Your World Within Podcast by Eddie Pinero
TO GROW, YOU MUST SUFFER | Powerful Motivational Speeches | 3 Hours
Fri, 06 Dec 2024
Where will your next step take you? When life feels the heaviest and the path ahead seems impossible, that's precisely when we must keep moving forward. Strength isn’t the absence of doubt, and courage doesn’t mean never feeling fear — they are the decision to rise despite them. As Ernest Becker wrote, we are both "worms and gods" — mortal and vulnerable, yet divine in our ability to transcend. It’s in life’s darkest moments that we discover the power to create light, to see opportunity in chaos, and to turn pain into purpose. Every challenge, every fall, is not proof you’ve failed but an invitation to grow beyond what you’ve ever been. The world will test you, it will tell you you’re small, but your strength lies in knowing you are more. When most would retreat, you can take that step forward, embracing your resilience, your purpose, and your unshakable will to transform struggle into meaning. Monday Motivation Newsletter: https://www.eddiepinero.com/newsletter Free Ebook: www.eddiepinero.com/ebook YouTube: www.eddiepinero.com/youtube
Chapter 1: What does it mean to embrace struggle for growth?
It's when we most want to turn around that we must keep going. When all we see is darkness, that we must have faith in the light. It's when we feel most vulnerable that we must become unshakable. See, there's a misconception that strength implies a total absence of weakness or doubt, that courage means never feeling fear or uncertainty. When in reality, these things are human.
Chapter 2: How can we find strength in vulnerability?
They've been wired into us. As Ernest Becker has said, we are simultaneously worms and gods. Worms in that, sure, we're animals. Flesh and bone unable to avoid death or misfortune or tragedy in life. But most importantly, gods. In that we have the divine ability to transcend these inevitable circumstances. To find hope in the seemingly hopeless.
To see opportunity in life's obstacles and growth when we fall. To take the meaningless and give it meaning. And one of the most important things I've learned is that when life knocks me down, pushes me to my limits, it's not some indication that I walked the wrong path. It's no referendum on who I am. No, it's a hand extended offering the chance for me to be more than I've ever been.
And in a world of delusion and distraction, it's a reminder that we have the capacity to turn life's hardship into a better tomorrow. The difference between fact or fiction, possible or impossible, success or failure, is the decision to get up when life knocks us down. This world, it's not easy. It tests us, challenges us. It makes us think we are but a cog in the wheel of life. It can be tough.
but your weapon, your strength is knowing that you are tougher. And look, I know that adversity hurts, but I also know that you're capable. You are strong enough to turn that struggle into something meaningful. where most would turn back, you have it in you to take one step forward. Let the walls crash down. The skies open up and the ground shakes. See, this is minor detail in your world.
Transcend. Transcend the average, the earthly constraints and the mental limitation. Remember who you are, why you started, Remember that when your surroundings attempt to pull you back down to Earth, you have no interest in the narratives they offer to you. You are unshakable. The thing about storms is that they all have one thing in common. They pass.
And once gone, they leave you as a person different than who you were before you stepped in. Before you found yourself consumed by its adverse conditions. They are disruptors. Breaking down and shaking up. But not for the sake of chaos itself. No, storms break us down so that we can build again.
So that we can find within ourselves the power and the strength that simply remain tucked away during those sunny days. And so walking up to this storm, what you'll immediately notice is a break from the normal. the everyday. An obvious detachment from the standards by which you had been living. But don't be fooled into thinking those dark clouds and heavy winds have nothing of value for you.
Don't be tricked into thinking the rain will consume all the good in life. Because at the end of the day, it's that very rain that washes away the excess and leaves the meaningful. We don't grow despite the storms. We grow because of the storms. So compose yourself and embrace what's around you. Amidst the storm, you might realize that you don't want some of the things you thought you did.
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Chapter 3: What lessons do storms teach us in life?
You might realize that life contains variables that make it incredibly unpredictable. And when old plans meet new variables, sometimes we learn that the path we were walking down requires adjustment. It needs change. Not because we were wrong, the dream was wrong, or the path was wrong, but because life is an experiment. Experiments are meant to test hypotheses and support exploration.
Without the storm, sure, everything seemed fine. Everything was flawless. But in the thick of it, when the variables, the multiplicity of factors present themselves, it often paints a picture for us that we previously weren't able to see. That's okay. Ideal, even. It's life. So when amidst the storm, and presented this new information, this new portrait, pivot.
Grow with your understanding and newly acquired knowledge. There's no point in remaining tied to the ideas, the people, and the places that once served you, but have since run their course. Growth is perspective and awareness, and as the storm shakes your foundation, it also hands you a clarity that those blue skies simply could not.
