Chapter 1: How can changing your mindset lead to personal growth?
I can't be perfect But I can be brave enough to begin I won't always know the way But I can take the next step anyway I won't be for everyone But I can love myself enough that it doesn't shake me Not every chapter will end the way I anticipated, but I can carry the lesson forward stronger than before. I'll lose people that I love, but I can honor them by living a life they'd be proud of.
I will stumble, I'll fall, I will break, but I can rebuild with stronger hands and a wiser heart. I'll be misunderstood. But I can speak my truth anyway. There'll be chapters I'd rather not read aloud. But they're still mine, and I own every word. There will be dreams that drift away. But new ones will rise with the dawn.
Not every road will lead to glory But every step shapes who I become Not every plan will unfold perfectly But each detour will reveal exactly what I need Sometimes the night will feel long But I can be the spark that brings morning Sometimes doubt will scream. But I can whisper back, I'm still here. I can't promise forever. But I can give this moment all I have.
I cannot control the winds anymore. But I can adjust my sails and carry on. Because life was never about perfection. It's about presence. It's about meaning. It's about dancing even when the song isn't clear. So I will love loudly. fall gracefully, I will rise boldly and choose again and again and again to live fully.
And when it's all said and done, when the curtain falls and the lights dim, let them say that I lived with heart, that I didn't run from the storm, That I stood up and attacked its center. That I became the thunder. This is an ode to life. Not because it's easy. Not because every step made sense. But because it's mine. Because I chose to keep going when I could have turned back.
Because I learned to find meaning even in the cracks and the chaos. because I dared to show up, imperfect, uncertain, but unbreakable. This life, with its twists, its turns, its storms, and its stars, is mine. Every scar, every triumph, every whisper of hope has culminated into this single moment. This beautiful life. And I won't let it slip away. What's up, guys? Eddie here.
And before we jump into the next chapter, just a quick note. So as many of you know, every single video that I've ever put on this channel has been created with the intent of building momentum in your life. If you want something physical to anchor that momentum, we've created the brand AGNS, or Always Grateful, Never Satisfied, for that exact reason.
Athletic apparel that embodies the very ideas and concepts I talk about every day. Because you're watching on YouTube or Spotify, we've created a code for this exclusive community, YWW20. You can use that on the website, agns.lifestyle. We're right under this video on YouTube. All the stuff is there in the shop. Again, code YWW20 gets you 20% off the entire store.
It's a great way to support the channel and also elevate your journey. Let it be a reminder to keep showing. Appreciate your time. Always grateful, never satisfied. On to the next. There's a quote attributed to Lincoln. He says, be sure to put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. The other day I was listening to Dan Carlin's podcast called Hardcore History.
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Chapter 2: What strategies can help overcome fear and doubt?
One example being the difficult or adverse circumstances, our trying times, when you're most likely to concede that perhaps you're no bigger than that world around you. Maybe life is a movie and I'm merely the audience. My job is to clap, laugh, gasp, or cry. Am I cog in a wheel, a line in a script? Powerless. In which case, you should be reminded of Viktor Frankl's famous observation.
that everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. In other words, the outside world may change, it may evolve, but it will never have power over how you choose to internalize and view what's happening. That's innately yours.
So when the circumstances feel like they demand more than you can give, when they suggest you leave your interpretation of life behind, the correct response is, as the Spartans defiantly said, come and take it. That army could represent a pushback. against your values, the pillars of your individual foundation that you feel, amidst all the pressure, tempted to let go of.
After all, it's easier to retreat than stand toe to toe with others. It's easier to abandon than it is to defend, at least in the short term. But as Victor Hugo writes, you have enemies, good. That means you've stood up for something sometime in your life. The enemy's obviously not being the point. I'm a believer in the conservation of enemy approach to life.
Allies just pragmatically get you a lot further, but here's the reality. Anyone who stands for something will undoubtedly create divide. They'll be criticized and condemned. And when one feels the pressure of that criticism, They must understand that it does not invalidate who they are or their worldview. That is yours. You are the only one who can give up or relinquish that control.
