear mentioned a lot and maybe it is in like basketball circles but I don't hear it much out and about I think it's incredible it's the fact that uh Boston's general manager at the time Danny Ainge saw value in Tatum way before everybody else now don't get me wrong he was always Elite but the Celtics GM saw Superstar potential in Tatum to a much greater extent than everyone else right in fact in the 2017 draft uh the Celtics had the first overall pick and you know for those unfamiliar it's usually pretty obvious how the first handful of picks are going to go right the players are all ranked before the draft and the team with the first pick is going to select the first best player obviously the team with the second pick is going to select the second best player um and while it was sort of known that Tatum was the agreed upon third best player in the draft that the Celtics didn't want number one and two even though the scouts and draft boards and you know the Talking Heads all around the country saw them as better right so here's Danny Ainge with that coveted number one overall pick which in basketball is so valuable and he's like I don't care I want the guy who's projected number three right so he trades down he gives Philly uh his number one pick basically saying hey if the guy I want is gonna go third anyway might as well trade away the first pick and get a little extra value right and still get Tatum at number three and that's exactly what they did and here we are watching him as one of the best players in the game and by the way the guy who went first overall is relatively underperformed given where he was picked the guy who went number two overall same has been up and down constant injury issues and I look back at how that played out and I just think like the pressure the weight of having this coveted pick and being like no I don't want it right the guy that I want is number three right being so confident that you see value where others don't it's hard to do that with conviction you know so I look at this and sure he made some mistakes that's all jams do you can't predict the future it's a numbers game right but the ability to spot value particularly in places others seem to disregard is what I see as the difference between excellence and mediocrity life is always trying to give us the equivalent of a draft board right in some capacities like here's what's normal here's what's projected number one two and three options are the quote-unquote best options and for the most part sure it's a decent guideline but it's not enough it's not enough I think we need to train ourselves to be asking yeah but where is the move that manifests into that game changing difference where in my life is the move that pushes me over the top the action that sets me apart are staying on the basketball theme one of the most inspiring things I've ever heard was Kobe in an interview talking about the extra value he'd capitalize on throughout the day being the difference in his career saying look if I get up two hours before everyone else and I get a workout in not once in a while but every day that's the difference why well in a week it's nothing in a month it's not much in six months it creates a gap in a year that's quite the advantage in five years you're not even on the same level in a decade he is now Untouchable to his competition foreign yeah it's just the morning everyone has the morning but Kobe saw it and recognized it as opportunity as his value the consensus out there in the world is it the morning is when you ease into your day right it doesn't put what you're doing at six a.m High On That metaphorical draft board who cares well to Kobe ah perfect there's the value that I can spot that I can utilize that most people will not even think about and in totality I believe that to be the truth right like you can do fine simply anticipating and living in and around the value as identified by the majority by following their blueprint but to separate to move from adequate to Excellence you need to find those places where you can squeeze more out of life you need to dive deeper into what's around you than Ah that's what's expected or that's what everyone else is doing that's what's perceived as valuable be your own GM right question the way of things not just out in the world but in your home in your day-to-day where are the moves that can take you from uh I don't know a six inefficiency to an eight what ways can you be unconventional flip the script to unveil the value you've been walking by for months years maybe even your whole life without realizing there are always pieces around us to be great and not just get by or survive but Thrive there are the necessary ingredients to a right and left always to Astound ourselves we just have to arrange them in a way that allows us to maximize their value it's a constant moving of parts trying again and again but not settling for a ranking system to life as prescribed by the outside world there's more if you're willing find it I was listening to Alan Watts the other day and uh he was referencing a Zen Parable and he asked this question I thought was pretty cool he goes uh when a flag is flapping in the wind what's moving the flag or the wind the answer neither it's the mind that moves it's how our minds interpret our experiences that create our realities and the reason this reminder is so important to me the reason I don't believe we could ever hear it enough is because keeping that understanding front and center in our lives tells us how powerful we are sure we often can't control the situation we all know that but we can always control what this situation means every event is open to