WIN IN SILENCE | Best Motivational Videos | Listen Every Morning

sometimes we convince ourselves that right now isn't quite right it's not the wrong time necessarily but eh soon we'll have that thing that will make the perfect launch Point soon so we'll wait right you hear it a lot with hopeful creators right as soon as I get the camera I'm going to start the podcast as soon as I feel inspired I'll start writing or how about this one we can all relate to in some way as soon as it's January 1 I'll start taking care of myself and my health and I'm not talking about this

because I read about it I'm talking about it because I live it it's an adversary I'm always up against the Allure of waiting for that perfect moment but here's the deal when you start now the imperfections become part of the [Music] value people see imperfections and become inspired by them he started getting in shape in his garage with two dumbbells look at that she started writing her novel in a notebook waiting to pick her kids up from school and going now not only destroys that enemy that is procrastination it also gives you something of value

in return it lets the very fact that you found a way become a narrative in your story it allows your imperfections to become your [Music] greatness I recently relocated my studio to Scottdale a move that according to the moving company would take 7 to 10 days 24 days later I realized that that there are places in life where you can attempt to cut costs moving companies should never be one of those things I found myself with the recording equipment in my camera bag that I travel with and some empty boxes right I'm waiting for my

stuff to show up one week 2 weeks 3 weeks soon soon it'll arrive and I'll be able to record then because right now there's no lighting right now I don't have my tripod I don't have anything to you know put behind me in the set it's like wait wait wait or how about this you take the empty shelves and you make them intentional you lean boxes against the wall you have a life transition set right and not only can you make that work not only will it look sufficient but it's like you have a story

now we like to hear about the times others made something out of an apparent nothing it's relatable and that's actually where the fun stuff is in in any conversation I'm recording this in a hotel room doing what I can with what I have and so when you find yourself feeling not quite ready and the Temptation is to wait rather than hold out hope for a fake Perfection That Never Comes why not unpack the beauty contained in the present moment or put a much more practical way the opportunity contained in the present moment why not begin

with less and tap into something that no other time in your life will have but now start your podcast using your phone mediocre visuals and echoe audio let this be the beginning that you look back on and and smile remember how fun those episodes were that mediocre at Best Equipment and stories about where we were in life start working out now can't get to the gym do it in your garage in your living room then you can point you know to to where it would have been easy not to but you built your physical foundation

on the third floor of an apartment building in New York people ask you you know what it took to get into the shape you're in now wait and a floor just start I find repeatedly that it's not about perfect it's about who we become in making progress with with far less than the perfect we'd hoped for that's what makes you realize you know how much of what we tell ourselves is just rationalization we're scared to not look good that's all we're scared of new things worried about beginning and so we convince ourselves that the camera

angle will make all the difference the expensive lens will be the differentiator again I've lived this and then you get it and it's like in truth the new camera just sits there you're still the person in front of it and what you say in front of your phone vers a $2,000 Sony is still entirely dependent on you surprise like the Sony doesn't have much to say and so I call you to think less about the set and more about what's going on within it the amount you can do with what you have now will Astound

you how little we need is truly magical you know in these last 3 weeks have emphasized that for me two pairs of shoes two pairs of jeans some T-shirts and a camera I didn't miss much because my ability to think and share ideas didn't get packed away and put in the truck with everything else that stayed with me and we all have some version of that in our own lives that's what matters you are LeBron at something so cherish that bring that to the world regardless of the circumstances you can put LeBron on a broken

down court with no Nets he'd still be pretty good the environment becomes something different something enjoyable because of its novelty too often we miss the value you know because of the details so I'll end with this don't seek Perfection seek to start now with what you have so that you can give more of yourself to the world you can give more of yourself when you're unsure give more of yourself when you're lost give more of yourself when you're starting give more of yourself when you don't have all the tools you wish you had give more

of yourself at the beginning give more at the middle and at the [Music] end anything that suggests you need some miracle in the mail before you can begin or tap into what matters is fear it's nothing more and nothing less so start start for the world and for the story you'll be able to share by simply initiating the climb it always gets worse first I was recently at a mastermind where someone made this point and as hard as I tried I couldn't really poke holes in it for the simple fact that everything new requires some