So as the Spartans said, come and take it. And then lastly, my thoughts went to little things that make us who we are. Those tiny pieces of ourselves that we, little by little, one by one over time give away. The concessions that fade into the background as we evolve to fit in so that we don't stand out.
As Emerson beautifully put it, to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. And so that attacking army It just might be the universe attempting to mold you to it.
Perhaps not all at once, but more like that frog placed in water and put on the stove, with the heat increasing so slowly over time that he doesn't realize the heat will soon overtake him. Externalities do not dictate. They are objects in need of meaning and you are the architect here. If it means something to you, it's worth holding on to during the difficult times and the easy time.
When it's popular and when it's not, there is value within you specific to you, a value that must be nurtured in order to expand. Others can't and won't see that. The world around you may even, with all its complexities, seek to suppress it. But that flame is there. It's there and it's yours. And to anyone or anything looking to extinguish its light, come and take it.
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Chapter 3: How can we build inner strength and resilience?
See, out here amidst the deserts of life, through the mirage of safety, You discover that the thing you need most, well, it's never complicated. This reminder is both profound and simple. It pulls you in and demands that you remember. That you remember you have everything you need to emerge from this chaos. And should you choose to push through, you will be better for it.
Over and over and over again, the deserts of life make me into the man I am supposed to be. Not because they reveal the world to me, but because they reveal me to myself. They remind me of the world within, the internal strength, the resolve. Perhaps not to know, but certainly to move forward when I don't. It is through the deserts of life that you find your oasis.
It is the very nothing you wander through now that becomes everything. And so maybe, just maybe, this is the reminder you need Maybe life feels desolate. Maybe there aren't any answers. Maybe the missing validation invokes fear and the pressure to return to worlds you left behind grows stronger. Well, let this be life telling you that these aren't skippable moments.
That you will, amidst this very trudging through the dunes of nothingness, find yourself again. a deeper, more meaningful, powerful version of yourself. This desert points a mirror back at you for a reason. The adversity is not here to break you. It's here to remind you how strong you've always been. It's here to show you that not only will you endure,
But the deserts of life will shape you into the person you were always meant to be. The pain of hesitation often hurts worse than the very fall we're afraid of. And when you learn this, you can be proactive in mitigating that pain. The self-induced torture that is waiting. The agony of knowing something more is required of you, but refusing to act.
Because that little purgatory is a special kind of hell. Check this out. Quick metaphor. We'll call it the man on the high dive. So this man wanted to jump off the high diving board at the community pool. So he walks up.
and he begins slowly ascending the ladder, his hands, you know, sweating against each metal rung as he makes his way up, and below, only a few minutes before, the entire thing seemed manageable. Fun, even. But now, as he makes his way to the top, and stands on the edge looking down at the water below, This simple activity now feels impossible. Everything's different.
The air is much thinner up there. His heartbeat thuds in his ears, right? He wraps his toes over the rough surface of the board, gripping it like the ledge of the side of a mountain. And he's telling himself, okay, it's time, like, go, just jump. But his body's refusing it. He turns, glances back down the ladder. He's got that sort of chirping in his ear.
Hey, you know, you could just climb back down. People do that all the time. No big deal. And then, you know, something relatively unexpected happens. A boy, let's say no more than 10, starts making his way up the ladder. He gets to the top, kind of peeks his head over the board. And, you know, bright eyed, obviously unbothered by the height. And he asked the man, hey, are you going to jump?
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Chapter 4: What role does discipline play in achieving goals?
Just stillness, weightlessness. And then impact. Impact. The water of the pool swallowed him whole, cool, refreshing, washing away every ounce of doubt, right? He broke the surface, gasping for air. And then he felt it. Joy, relief, pride. That feeling when you do what you've most needed to do. Because the truth had always been waiting for him at the bottom, right?
The pain of hesitation had been far worse than the fall. which seems to be the way of things. This is not exclusive to our friend on the diving board. I'd venture to guess we all have those little diving boards in our lives, some greater and far more consequential than others. You know, they come and they go as we navigate life, but they're there consistently.