interpretation and that's what's so incredible you know yeah sometimes it takes a while to get to the value especially when our minds want to uh default to the negative or what's missing or what's lost but if you're willing to look underneath every occurrence is exactly what you need and so take for example something we can all relate to right losing something that truly mattered that we found meaningful whether it was a person a job an activity a physical impairment right when asked what does this change mean the Mind goes loss it defaults to I had it I loved it and now it's gone but underneath that there's a chance to take the pieces of what remains and go down A New Path to find something just as or even more beautiful the same loss can mark the beginning of an adventure is it ideal at first no but it's usually not the ideal that prompts are most important change it's life's turbulence that pushes us to seek out something new [Music] you know I love taking this little trip down memory lane right because you know it's the business ventures that fell apart that caused me to look in the mirror and choose to be more it's the projects that Dan just didn't end up being that good right that allowed me to see this journey as a creative one or hey some projects hit some don't but it's not personal it's a ride and what an opportunity and it's the breakups I went through and while sure a few were definitely brutal they gifted me with an opportunity to personally level up to dial in my understanding of what really matters to me I can think of physical setbacks monetary obstacles all these things that hurt in the moment now I'm not sure I could have controlled the initial emotive response right the the human reaction but learning to ask well how can I get better from this that's a different question how can one month from now be amazing because of this situation regardless of how it feels in the moment it's not the flag or the wind that moves it's my mind so how will I choose to paint the landscape around me how will I choose to give meaning to the things that will ultimately comprise my reality that's power now I've always felt it easy to conflate like finding value in our lives with being happy all the time but again we're emotional creatures and life can be challenging for all of us I don't think it's possible to be happy all the time that's not the goal the true Victory is in finding gratitude along the way in pausing and asking how can I take this seemingly unfavorable result and find a way to win from it because guess what the sad truth is most people don't do that most people walk right by that stuff most people chalk up the L's as L's and leave the good stuff behind if you know there's a win in everything and you ask that your mind look for it the reality you create will be one much different than someone undergoing the exact same circumstances with their eyes closed remember it's the mind that moves it's you who writes the script who controls the narrative and that's not a burden that's a gift it's what makes you more powerful than you could ever imagine [Music] [Music] [Music] sometimes what we need most is not what we think we need most it's not that break we've been waiting for the universe to provide or the answer we've been Desperately Seeking no sometimes we need only three words don't give up Don't Turn back now and see I know you want to and that the meaningful thing the right thing requires we give all of ourselves it metaphorically speaking is the most expensive exhausting sometimes disheartening [Music] but this is your reminder that there will come a point when you look back on this moment and the best thing you'll have ever done will have been continuing to put one foot in front of the other continuing forward despite the circumstances towards that which means something to you I remember in South Florida a handful of years ago I just moved down here and was exploring the area a little bit looking for a place to live and I found this kind of odd little Park in between a parking lot and the beach and I pulled over just started walking around and ended up sitting down on this bench that faced the ocean and just looked out for a while I remember looking at the people who all seemed so happy they all seemed fulfilled looked like they had it all together [Music] I looked at the ocean there was so much bigger than me so vast so powerful at the non-stop stream of planes flying overhead that all seem to have a direction a purpose they had their courses mapped and I think I remember it so vividly because I'd never felt more alone than at that moment like deeply painfully alone and it's not that I enjoy bringing up these types of experiences I bring them up because time has revealed repeatedly that from these moments of doubt and sometimes even despair come what we need most so long as we don't run from what the world is trying to provide us it's as though we must experience emptiness before we can become fulfilled we need to be overcome with this Sensation that there's no way out before realizing that there is always a way so long as we're willing to find it [Music] and the pain associated with that willingness will at far outweighs the alternative [Music] I often break things down into this dichotomy of the easy meaningless way versus the hard meaningful way but that may be oversimplified right easy compared to what hard compared to what it's easy to shut down when we're at our lowest it's easy to stop when it hurts but easy now evolves into what's actually incredibly difficult tomorrow a difficult heart-wrenching regretful forever [Music] admittedly a controversial figure but regardless one of the most important quotes