So adjust, adapt, and move further into the person you are destined to become. You can't learn that on a sunny day. No, that's what storms are for. And amidst the storm, you might find yourself scared, nervous, unsure. You might even look back and wonder what life would have been like had you not stepped in. Perhaps you're angry with yourself for not navigating around the inclement weather.
Maybe you'll find yourself asking, How did I let myself end up in such a situation when there were visual indicators and weather forecasts? People warned me about moments like this, yet here I am. You might find that the drop in temperature is uncomfortable, the rain difficult, the wind annoying. But here's what they don't tell you. There's something innately powerful
about proving to yourself that you can move forward despite those things. That when you're scared and step forward anyway, when you're lost but maintain your poise and trust in the process, when you're down but cling to hope to that light at the end of the tunnel, you emerge with a different understanding of who you are. You end up stronger because you've allowed yourself to become stronger.
And you don't get that on the sunny days. No, that's what storms are for. And amidst the storm, you might feel like the sacrifice required in life is more than you want to endure. Maybe even more than you can endure. After all, it's during our trying times that we're forced to make some of our most difficult decisions.
We might be forced to let go of some things that had been staples in our lives. That in order to say hello to some things, we must necessarily say goodbye to others. And this hurts. Especially while it's happening, it hurts. But what you're really doing is learning to identify what matters. and mitigate the things that don't support that journey.
Sometimes storms teach us that growth is not about acquisition and obtaining more. And they show us instead that we've been carrying too much. That we become accustomed to surrounding ourselves with things that no longer elevate or inspire or push us. And the best way to evolve is to move forward with less. So when you see parts of yourself fade away or dissolve, hold your head up.
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Chapter 4: How do we create new beginnings in our life story?
We place value and importance on these things because they feel like a part of us. We feel like they're too significant to dismiss. When in reality, the act of letting go is ultimately a value add. Because it ensures that what matters is what stays. It's the ability to understand that the story doesn't begin when thoughts become words. It begins when there's alignment.
When the story captivates, inspires. And in the one you're writing, the one that is your life, You can always make that moment right now. There's always a new novel that can be written with new objectives and characters and storylines. It's okay to chop anything that led to this moment. It's okay to create a beginning as you stand here today, right?
It's the idea of sunk costs that changed my life years ago. Just because you spent a long time making a mistake doesn't mean you need to continue making it. Just because you've been writing the story of your life for years doesn't mean the beginning is behind you. You can start this novel here. You can begin this epic adventure now.
And I think there's tremendous power in looking at life like that. It's never too late for a new beginning. It's never wrong or impossible to, even at chapter four, put your finger down on a new starting point and say, this is where it all begins. Where the new ideal takes shape. We are all authors. And if authors have anything, it's control over the narrative.
It's the ability to design a world that aligns with the one they imagine. Dear younger me, there's a lot that you don't know. A lot you're pretty sure you understand, but couldn't possibly wrap your hands around. Because the most important things in life, the things that you'll remember, they're the very things that seem like footnotes in your story. Background noise, hidden in plain view.
So younger me, hear me out because time, time goes by quickly. And we only get one opportunity to do this dance, one chance to do this thing right. Younger me, when you wake up, be thankful for the shoes on your feet, the house you live in, the life you lead. Because if all you do is focus on what you don't have or the next milestone, happiness becomes a mirage.
Younger me, the world as you know it isn't something that was destined to be. It's here because people no smarter than you have the courage to build it. Never be scared to challenge what is. This place will be better because of it. And younger me, it will always be easier to play it safe, to stay comfortable. But I want you to understand something. That's not where you'll find the good stuff.
If you don't take chances, you'll spend your time wondering what could have been. Younger me, believe in your greatness. This world can be a tough place, and if you don't believe in yourself, no one will do it for you. No one will hand you the sky. Earn excellence every day. It's there, I promise.
Younger me, don't get distracted by the small stuff, the little things that so easily consume our energy and emotions. Don't lose sight of who you are and what means the most to you. Everything else washes away. Younger me, you didn't have all the answers, but somehow you were exactly what I needed you to be. You created a map.
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Chapter 5: Why is it important to burn the boats behind us?
Any move to something better will present to you its obstacles. And my advice, if it's what you really want, is to have decided before you started that there is no other way. There's no negotiating with yourself. Because if you allow that door to be cracked, life will kick it open. So point the compass north and dismiss any notion that what's comfortable is more important than what's meaningful.