vulnerability some discomfort that was previously non-existent or in other words you have to endure turbulence prior to calm so imagine a wavy line on a piece of paper whiteboard where the top of each wave is slightly bigger than the one before for it right so right before that new wave occurs there is necessarily a low point or a trough a point that's absolutely without a doubt lower than the top of the previous wave and this to me summarizes the battle we fight right when you're comfortable when you're at the top of The Little Wave you're

currently riding it almost feels self-defeating to willingly jump off and land yourself at the bottom of some new soon to be future wave every new Mountain means starting at the bottom a new base every acquisition means letting go of something we once knew and understood the question is are you willing to fight through are you willing to hang out in the trough at the bottom right wander that Valley of Despair and that's by the way what we're talking about when we talk about for example Walt Disney being fired being called unimaginative and struggling to get

the world to understand his Mickey Mouse cartoon that's what we're talking about with Steve and was with apple right that's what we're talking about with Lincoln and the constant political rejection before finding stability and success right these stories have become almost folklore and all of them share the the same characteristic that the main players willingly accepted the fact that it would get worse before it got better all of them were willing to make a trade the Bottom now for a chance at the top later not only is is just pragmatic but it also AIDS the

Mind throughout the process it helps us understand and internalize what we're going through you know that initial instinct to think why me to shake our fists at the world and fall into the role of victim that goes away when we know that you know we're in during turbulence now for something better when we know that this is merely the cost of admission you're not at the bottom of the wave because you have to be or even you know because it's fun to hang out there you're there because something greater is coming and a human's desire

to delay gratification is a superpower we all know that things get worse before they get better so remember next time you're out in the world right dealing with adversity technically you don't have to be there you could be hiding away letting life slip by but instead you've made the decision the courageous decision to better yourself what you're enduring will ultimately become your strong point and so don't villainize or demonize that cherish it hold on to that because we need to get beyond the notion the discomfort is weakness discomfort is a decision a bold decision that

you should be proud of again you could live your entire life running from the painful things hiding from the discomfort of growth but then you'd also be forfeiting that next wave you'd be so hellbent on a escaping the notion that it always gets worse first that instead you never let your life get better to begin with there is no bottom or trough on Earth more detrimental to the human soul than stagnation we need to be moving marching forward even when we don't know right into the unknown into the night fighting to get to the ceiling

then gladly allowing that ceiling to become our next floor it always gets worse first and thank God that's where we are made condition that's the buffer that separates mediocrity from greatness that forces us to ask the important questions do I really want this and if the answer is yes let it get worse first Let It Be Tough out of the gate Grant yourself that gift of vulnerability because if you waves from now you'll be on a different level physically spiritual personally a few waves from now the quote unquote worst parts will be what stand between

who you are and who you were and that decision the decision to step out and face them will have been perhaps the best decision you've ever [Music] made at night the sky becomes visible the darkness the muting out of everything else allows the Stars to finally shine through to make their presence [Music] known and during the day conversely one cannot see those stars but the world around him on the ground becomes illuminated it's a push and pull that seems to work perfectly and I think there's something poetic about the partnership existing between the big picture

goal and the small steps required to bring it to life as one of my favorite sayings goes keeping your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground cuz here's what's interesting if one were to only look up at the goal she'd be consistently reminding herself of the ideal without taking the necessary steps to get there and if one were to only look down at her feet well her steps would eventually become aimless and it's that Duality right the need to uh both reassure yourself you can see the stars as well as use the

world around you to pull yourself closer to them that changes things things right it's that beautiful dance that has to be maintained and this is a balancing act that uh has certainly been challenging sometimes the pendulum swings way too far one way sometimes way too far the other but in a perfect world you know you want it gravitating towards the center I remember just starting the YouTube channel almost a decade ago how having you know big multi-million subscriber goals but completely lacking the systems and everyday practices in place that would walk me towards that Finish