I've ever read is by Lance Armstrong in his book it's not about the bike he's his pain is temporary it may last a minute or an hour or a day or a year but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place if I quit however it lasts forever [Music] see the easy thing versus the hard thing is to simplified void of imperative context the question is in our darkest moments will we stand up when it hurts so that we can walk run and ultimately Sprint towards what matters there's a realization that helped me [Music] because when we're in these situations the thought goes like this things are wrong things are broken my life isn't what it should be I need to fix this and make it whole make it right so I can live a good life like everyone else like there's a deep loneliness associated with that misconception as though the world is put together but I I am not [Music] well let me dispel that notion and end that narrative the world is a series of objects that mean nothing other than the value we place upon them seven billion people all fighting their own battles all trying to make sense of things all pretending like the little fairy tale they've manufactured in their heads is the real thing or the right thing when in actuality we are all just passengers Along on a ride we do not understand fighting battles that we don't often comprehend and cannot grasp you are not broken you are human Perfectly Imperfect equipped with the tools to take another step forward despite the chaos and the uncertainty steps that become in the end everything [Music] I remember reading about Jefferson how he had migraines so severe while President that he would do most of his important work in the morning because of the high probability he could literally be incapacitated from noon on and I just thought man we are all fighting battles we're all doing what we can to make the most of our circumstance to redirect discomfort into opportunity and pain into progress and what's most incredible is that we can there's a saying that it's not supposed to be easy they're getting where you need to go requires the treacherous path associated with a hero's journey the vast unknowns the questions that remain unanswered for extended periods of time the villains that seemingly inject themselves into our lives please understand that this is not a reflection of you who you are and your capabilities this is The Game of Life days dip his difficulty in exchange for tomorrow's meaning the pressure that creates the diamonds and you don't have to be sure of anything other than that you know you will continue stepping forward because you can things won't always go right but in the failures or the new tools to grow and redirect you won't always feel on top of the world but it's in The Valleys of Despair that we're forced to truly analyze to think deeply re-approach and perhaps most importantly you may have days where you let yourself down fall short perhaps lose sight of the courage to which you have attached your dreams but that's okay you are defined not by your mistakes but by the present moment not some impossible expectation of perfection but by your ability to rise and Rise Again when it requires all of you to lift your head up and carry on foreign [Music] where fear is transformed into courage and doubt to strength because if not hear where and if not now when go all you need you have and when life finds you sitting down on a park bench staring out at a world that feels too big and too complex that seems impossible to navigate find it within yourself to smile smile because of what you've already overcome what you've been through who you are remember that you are exactly where you need to be staring up at the meaning in life as opposed to down at your feet now go no Miracles here no mountains need to be jumped or oceans crossed but if you won step forward and two believe in yourself to put the pieces together as they arrive there is nothing you can't do or be there is no obstacle before you that is insurmountable just keep going and sure sometimes that's all we can do but it also happens to be true that it is your greatest superpower simply find a way to run if you can crawl if you must but find a way Because deep down in your soul the peace are there and it will be at some point as you look back the greatest decision you've ever made [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so in this Parable there's a man and he's walking through a circus and what he's noticing as he looks around he sees these massive elephants right I'm sure everyone knows how big and strong an elephant is they have a rope around one of their legs connected to something and that's what's holding them in place and he's looking at them thinking how are these enormous creatures being held in place by these little ropes right they could easily uh you know have enough strength to just break free and run around yet they're not they're all staying right where they are and so as he keeps walking he finds someone and he asks them how is it these elephants are constrained like that and the person explains well when they're little we do the same thing we take a rope we tie it to one of their legs connected to something and at that point they are too small uh they can't go anywhere and every day you know we do the same thing and as they get older they don't realize that they're big enough or strong enough to break free right they maintain the idea that they're Shackled by that rope or Tied by that rope that they're bound to the same place it's mental right and in fact most limitations are mental these elephants don't even realize their constraints are self-imposed and if you take a a step