When you're cold, nothing is more appealing than that warmth. But warmth is deception, a short-term ploy for you to forget what really matters. An illusion. See, cold subsides. But victory is forever. Knowing that you pushed forward when most wouldn't is forever. Transforming potential into strength when your knees shook is forever. So burn the boat.
For no other reason that there is no way forward so long as there remains a way back. Make life make you win. And where most would look around and see evidence of defeat, you'll find again and again in the same quote-unquote evidence, the tools to build ladders to new beginnings and bridges to new worlds, there's a saying that I love.
That most of life's successful people were too ignorant of the odds to know their accomplishments were considered at one point impossible. And I love it because it highlights that there was never a fallback option, a concern for the statistics. There was no worry or exhausted energy on what if.
Rather, it was constant building and adjusting, finding ways over, through, and around the walls that inevitably stand before us. There was no way home, so they pushed forward into their greatness.
And so can you, whatever shape, form, or color greatness looks like in your eyes, whatever mountaintop appeals to you, if you want it, if you're willing to decide before you go that you will one day stand amongst the clouds, peering out at that world you deemed wasn't against you, but for you, anything is possible. there has to come a time when it's now or never.
Where you look at your reflection and realize that the cost of waiting is far more expensive than the cost of stepping out into the vast unknown. In every journey, that's when life effectively starts. But here's why this is so tricky. what's caught me off guard so many times in my life, it's the many shapes that waiting takes. See, waiting is not always sitting there and doing nothing, not at all.
Sometimes waiting is just the bare minimum. It's moving forward so slightly and so slowly that you can essentially trick yourself into thinking that you're progressing. into thinking you're making it happen. When, if you really stopped and looked, if you were honest with yourself, if you really took a second to review, to analyze, you'd see that you're leaving almost everything on the table.
You're not creating progress, you're dancing with the idea of progress. Sometimes waiting can mean just going fast enough to not have to look at the fear you're hiding behind. That's reality, right? I think it's a very normal thing, but I also think life is too short for normalcy. I think we can do better than normal.
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Chapter 6: What role does self-leadership play in achieving success?
When I look back, the most important moments in my life were not tangible acquisition. and see the flashy things that try and capture our attention, right? The money, the condos, even social media growth, business growth, whatever it is you're working towards. Those things are wonderful. They are benchmarks that hopefully align with your North Star, but they are not the difference makers.
Not at all, right? They were the byproduct of what really mattered. They weren't the moments that moved the needle. My greatest moments were mental shifts. Cognitive transformations. That's why I do this for a living. I see how much can change when we step back and look at life just a little differently. It was my realizing that I was demanding too little of myself.
That the world won't see greatness in me until I see it in me. That shift that pushed me to demand more of myself, seek bigger challenges, value my work to a greater extent, charge more for my services. And that mental shift is what made some of those externalities possible. It's realizing that if you want it, more is on the table. That yesterday doesn't define you.
That it's never too late to begin again. That everything you need, you have, right? These are the ideas that truly change lives. They make the difference. And if we don't become aware of these things, we leave them in the rear view. We walk right by them. In other words, the most important moments of my life were when someone or something shook me and effectively said, hey, look around you.
If this is what you want, fine, enjoy. But for your information, there is more out there. And if you step up just a little, if you do just a little more, If you pivot and come at this thing a little bit differently, you will further that reach. You'll create another ripple effect that will transform your life. But we must stop and look around.
A good friend of mine, and this is just the other day, right, we're having lunch, we're talking about marketing, and, you know, we always joke that marketing is just a part of the business that I don't particularly enjoy, right? Necessary, but not my favorite.
And we're going through kind of different strategies, ideas, and he presents one, and I say something like, eh, you know, I don't need to do that. It seems a little over the top. And unfiltered, he goes, man, you're hurting your reach. Like, what good is that metaphorical restaurant that's not on anyone's radar? You're going to be the best pizza shop that no one knows about.
And it just kind of hit me, right? It's like, man, I needed to see that differently. Maybe there's room to be a little more aggressive. Again, one example of many. And not every time is the idea or opportunity the right one or necessary one, right? But at least you stopped. At least you thought about it.
At least you contrasted where you are with the potential upside of doing something differently. That is where we leave opportunity on the table. You know, we most often, myself included, paint regret as this, the result of this blatant walking away from something. A deliberate declaration, sort of a, oh no, I'm not doing that, no way. And sure, sometimes that's the case.
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Chapter 7: How can we transform failures into opportunities?
See, you can only go so far, so long, being this spectator of your own journey. You can only go so long looking out the window before you wonder just what it'd be like to be behind the wheel. When we put our actions up against the question, why, It astounds me how many things are done because it's what we've always done. We act like we're expected to act. Think like we're expected to think.