Line right I mean sure something's better than nothing I was working and learning but the actions simply didn't align with the objective I had to correct them and then I've been on the other end as well but I'd be doing things every day without knowing why all steps no goal that sort of thing um occurs when routine takes on a life of its own you start doing things because well it's what I do it's what I've always done and uh you know this is when one has to look in the mirror and ask the difficult

questions and look anytime I can squeeze the complexities down into this simple I try and do that so with that in mind my questioning goes like this what do you want know the answer okay good next question is what you're doing taking you closer every day to what you want asking that question in a serious way takes a spotlight to one's World using my previous metaphor it shuts the lights off so the north star becomes visible and then right turns them back on to ask yourself uh if you're using your resour ources to move there

and I become pretty good at asking myself this question consistently and still I find things that don't belong that sort of you know they hide in plain view I have faith that I'll end up exactly where I need to be but that faith is rooted in my my commitment to continually assess to scrutinize and adjust there's very little hope and a substantial amount of trust in my ability to continue forward there's an idea referred to as the Stockdale Paradox which states and this is the the first definition I grabbed from Google here you must never

confuse faith that you'll Prevail in the end which you can never afford to lose with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality whatever they might be that's where the tough love thing comes in be your biggest fan because no one will believe in you unless you do it all starts with your trust in yourself to navigate the process and arrive where you must arrive but it also requires you are your biggest critic it means the reason you trust yourself to get there is because you know you won't just sit back

and say eh I'll win because I believe I'll win no you'll win because you will while having your head in the clouds be brutally pragmatic with the steps you're taking on the ground you'll win because you're committed to learning and [Music] adjusting what one of my favorite uh epiphanies when I started doing this full-time was the realization at a very small scale at first that who someone can't fail unless they quit you can't lose unless you stop impossible someone might think right well no because when you miss the mark Or you fall short you take

a second to understand why why and then you come back to the problem or challenge again right this means life is a game of tenacity of Persistence of commitment the one who keeps adjusting and coming back is bound to connect the dots eventually which makes failure the simple decision that eh this isn't worth it for me I don't want to continue adjusting and re-engaging with this and look hey depending on situation that may be the move right there have been things in my life where after sufficient trial and error sufficient data I've said this doesn't

align with who I am or what I want I'm going to walk away and pivot to something that does right but the key is knowing that it is a decision to not reach a particular goal is a choice to no longer attack it relentlessly and so when you feel lost or defeated or even fr frustrated with the process try that line of questioning what do I want and is what I'm doing today bringing me there this allows you to start taking a sledgehammer uh to the things that don't belong refining the process and yeah sometimes

walking away from the things that are no longer in the scope of who you want to be and where you're going but the power is in knowing it's in understanding that your footsteps the little actions of your you know your daytoday they are incredibly powerful but most of all when you are methodical with them when they're pointed in the right direction so pick your stars carefully and own those steps that take you towards them failure is not a a sickness you catch it doesn't fall on your head like a piano in those old cartoons it's

a choice meaning in positive terms as long as you are committed to learn re-approach and repeat you will find yourself a top the mountain as long as you're willing to evolve you will ultimately arrive [Music] [Music] this episode's going to be a little different perhaps a little heavier than usual I want to talk about the power of reaching out how simply being there for someone can make an unfathomable difference right we tend to think of you know a Monumental impact requiring Monumental action and sometimes that's simply not the case sometimes it's just showing up and

letting someone know that hey I'm in your corner and I've been thinking a lot about this right this came to mind because over the past couple weeks I've had two people I went to high school with pass away right young men in their mid-30s gone and by the way there are two of many people from my high school that have either ODed and died or taken their lives it's an epidemic and I'm sure it is across the board right but being that I am one and hear about it often I know that particularly young men

are feeling isolated they're feeling lost they're feeling depressed pandemic exacerbated this quite a bit it's a problem and it's a a complicated problem right you can point to a lot of things the way we connect now doesn't actually make us feel connected we can't trick our brains into thinking that followers online are the same as friends grilling staks with us in the backyard right it's different but it's not only isolation right I think there's a crisis of meaning of purpose of feeling a part of something there's a societal void I don't think there's any question