And I can only speak to my own experience, right? The biggest obstacles I face, they rarely are quote-unquote mistakes. Usually, they're a product of moving too slow, waiting too long, thinking too small. I was having dinner with a friend of mine a few weeks ago, kind of joking about this particular area that I'm stuck in, right? Hamster on a wheel vibes.
And he goes, nah, man, you're not stuck there. You're scared. And my first thought is, what? Right? It's defense mode. It's like, no, I'm not actually. My brain goes into like, you know, how I identify myself or how I see myself. I'm like, think about all the torture I've put myself through over the years. Are you kidding me?
All the growth, intentional suffering, just for the sake of becoming the person that I knew I could be. Just for the thrill of climbing the ladder, you're going to tell me I'm scared? And then I thought about it, right? While that may be true, and you can't negate battles fought in the past. That was one mountaintop. But that one mountaintop had just become life, right?
And you can stay there and you can call that home, or you can continue evolving, seeking out new mountaintops. Sometimes we don't even realize we've been stagnant, right? Especially if it's one of life's blind spots. Which, funny enough, was precisely what was creating that anxiety. It was craving growth, you know, standing on that diving board.
And life requires less contemplation up there and more jumping into pools. I just needed to hear that. And I truly cherish things like this, these little wake-up calls, these moments that shake up your worldview. They direct you to a better version of yourself.
So what I advocate that you consider is whether there is any of that internal conflict happening right now in your life that you can bring awareness to. Whether you've been standing up there looking down at the jump for just a little too long now. Perhaps life is waving you forward, pushing you on. You've been ignoring that call, thinking about what could go wrong.
Gazing down below and feeling like the bottom is light years away. Because the solution, my friends, will almost never be further contemplation. It's in momentum. Mobility.
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Chapter 5: How can we maintain focus during challenging times?
But then you take a step back and you go, okay, right? You see the shape of the tree, go, I get it. Take another step back, maybe two or three feet back. And you start seeing how these trees come together. You step back even further, you go, okay, I get it. All these trees comprise the forest.
Maybe you continue to step back, you turn around, you see a totally different view, the landscape, the skyline, you see birds flying overhead. All that stuff that was always there, you just couldn't see it. Not from your vantage point, not that close to the tree. which is going to be for us metaphorical for a problem or obstacle that we are immersed in or trying to overcome.
There's an idea that there's no situation that cannot be rectified, right? Or put in the positive, every situation can be resolved. There's no hole you can't climb out of. There is always more. There is always a solution.
And this little tidbit, you know, it might not mean much when you're feeling good, you have momentum, you know, the stars feel like they're aligned for you, but I'll tell you, it can be your saving grace when you are trudging through the valleys of life, the inevitable difficult periods. For me, it's been everything, right? It's reminded me that there is a way, I just need to find it.
It reminds me that I'm capable of solving and conquering even life's greatest tasks. I just need to move into the night with conviction. I need to remember how close I am to that tree and create some sort of separation there. Because look, sometimes life is complex. Sometimes it's nuanced and detailed. And then sometimes... The opposite is true. Sometimes it is very simple.
And one example of that is that there is always a way and you are always capable of finding that way, of arriving that solution. Understand that and you'll see how abundant this dance through life really is. Truth is, personally, sometimes the fear I experience, even about trivial things, just navigating life, it can hit hard. I think it's a visceral reaction, like involuntary. It happens.
You know, podcast numbers dipping, business deal falls through, maybe a riff with a family member or friend, right? My brain walks right up to that metaphorical tree, stands there and says, hey, there's nothing you can do. This is it. This is the end. You are stuck. You are lost. You are defeated. You are hopeless. You are all these things and none of them are good.
But what makes human beings special is by understanding there is more, we empower ourselves to create more. We empower ourselves to step five feet back, to see the forest, the view of the valley below. Don't settle in the finite. Dive into the infinity that surrounds you.