See who we're expected to see. But expected by whom? Some of my greatest breakthroughs in life emerged after being asked why by people I look up to or respect. Why have you accepted that? That's your income? Okay, great, but why? That's how you spend your day? I see. How come? And when one is tasked with looking at their own life through a magnifying glass, some hidden truths always emerge.
It shines a spotlight in the corner of the room, illuminating those shadows where one can, if they look hard enough, make out the wolf in sheep's clothing that is the phrase, because that's how I've always done it. We get in life what we accept.
We are what we allow ourselves to be, and if we don't ask ourselves which mountain is worth climbing, which ocean is worth crossing, we simply float with the tide. We're at the mercy of the winds. We forfeit the mastery over our own lives that awaits if we're willing to take that wheel and navigate. So here are a few things to take with you. First is you are bound by nothing.
The parameters you exist between are of your making. You can get in that car and drive. You can walk away and begin something new. You can entertain that vision that's been conveniently tucked away in the back of your mind. Understand that to not go is fine, but it's a decision. And perhaps a decision you'll wish you made differently. And second, difficult today liberates you tomorrow.
It's easier to observe. It's easier to say how you wish things were. After all, stepping out into the fast-paced chaotic world is tough. It's scary, it's unpredictable, but it's where you find yourself and the path that's calling your name. It's beyond the pins and needles emerging as one jumps into the cold water that they're able to find that evolution.
If there's time, then there's time to turn things around. If there is a tomorrow, then there is hope today. The other day I woke up with a plan. Three things I had to do. So I wrote them on my whiteboard. They were essentially my objectives for the day. But it ended up being one of those days where things didn't unfold the way I anticipated.
And for a variety of reasons, curveball after curveball, with some sloppy decision-making sprinkled in there, Eventually morning became afternoon, afternoon became evening. I found myself exhausted and looking up at a whiteboard that was showing me I had accomplished none of the things listed. And I hate that feeling. Having clear objectives and not meeting them.
So after dinner I got a phone call. And I found myself talking about how I fell short, getting it all off my chest, letting it all out there. And I got that reassurance that I wanted without even realizing that I wanted it, right? The voice said back to me, Eddie, this happens. It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. No one's perfect. You put a lot of pressure on yourself.
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Chapter 8: What motivates us to change and take action?
With everything we have, until it becomes intertwined with who we are and where we're headed. And as I sat there, I knew it to be true. I couldn't help but feel that change was about to happen and it would stem directly from how I see myself. It would be the product of who I knew myself to be. And so now, most importantly, I present this question to you. Are you at that next step?
Are you looking at a chasm that must be crossed? Were all your little decisions, all the courage and discipline and strength that you utilized to get here, that has positioned you for this moment, is it telling you something is next? Is it time to dig deeper and be more than you have ever in your life been?
And my example, by the way, was not about holding in our problems or dismissing those around us. Asking for help when we need help is courage. The small circle we surround ourselves with is a direct reflection of who we are. No, for me, it was about being the type of person who trusts myself to weather those storms.
about moving with greater conviction, graduating from going to be to is currently. That whiteboard, that phone call was the turning point and nothing more. And my example may fit your life like a glove. You may think, wow, that's exactly the lens I need right now. But maybe it's not. Maybe your situation is a little different. Maybe the road you're on is newer, less traveled.
Maybe it's the courage to take that first step, to play the student, perfect. Because whatever it is, as you look up at that next step, what matters is that you know in your heart and soul that you have what it takes to become that person. It's not bigger than you. It is you. Someone once told me that the world will not believe it until you do. So believe.
Believe it like your dreams depend on it because as it turns out, they do. As it turns out, everything about your future is make believe until you breathe life into it. Look around you at your current reality. Remember that it is a product of what you've allowed and that at any time you can up the ante. Climb the step, reach a new level. You have it within yourself to do that.
Just give yourself permission to be that person. And it will be scary. It's going to hurt at times. But let's be that vulnerable. Let's show the world what we can create when we move into it as though it's ours. As though destiny isn't assigned but written one beautiful act of courage at a time.
There are a handful of recorded lectures online by Jim Rohn, who has definitely become one of my favorite thinkers over the years. And I found this little nugget the other day that I wanted to share. He says, there are four emotions that will change your life. Disgust, decision, desire and resolve.
And I want to talk about the first one because I found the story to be incredibly powerful and also relatable in various aspects of life over the years. So he frames it by talking about a Girl Scout walking up to his front door to try and sell him some Girl Scout cookies when he's 25 years old. And he's broke, doesn't have any money at the time.
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