about that you know in in my little corner of the universe here I talk frequently about the process of of growing a business of building a brand a lot of you are in the midst of the same thing and so I delve into the high and the lows the UPS the downs I have convos about it live and I can tell you right nothing was as challenging as the loneliness of trudging through that right the middle not rejection not failure not being humbled by life not being broke no it was the feeling of solitude right

almost haunting right and and you could make the argument part of that self-induced right it was it was focused social life took a back seat but regardless it was very real and what was worth gold with the the texts from family saying hey I watched your video great work or it was my friend Zach you know out of the blue saying hey this will be worth it you're on to something don't you dare stop and call me on a Tuesday just to get me excited about my own company right and like when you're deep in

the battle that's not a little thing that's not like a smile an appreciate thing that's everything that validated my reason to get up when things were difficult one message and let's be real right my process was not catastrophic you know I had it pretty good that was a pretty fortunate situation my brain goes to imagine the people really fighting right really going through something battling with their [Music] demons and I'm reminded you know as I watch all these people from previous chapters of my life decide the pain of being here is too much that we

can help no we're not magic and no there's no singular cure to a complex issue but I'll tell you what we all have the power by taking 30 seconds to shoot over a message that says I love you or I see how hard you're working or keep pushing because your effort matters to give someone hope that stuff is lifechanging and not only that cost us nothing but can mean everything on the other end some of the email responses I get from my newsletter just reminds me it's like you don't know what people are fighting for

you don't know what demons they're living with when you walk by them on the street right and if we can be the ones to be a bit more compassionate the ones where hope and reassurance is derived and then distributed out to the world think about how incred inredible that is how amazing it would be to simply be a part of that and for those of you going through it now thinking yeah you know I would love to I will spread that message but my own glass feels empty right now I'm having a hard time getting

through in my own world I want you to know two things one you're not alone a lot of us are going through it with you in our own Arenas fighting our own battles so don't think this is a burden placed solely on you life is hard that's the challenge but it's also the beauty which leads me to number two there will be I promise you a point where you look back on the storm of right now and smile because you made it out you're different now better equipped now stronger now that's not a possibility it's

an inevitability this Churchill is famously quoted saying If You're Going Through Hell keep going because you're strong enough and what awaits will be worth every second of the journey I wish we could see that in the middle understand that in the thick of it but we can't that's not how it works that's why we need to remind others and it's why I'm reminding you life is a beautiful thing but Beauty can't exist without its inverse we all endure chaos so that we can app appreciate the calm we all endure valleys of Despair so that we

can experience the rush of climbing out it's a duality that's not always fun but appreciating that is liberating so keep going keep trusting keep pushing through hope is the greatest gift one can give so give it to those around you and let it evolve into strength in your own world it matters more than you know it matters so you've made a decision congrats you're 3% done now I'm paraphrasing but that's an idea from author and entrepreneur Lee Benson belief and execution the duo that will change your life first believe why because nothing happens without believe

nothing begins without an understanding and a trust that the future contains something of value that this seeds of discomfort being planted will bear fruit we simply don't walk through doors if we don't believe something of value exists on the other side and then there's execution the doing congrats you gave yourself permission to begin that was a big step right but now you have to deal with life and life my friends is no picnic it's in the doing that success is either obtained or not that a new reality is birthed or not in the book your

most important number Lee Benson has said so you've made a decision congrats you're 3% done why because well now comes the implementation the execution now the feet are on the ground and the wheels the road and we must transform the thoughts into things thinking can be so much more convenient than doing execution is trying things it's recognizing the attempts that didn't work it's moving forward only to realize wrong path or wrong approach or maybe what required of you is not yet something you're capable of producing and so you must evolve it's seeing setbacks as data

points it's understanding that to not know is okay because we collect our answers as we go and seeing the journey is an experiment one in which we seek to understand ourselves and the world there is so much contained in that 97% to write Your Own Ending Story book an infinite number of paths and outcomes but ultimately only discoverable by [Music] you and I think that's one of the most beautiful things about life and once you give yourself permission to walk a certain path once you believe in something greater than the world as it currently exist