back if you look at your own world [Music] I think what you'd find is there are more of these ropes then we'd like to admit [Music] and changing that is is one awareness and to a willingness like what types of parameters have you made for yourself are you living in just because that's what you've always done right what is your metaphorical rope is it a job is it a relationship is it a a routine is it the courage to start something like what what is holding you back what stories have you told yourself are you living by that dictate your actions and your days and ultimately your happiness that can change with a tug on a metaphorical rope see reality your life is nothing more than what you've conceded to what you've allowed it to be it's a Line in the Sand right and the message today is so incredibly simple it's to look around you pinpoint where those lines can be redrawn where that rope needs to be pulled what invisible walls have you created for yourself because in life there's one truth right things only stop when you do life stops when you decide to stop and sometimes you realize it and sometimes you don't sometimes you need the reminder to look around you I didn't realize how courageous you are how much you're capable of if you see beyond the immediate because reality was not destined to be it's what you've allowed it's what you've created it's what you've accepted so let's tear down those walls and build something incredible Saturday catch you guys tomorrow [Music] stop apologizing stop apologizing for who you are what you believe and how you see the world stop apologizing for your failures they lift you up they push you to be more stop apologizing for being different unusual or unique there's a saying that if you are lucky enough to be different don't ever change Embrace that hold it stop apologizing for taking a path Less Traveled for breaking away from the pack it's not an insufficiency it doesn't mean you couldn't go their way it means you had the courage to be yourself in a world trying to make you someone else stop apologizing for words that don't align with someone else's ideology or worldview your job isn't to appease or conform to grab hold of what lights a fire in you and use it to brighten the world around you stop apologizing for your dreams it's okay to not be content Where You Are it's okay to want to grow to become more The Roots planting them to the ground they are not yours and why waste the opportunity Beyond the Horizon of your current existence see Having the courage of your convictions is like unlocking your mind realizing that yeah you have the key and you've had it all along no one else gets to set your parameters they don't get to tell you what's right or what to believe the people around you are not moral Arbiters they're not Protectors of Truth remember that remember that no one knows better than you what's best for you that's why there's power and intuition in following your beliefs your strengths in doing what makes you happy relentlessly pursuing what makes you feel alive the thing about dreams ideas potential they're always meaningless until they're not see everything is crazy until it exists so protected don't bow down to pressures of now simply because you have not yet built tomorrow you will if you want it you will some messages they are incredibly simple and this my friends is one of those you have everything you need to become who you want to be right now as you listen to this in real time you don't need approval or permission or acceptance you don't need to belong or be told it's normal you you simply need to start to know that you will pick yourself up when you fall and keep going not apologize but continue placing One Foot In Front of the other not look externally for a will to carry on that only exists within you see the second you begin rewriting the rules changing the game you put yourself in position to emerge Victorious sometimes the most important things we do in our lives are the product of sheer will of taking little nothings that surround us and making something out of them in other words the greatest opportunities often the ones we need most they simply aren't obvious they're hidden hidden behind what looks like difficulty what appears to be hopelessness [Music] the reason I place so much value on a single step forward when we're overwhelmed or at a low point is because a single step means you're in the game you're giving yourself a chance to find and obtain those little hidden away pieces can't be found when we stand still and dwell on a situation Mobility is empowerment and when we move forward only with what we have we're continuously reminded that what we have is enough [Music] we have the tools the resources and the ability we just have to somehow remind ourselves that with those tools we are capable of building of creating the incredible [Music] so quick story about what I believe is the best song ever written certainly one of them and it's a little bit older now but in 1998 a band called The Goo Goo Dolls released a song called Iris and that song changed my life it was the first album I bought it introduced me to music I listened to it you know probably thousands of times and even 24 years later it gives me chills listening to it and so I wanted to find out a little more about interview from Johnny Resnick who is the front man and songwriter for the band and in this interview the interviewers asking Johnny about the song [Music] um basic questions how it came out how we wrote it and stuff like that and there's a few points that I think are amazing I want to share them with you first is the state he was in prior to writing the song he just came out of a divorce