I think sometimes we become so pulled in to a specific problem or situation that it never even dawns on us to think, okay, this is life, it happens. But you don't have to stay where you start. You are not confined to where you are. Because if it's not pushing you forward, it can be altered, mitigated, transformed. It's not an if question. Your ascent is a how question.
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Chapter 6: What steps can we take to regain control of our lives?
No, you weren't put here to live in the shadows of life. It's important to remember the difference. Between now and forever. The distinction between today and tomorrow. Because from time to time they look deceptively similar. Especially when we inevitably find ourselves in the darkest of times. When despite our best efforts, our world is reduced to shadows. Void of hope.
when tomorrow and today have merged into one endless entity. It always seems to be in these times that we forget that right now is just a moment, not an assigned permanent, but a bridge to something great. As Viktor Frankl says, if there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering
We all suffer, we all hurt, we all go through periods of time where we can't see or hear or feel anything beyond the darkness we find ourselves in, but it's there. Darkness cannot be defined without light. It's in the definition. Darkness is a partial or total absence of light. They need each other, darkness and light.
The one thing that can bring darkness to its knees is out there, everywhere, all around it. And if there was ever a reason to be hopeful, enthusiastic, if there's ever a reason to believe, it's that a new life is always a light switch away. It's that darkness is as temporary as the day. And the antidote requires only that you believe it to be true.
Only that you find the resolve to reach one foot out, to remind yourself of the sun's warmth and the infinite beauty of a world beyond this temporary darkness. Because you, you weren't put here to live in the shadows of life, but to reemerge like a rocket through the Earth's stratosphere to swing from star to star like life is a playground and you make the rules.
And I think when we look back, we'll be nothing but grateful for those times of darkness. They, in a sense, prepared us for the road ahead by giving us what we need most, perspective. Life lessons, a roadmap to follow. Because you don't appreciate the light, the sun, the clear blue skies, the wind on your face, the sound of the waves, the chirping of the birds.
No, you don't see the beauty in any of that until even if for a moment it is taken away. You don't learn. about life's abundance until you come face to face with scarcity. You don't learn to give until you've had your world taken away. You don't learn to love until you've experienced heartbreak. You don't learn courage until you've been overcome by fear.
You don't learn to grow until you've been truly stuck. You don't learn to believe until you've looked in the mirror and doubt peers back. You don't know who you are until you learn what you're not. See, everyone finds themselves having wandered into the dark, sometimes of their own volition, sometimes of fate. But like leaves changing color in the fall,
The earth on its journey around the sun, a wave emerging and falling back into that which it came. It is not an end, but a beginning. Life's way of preparing us for what's to come, introducing us to the infinite possibility of tomorrow because you weren't put here to live in the shadows of life, but to emerge from them. To light up the world.
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Chapter 7: How do we redefine our perspectives on setbacks?
It's hard to share with someone that you just worked a 16 hour day and you're more broke than you were before the sun came up. You still have no idea if this is gonna work. And you look out the window, the world seems to be buzzing around you. And in your head, things seem so much simpler out there, so much easier for everyone else.
That whole delayed gratification thing, you know, it seems so logical on paper. It makes so much sense in psychology books. And I'm no psychologist. But I'd guess that, you know, based on the sheer pain it creates, we aren't necessarily wired for it at such extreme levels. How far can you crawl through the desert without finding your life-saving resources?
Without getting what you're looking for, navigating mirage after mirage after mirage? Well, it turns out you can crawl through the desert for a very long time. To one of my favorite mantras, when you think you're done, you're actually only at 40% capacity. We can endure so much.
This is when life becomes not what is the gap between where I stand and my dream, but as Dan Sullivan has said, where is the gain? Look how far I've already come. Look what is within my control. Today, I have the power to take one small step forward. And I can promise you that's exactly what I'm going to do and how beautiful it is watching those little steps accumulate over time.
The imaginary is made real, not by a snap of the fingers, but it's derived from the sound of your foot making contact with the ground over and over again. 10,000 foot view, is this hard? Yeah. Look at the distance to be traveled. But if the mindset is dialed, if the mentality is right, if we step up and focus only on what is within our control, is it hard? No.