exists you become an artist painting something that was not there before using the highs as little benchmarks to remind you why you started to begin with when your landscape becomes gray it's using the Lowe's as fuel that turns the ordinary into extraordinary that slingshots the old you to the new you adding brightness and Vibrance to the overall scene you're encapsulating all of it as you move through that great unknown as you push further and further into the abyss you're playing the role of maker not because you knew how it would all turn out but because

you didn't and still you [Music] executed recently in an interview I heard Alex Heros and now accomplished entrepreneur in his own right talking about some of his failings Consulting gyms in the fitness industry the moment when things went South and he lost it all now for a moment he thought he had money assets and perhaps even the pride gone but came to learn that money and those assets they are lagging indicators they aren't the value that's obtained the value is who you become the value is learning how to be someone who can obtain those things

in the first place it's emerging from the old restriction and limitation the old narratives because that cannot be taken away when we execute we're making ourselves something we otherwise could never have become and so Alex learned that what he lost was insignificant compared to what he gained and why is this such a common theme with industry leaders folks speaking on their accomplishments I think the answer is simple because you don't get there without the doing and the execution and if to execute means to step forward without having all the answers after all we are only

human life will humble us Excellence must be a game of trial and error we can't escape those lost everything stories because choosing the right path every time will that only happens when you choose no path at all we have to act and be okay understanding that action brings with it mistakes and lessons and setbacks you know all those little annoying things that become [Music] greatness 97% is left because the path before you is unw walked but know that it contains everything everything you need so believe it decide because nothing starts without that initial 3% but

nothing changes without the subsequent 97 that's where we are shaped and when you come face to face with the inevitable adversity know that life might take the material gains it might demand a price you deem to be steep it might collect as a toll assets you've been accumulating along the way but it can't take what you know or who you've become and that is why you execute to build the world around you yes but most importantly to build yourself into someone who can thrive in such an environment it's in doing that the man is built

and as was said in Gary Keller's book The one thing build the man and the world Falls into [Music] place you can become so fixated on winning or losing the game that you forget to ask yourself am I playing the right one is this my game am i setting myself up to win in an arena of significance to me cuz look there are infinite games out there and sometimes we find ourselves uh caught up in a race we have no business running meaning it doesn't really do anything for us it's not where we want to

be or should be there's a saying by someone in a few social media Outlets actually uh like restricted my post for suggesting it was Einstein so it might not be Mr Einstein but whoever said it thank you you're awesome the saying goes everyone is a genius but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing it's stupid now there are a lot of us fish out there attempting to climb trees as we speak wondering why we're not where we want to be perhaps seeing the results

or lack thereof as an indication that we're insufficient inadequate in some way when hey that's not the case at all is that we haven't taken the time to identify our own personal intersection of what we love and what adds value to the world we haven't manufactured those f fireworks that's something that has to be explored found JRR token not all who wander are lost right and I think we innately fear this process of searching because it's unsettling to not know how things are going to play out trust me I've been there right it's taxing to

not have your packaged little elevator speech and a 5year vision when it seems like the whole world does but to deprive yourself of this exploration is to uh potentially forfeit the very thing that you come to live for most of the time purpose doesn't fall into one's lap you have to have your eyes open what's meaningful must be sought out now I'm going to play little devil's advocate here because our world is not black and white it sort of lives in this gray space right can you win at someone else's game sure there are a

lot of people quote unquote succeeding in areas that are not ideal that they don't love that they're not their best in but how is Success being defined I've talked extensively about my journey and all those games I used to play the targets I used to aim for and I know a lot of people who have come to similar epiphanies right but when you don't realize you can exit stage left and begin again start something new you simply continue this same song and dance right it's not life that keeps us confined it's ignorance that keeps us

confined we simply have to be taught that there's more and I understand to find uh an arena where you can thrive in a purely historical context is a luxury and you are programmed to survive you're not programmed to uh build an Art Studio because it's your passion right but there lies the battle we are at a place in time where we have collectively cultivated abundance the phone you're using to consume this content that little thing can be a portal that transports your thoughts your creation your business to the masses you have at your fingertips access