personal life sort of in shambles coming off of a bad record deal where uh the label from his previous album had done what record labels are notorious for and ended up keeping the vast majority of the revenue he had writer's block you know just fell down and had left his home to stay at a hotel in Los Angeles right bottom line is it's not a dream scenario by any stretch of the imagination and uh then gets a call from his manager about potentially writing a song for the City of Angels soundtrack and he says he went and sort of auditioned with what he had which was two lines of a song and a guitar with two broken strings it was evidently good enough he gets a nod from the label and starts writing and the verses according to Johnny in the interview they align perfectly with the movie right it's an angel willing to give up anything even his immortality to be human so he could be with this girl right and uh it's it's this deep dive into you know what it is to love someone so much you give up everything for them and then and this is the icing on the cake for me that's when it like I realized that I wanted to write about this um the interviewer says essentially okay Johnny the verse is aligned with the movie but the chorus this revolutionary big beautiful powerful chorus it seems to take a left turn like can you explain that to us what were you thinking and he just kind of pauses blankly for a second and I'm thinking no don't you dare say what I know you're about to say and sure enough he does he basically shrugs and goes I don't know the words just kind of worked and you know I'm paraphrasing that's not a direct quote but that's the idea you know one of the deepest most powerful beautiful songs I've ever heard is Patchwork right even the song title he says was named after a country singer on the cover of a magazine laying next to him Iris that's Patchwork it's put together right and then as I thought about it for a minute it's like of course it is how perfect how absolutely perfect the whole thing is an assembly and construction a metaphor for the human spirit conceived when its author was down and out right taking L after L called to present an idea didn't have some crazy budget or equipment to pitch this song nope move forward only with what he had in the moment and that was enough then the song a beautiful depiction of uh you know the movie's theme combined with elements of real life his personal situation what he goes through maybe even components that mean nothing other than an ability to encapsulate a feeling or an emotion words that allowed him to put a bow on all these little pieces himself and get it out the door and millions and millions of people listen to that song and were changed by it not because of what it meant to Johnny but because it gave them a chance to take it and fit their own worlds and struggles into those same lines it became a vehicle to inspire others to push forward to find things in themselves they didn't know were there this has become one of my favorite metaphors for finding the hero buried deep within yourself changing your life changing your world changing the world around you the lives of others can truly be and in fact often is the result of just moving forward with what you have right realizing that even when the mountain seems too tall to climb there is a way we just require that mental shift listen to this question right because I used to ask myself all the time is this possible can this be done well then that becomes the question that I focused on and everything that occurred around me became evidence that would either support or invalidate that possibility the second I came up against an inevitable barrier I'd think ah maybe this is telling me the answer is no right life will always be evidence for or against the questions that you choose to ask which is why it's so important that you're asking the right questions because the second you change that question to look I know this can be done but how will I do it you start looking at Life as a puzzle that must be solved that same obstacle that was once interpreted as a stop sign is now merely an indicator that the path exists just perhaps somewhere else you've extended the pursuit you've given yourself permission to keep looking and it's because of these self-created Expeditions that we find more in ourselves you know things won't always go perfectly but when you look at those imperfections through the right lens you see that this isn't about you it's about that particular door being locked all you have to do is believe in yourself enough to move to the next one to continue knocking until you find a door that opens until you find that bridge to whatever comes next and that's why I love that story about Iris why I wanted to share it today crafted during times far from ideal with the resources far from abundant with words far from perfect or related or self-explanatory but you end up on the other side with this masterpiece this song that certainly changed my life indefinitely impacted many others and it's like we have to realize when we're sitting on the edge of the bed you know maybe it's not divorce or writer's block but whatever it is holding you back that's not the end it's your reason to keep going to begin again you don't have to know how things will be but you do have to know how they won't be they won't be like this because you won't let them stay this way and maybe it's not two written lines in a broken guitar maybe it's moving forward when your strength is not at a 10 out of 10. when you don't really have that spark or you're longing for some resources some finances wondering where they'll come from but pushing forward one