Because anyone can take life one day at a time. This is perhaps a reminder to think less and step more. To lock into the target and go. To take your chisel to the marble and sculpt away. I'll never forget reading the book Unbroken. When the main author, an American captured by the Japanese in World War II, endures a hell unimaginable. Moved from POW camp to POW camp. Tortured.
Taken to inches of his life. But day by day, he finds a way. And when he's finally captured and he looks back at all of it in totality, he is astounded at what he's overcome. He says, I don't even know if I can do that again, right? Because from the outside in, it's insurmountable. It's a mountain too high to climb. But day by day, we are God's.
when what's in front of you is the only monster it can be slayed over and over and over again. We are manufacturers of the unseen, architects of value, which when you look at, value is directly correlated to how rare something is. Greatness, excellence, success in an endeavor, they are coveted and rare. Because for many, moving forward without that applause is too daunting a task.
Performing for crickets is too taxing on the ego. An unknown with no guarantees, it induces anxiety like oxygen to a flame. So what? What's the play? What are you going to do? Can you clap loud enough for yourself to appease the whisper in your head? Can you be your own source of strength and validation? Can you show up for you? Because here's what I say.
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Chapter 8: What lasting lessons can we learn from life's challenges?
Crazy enough to see castles in the air when the rest of the world sees only ghosts. Most perform for the audience. But I think it's time for you to be your own standing ovation. To watch as the roar and thunder of your own applause transcend space and time. It's not whether the crowd rises to their feet. It's whether you do now. The sands of time may have buried you. As they'll bury us all.
But in my mind you live on. In my mind, there you are. Smiling the way you used to. Lighting up the room the way you once did. You even laugh at my jokes when no one else does. Which I'm sure is not easy for even the memory of you to do. Why did the scarecrow win an award? Well, because he was outstanding in his field, obviously. See, that's what we're working with here.
Or maybe that is up your alley. I'm not sure. I was too young to remember. But I do remember piling in the car and going to the button store. That's what you'd tell us. Remember? Okay, we'd say, just excited to be there forever. Then you'd pull up to Four Seasons ice cream and it would be like Christmas in July. You made a lot of people feel like Christmas in July.
Maybe you were Christmas in July. I talk about you a lot, maybe too much. Sometimes people say I remind them of you. And I always take that as a compliment because in my mind, you were perfect. But I've gotten older, and I know now that you couldn't have been perfect. You were human. It's so odd growing up and learning that even the people you look up to the most in life are flawed.
It's weird learning that not even your parents, the king and queen of your world, have all the answers. Nah, we're all just trying to figure this damn thing out, aren't we? We think we're more sophisticated than cavemen dancing around the fire 40,000 years ago, but sometimes I wonder. Oh, I moved to Arizona. I live down the street from Aunt Julie. It's fun to be able to see her.
You know, she tells me stories about you guys as kids, how you like to push the envelope. You'd always get into trouble, but it would always be this sort of calculated trouble. Like even when the wheels were falling off the wagon, you somehow stayed in control. And I'm not sure that's the best way to describe it, but it's what I've got. She mentions how she always felt safe with you.
And I think that's so cool. Like what's more beautiful than being the source of someone's safety? What's more meaningful than putting someone at ease? Sometimes I wonder what you'd say about where I am now, what I'd do for a living. I even wonder if you'd be disappointed that I never went into the military. That may be one of my true regrets.
At least four years, you know, but I'm planning to help give back in other ways. It's not so much that I'm craving your approval, although subconsciously that's certainly possible. It feels more so I wonder how I'd measure up, I went to Mass Maritime Academy a few years back and spoke to the cadets in the field across from the statue of you and mom, dad, nana, everyone was there.
I shared a few lessons you taught me when I was younger. I did the same thing to a room full of state police in Idaho. It always seems to connect. I think because it's just real. I don't feel the need to be anything or play a role or be a character. Just a mere messenger, that's all. A distributor of value, and there's something precious about that.
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