to billions of people you have reach that humans only 30 years ago all the way back to the beginning of mankind could only dream of the means are there in so many ways it's about freeing yourself to pursue the opportunity that exists all around you because we self-limit Alan Watts asked the ever important question what would you do if money were No Object now in a practical World why I ask such a question simple because removing those monetary constraints as you contemplate your answer allows you to truly analyze what Endeavors are meaningful to you when

something is Meaningful you want to do it when you want to do it you immerse yourself in those little intricacies in those details that the average person simply doesn't pay attention to making you so good at whatever that thing is that eventually not only can you be the best at it but you can monetize it and probably at a very high rate it's not money holding you back it's not time holding you back it's not the external World holding you back it's what you have been conditioned to believe that's holding you back you are a

genius at something you are king or queen of your Empire Victor within your Ara enena but to realize these things you have to one understand it's a possibility and two refuse to stay stagnant we have to stop conceding so much while simultaneously accepting so little life will never provide what you do not ask for so why why be scared to ask Life Won't won't tell you you're a fish climbing a tree you must tell you that life won't expand your horizons and adjust your trajectory you must initiate that change to find your Genius you must

be willing to leave what's insufficient to capture what's meaningful you must be willing to leave what is meaningless let's agree to alter the question do I have genius level talent because you do and you live in a society that also rewards those who realize it the question we need to be willing to ask is are you willing to walk on Shaky Ground to abandon at least for a period of time time safety and the comfort of predictability in order to find that genius are you willing to nurture the greatness that already lives within you because

it was never a matter of ability it's a matter of what you're willing to [Music] discover The Rose said that most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the Grave with the song still in them probably an astute observation as most death is potential put to rest most stories or stories about what could have been perhaps simply because it's easier on the ego to talk about what life could have looked like if you cared enough to shape it than to have actually put skin in the game and fallen short but there lies the

misconception to step into life's chaos with the hopes of taming it is why we're here and yeah obviously it hurts to fail it hurts uh to be vulnerable to put yourself out there especially when it seems as though all eyes are on you but that hurt is a fraction of the hurt the road describes falling hurts but it hurts less than wishing you had the courage to fall ridicule it hurts but it hurts less than being the one on the sidelines pointing the finger and simultaneously longing for the courage to take action in their own

life what keeps us from going what keeps us from building we know life is short we know regret is the ultimate pain we know how much opportunity is out there so why why would we not go why would we designate dreaming to [Music] sleep in his famous man in the arena speech Teddy Roosevelt said this it is not the critic who counts not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of Deeds could have done better the credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face

is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly who erors and comes up short against and again because there is no effort without error or shortcoming but who knows the great enthusiasms the great devotions who spends himself in a worthy cause who at the best knows in the end the Triumph of high achievement and who at worst if he fails at least he fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid Souls who knew neither Victory nor [Music] defeat no one who is content in their own

life will go out of their way to bring you down there was never a Critic deeply immersed in their own Journey who took the time to mock or scoff at the man in the [Music] arena I think our fear is pointed in the wrong direction it shouldn't be concentrated on or focused on the opinions of those who have not yet themselves walked through those doors no the fear should be letting life go by without ourselves walking through the fear should be contributing to Thor's statistic of quiet desperation the one most men face but you are

not most men or most women not because you were given some special power or [Music] status but because you decided you can choose not to be like most people basic math taking into account the number of people in the stands versus the number of people on the stage or Court or in the arena well it tells a tale of Courage anyone can sit in this stands anyone [Music] can anyone can from the nose bleeds decide whether to clap or point or Boo or cheer but who suits up and enters the game who looks at the

finitude of life and says this is my reason to start building to put it all on the line because if I fail it will mean I was one of the few who looked around and said this isn't bigger than I am this world is not predefined it's being built in real time by those willing to walk through the doors and step into the arena not the critics but the doers and look everyone has a thing right I don't know what that thing is for you but you do you probably think about it all the time

dream about it every day you probably know it's where your heart is pulling [Music] you do not let your life become a statistic don't you dare go to that graveyard having been someone who held on tighter to excuses than to What mattered most in your life so so go step into the arena and if they Point let them point if they criticize let them criticize your concern isn't with those wishing they had the courage to step through those doors themselves it's not about them it's about you it's about understanding the Beauty and the opportunity and