little step at a time until things start making sense and maybe it's not a combining and restructuring of song lyrics using your personal experiences to fill the gaps on the paper before you but it's trusting that your own story will ultimately tell itself if you don't put the pen down that the heroes will rise the villains will fall and the adventure will continue on after all that's what life is one giant adventure testing us pushing us and transforming us when we're at our lows while reminding US during the good times why we're lucky to have been gifted that same adversity we once looked at with contempt why we're lucky that when everything's made to be broken as the lyrics suggest we get to make something imperfectly beautiful with the pieces foreign [Music] [Music] foreign we're forced to become more when the clock is ticking we are tasked with finding answers that hide Among Us it's in the darkness we find light and while lost we find ourselves the Paradox of life is that from our pain comes our purpose our Evolution and our greatness foreign I love thinking back to about 2014 making my way around Boston having just quit my job essentially purposeless clinging to a YouTube channel and a podcast idea that I would name your world within and why why do I think back why does this mean everything to me well because at the time I knew nothing I understood nothing nothing about speaking or media audio video nothing about running a business but more importantly I knew very little about life and what's truly required to progress in a world with infinite moving parts I didn't know that my lack of understanding is what made everything feel overwhelming and complex and that it was up to me to simplify foreign failure and that was the most eye-opening realization because when you gravitate towards a risk-free existence and you box yourself in as I had for so long of course you don't get the upside but you also don't fail as dramatically either you know life was a simple game of cause and effect do work get results not mushroom for more than that and so stepping outside that box in the way that I did uh change some rules I learned some things first you can spend time on something you can exhaust energy on something and get nothing in the short term for your efforts and I mean nothing unless you count getting your pride stomped on unless you count your friends disappearing when you need them most unless you count self-doubt in a constant worry about not amounting to anything I mean these are very raw very real human emotions [Music] they tend to arise when we start something new but in them is also the power this is where the light bulb turns on and the path emerges it's where I learned that we only get what we want when we endure or what we don't [Music] and what a foreign concept when you think about it it's like Eddie take this mic go stand in front of this audience and pour your heart out your knees are shaking chest is pounding but dude trust me it'll be good for you and funny enough it was it was because the fear in my stomach became the indicator that something new something exciting something more was around the corner like Pavlov's dog hearing that Bell any time the fear kicked in I could feel myself getting closer to something meaningful to a higher version of myself [Music] the pain is an invite the sheer Terror and let's face it that's what it feels like sometimes it's an upgrade disguised as the monster that you think you should be running from when it is as I recently mentioned the adversary you should befriend we have to change our relationship with discomfort because our initial understanding the one that comes stock in our minds is never sufficient to build anything of significance its default setting is to preserve the now not expanded and so just like those stock speakers that came in my 1999 Ford F-150 when I was in my early 20s let's rip it out let's customize let's upgrade the quality of the sound we hear and the things we say to ourselves what an advantage it is to know that the hard things are what make us level up to find that awareness what a blessing that when life's difficulty startles and scatters the masses you could be the one that remains Standing Tall seeking out the advantage amidst the commotion every little Act of Courage becomes more and more meaningful powerful but we must lose ourselves to find ourselves we must embrace our fears if we are to become courageous we must fail in order to succeed and sure sometimes the price seems steep foreign but I promise not going costs more wishing costs more if onlys cost more so maybe for you it isn't a YouTube channel or a speaking career maybe it's something totally different but it is something yourself to to pursue that which your heart pulls you to pursue you'll have those moments of defeat where you're mad at yourself for leaving the comfort and safety of your previous world you'll have times where you have no idea what to do where you feel alone or stuck or unsure the difference will be whether you see this as the invite you've been waiting for or the reason to turn around and settle for less that's the question how do you internalize all that emotion that will feel like it is consuming you I couldn't believe how strong that Temptation was to go back nagging at me every day just come off the edge just be comfortable again but as my old coach would say in college when we're doing wall sits or something physically taxing 15 seconds and do anything for 15 seconds and is in life just a culmination of 15 second windows it's compartmentalizing the process it's turning the difficult into the advantageous you have the ability to not think like