the freedom contained in life for those who find the courage to reach out and take [Music] [Music] it if you have the ability to love love yourself first Charles wowski so last week I was in Utah and while I was there I did some guided breath work which had never done before and honestly was a little skeptical at first but I try and keep an open mind and uh gave it a shot happy I did it ended up uh potentially being one of the most important things I've ever done and I want to share why

because this breakthrough or aha moment if you will was exactly what I needed when I needed to hear it so this episode's going to be a little different than usual but I feel compelled to pass it along so to set the scene I ared with a friend of mine to the instructor Jen's location she gave us an overview kind of explaining what the next hour is going to look like and handed me a notebook to write down my goal for the session and the notebook becomes pretty important as the story goes on but I opened

it and I wrote what I'd like to use this session to reflect on it happened to be uh the walls that I have a tendency to build around myself right that day that felt like the most pertinent obstacle in my life I saw it is an opportunity to push back against that reality that human beings love to create normal and then latch on to it and that's not ideal cuz when we do that we stop looking for places to grow we stop pushing we stop seeking to live life to the fullest in other words we

settle and so I wrote that down uh I closed the notebook laid back on this incredible uh fuzzy blanket and the music got turned on we began the breathing pattern in in out in in out Jen started guiding us verbally taking us back to a conversation with our younger selves the journey had begun and this is the part where things get really interesting because my thoughts really did feel like some strange mix of dreaming and hallucinating just from breath work but at some point she referenced the need to let go and said the words you

know we weren't meant to suffer or hold on to suffering and that really cut deep because I know there are so many places where I've rationalized continuous suffering in my life I'd speculate that in some way we all do when the hard thing or the uncomfortable thing you know when they stop being stepping stones and instead just become the way things are becomes a concession hey this doesn't feel good but it's my life this person holds me down but it's how things are I don't like doing this every day it eats at me but hey

life am I right that's learned helplessness it hides in the corners and the nooks and crannies of Life subtle enough that we don't give it much thought and I imagined very vividly climbing down a ladder placed on the edge of this Dark Canyon that went straight down down down down everything my entire landscape was black and white there was Zero color except for the Rays of light barely visible at the bottom all the way down as I descended into the canyon the colors that get a little stronger a little brighter as if every step put

a little more Vibrance into my life each move down made things a little clearer the ladder becoming quicker and quicker eventually turning into a slide that brought me down to the base of the canyon where upon landing and standing up everything was illuminated fields of sunflowers waterfalls birds chirping the sun shining and it was there in that moment I realized my intention for the class the one I wrote down in that little notebook well it missed the mark not in the sense of being incorrect or wrong necessarily but it it simply wasn't enough see at

the root of it all or at the bottom of that Canyon existed life with the courage to love yourself not just accept yourself not just be okay with your existence but love yourself with all your faults and your struggle with all your mistakes and your [Music] history became clear to me how much changes when you love with all your heart the person staring back at you in the mirror the opinions of others they do not guide your decision making how could they how could others know you better than you in fact those opinions are part

of the black and white landscape to be left behind at the top of the mountain the consistent suffering you've become accustomed to the Learned helplessness you endure that's not acceptable to someone who truly loves him or herself loving yourself means pushing away that which is not you it's finding that ladder down to the beautiful world of authenticity and Truth The Magic of being aligned with what really matters and with funny is I can talk about breaking down barriers they should be broken down I can talk about stepping into fear because it should be confronted I

can talk about finding a way out when we're stuck and a way up when we're down I can talk about all of that every day of my life but none of it matters if you don't learn to fully love the reflection in the mirror more more than you ever thought you could think about the gift you could give to that younger version of yourself think about what you could give to those close to you your family your friends think about what you could do for the world if you left those black and white concessions behind

you and lived a life true to yourself it is of course not always easy but I learned that day that it is the North Star it's what we build upon so before we ask how to shape the world around us maybe we should be asking how do we embrace the one within us maybe we should learn to love ourselves so deeply that those walls don't need to be broken down because in time we'll learn not to build them up in the first place we'll learn that in a world of black and white it is acceptance

and trust and confidence and love that gives it [Music] color