everyone else you have it within you to rewire your previous conceptions of the world to see Darkness not as your reason to hide from conjured up monsters but as your invitation to become the light remember that the best way to be more is to have the courage to put your back against the wall and you won't want to in the moment there will never be a perfect time but committing to that vulnerability will release from within you the power the strength the greatness that has been for so long tucked away the chaos you were simult aneous realizing the possibility that just needed the door left a jar to make its way into your world [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] but an accumulation of that which is simple what are big things if not just a multitude of little things [Music] there's comfort in the understanding that all we have in life all there is is Simplicity easy to understand pieces it's just that sometimes we stack them so high that they start to take a new shape but like Greg McCune references in his book essentialism power isn't always an acquiring answers you already have them they're in front of you the power is in cutting away the things that don't need to be there removing all that stands between you and your ideal existence and I think that's one of life's great misunderstandings we don't need to find more we need to remove that excess until we're face to face with what matters and to adopt this principle it's nothing short of liberating or chaos confusion disorder they don't imply that you lack the right things they suggest you haven't stripped life of the wrong things you have not simplified a thousand miles is intimidating when you look at it holistically it's a long journey but it's just a collection of steps and well shouldn't we find solace in the fact that anyone can take one step it's not a game of complexity it's a game of understanding what's in front of you and what's in front of you is always manageable so much of our stress stems from Forgetting what that journey is made of whether it's a change in career Mastery of an art some kind of personal transformation the result we want when looking at it from the starting line it's too complex to understand too many pieces stacked up foreign so let's break it down let's find the foundation what's really there what are the one two three things we need to do what is that golden question what matters if you lose sight of that then you will stumble through life I've learned this I've lived it the time I take to myself every day is invaluable to me because I ask myself those two questions what matters and what are the simple steps I need to take like what can I remove I was talking about this during an interview this week my personal growth and one of the most important aspects has been the understanding and there's zeroing in on what's important I used to take uh so much pride in composing the background music to these people end to end and I used to love to be able to say I did it all that was so I thought the Great differentiator But ultimately I learned to take a step back and ask what matters here what do you care about it's the storytelling that I love it's the impact and let's be real no one cares who wrote the background music [Music] it's holistically how does the peace make you feel right in this understanding allowed me to cut away license the music save two days a week acquire clarity and realize my goal is not to be Mozart my journey is to be one of the great communicators storytellers of our time and if a day goes by where I'm not taking a little step towards that it's the wrong move small example in the grand scheme of things but right on point it's the power in understanding what matters that makes a difference that allows you to grow evolve and I'm confident that this not only applies to long-term Pursuits but also our challenging times the dark moments the periods of uncertainty and discontent same concept foreign [Music] how do you get there what's the simple thing you can do to close that Gap because you are never helpless you can always do something and my friends those little somethings ultimately evolve into everything [Music] and when we put our phone away Step Beyond the noise spend time with ourselves we can see how much of life is running in place stacking and stacking pieces that aren't even part of the Masterpiece we're trying to assemble if you want answers start with the understanding that they're buried under mountains of things you don't need so cut away cut away the people and places and things that convolute your story cut away the exhaustion of time that provides no value in return cut away the thoughts that make life more complex than your journey from where you are to where you'd like to be [Music] stand right now you have everything you need and there's nothing greater than that nothing more powerful than that understanding so why not step outside the complexity that you've manufactured that you're living in into a world of clarity simplicity and capture what matters [Music]

Channel: Eddie Pinero

Views: 978,135

Keywords: live inspired, motivation, your world within, Eddie Pinero, inspiration, running motivation, motivational speech, motivational video, best motivational speech, morning motivation, best motivational video, motivation compilation, wake up motivation, law of attraction, 2023 motivation, powerful motivational speech, workout motivation, positive affirmations, motivation for success, motivational video 2023, positive morning motivation, motivational speech 2023, change your life

Id: zyRHzsYkTww

Length: 186min 15sec (11175 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 10 2023