[Music]
it's not about what happens to you
no one escapes adversity
no one lives free of discomfort or
misfortune or struggle
no it will always be about
what you do
with what happens to you
in other words
it's not the event
it's the response
not the obstacle
but the ability to navigate around it
not the wave
but the ability to ride its momentum to
something
greater
it is not what happens to you
it is what you do
about what happens to you
the famous roman emperor and stoic
philosopher marcus aurelius
said you have power over your mind
not outside events
realize this and you will find strength
and i think this realization comes down
to the fact that there is always a way
buried underneath it all something
powerful to leverage
but getting to the value calls for a
rewiring
a change in the questions that we ask
not how could this happen to me
but
how can i be better tomorrow than i am
now
because of what happened to me
not
can i still be that person or accomplish
what i set out to
but
i am that person
now how will i adjust my path so that i
get there
we are operating within a world of value
limitless opportunity
the difficulty simply pushes us to that
value faster
expedites the process it forces us to
open our eyes
and see that the world works
for us
so you take
for example
the fear of starting something new
that fear
it doesn't have to be an end point or a
red light indicator
fear doesn't mean you're not qualified
or prepared or equipped
it simply lets you know that you have
finally acquired the courage to step out
of the safety
of the only world you knew and into the
turbulence of growth
onto the path of something better
and where it's easy to move away from
that feeling
to turn your back on the chaos and
retreat to something simpler
maybe something more predictable or
contained
what if you viewed the fear as the price
that we all have to pay
to pull the curtain back on the best
things life has to offer
changing the question from will i be
afraid
to instead
this is important
this is meaningful
therefore it's inevitable
that i will experience fear but what
will i do about it how will i conduct
myself amidst the fear will i continue
forward
those are the questions that contain the
value
right i can't keep the water from rising
or the walls from caving in
no that's an inevitability where i'm
going
the worthwhile road always has its
adversity
but will i use that water to learn to
swim
the walls to climb to adapt and scale
what will i make of this
that's the question that becomes the
difference
and sure you could stay away
you could choose not to take the path
that presents the danger
and the turbulence
you can attempt to contain the world
around you by simply refusing to
experience it
but then of course you become presented
with the question
why intentionally refuse to cash in a
winning lottery ticket do i diminish
your gift in such a way
if it's not what you look at it's what
you see
why see the world as an adversary
why see yourself
as less than you are
the saying goes when you fight for your
limitations you get to keep them
you'll never exceed the person you've
decided yourself to be
and yes the world can feel intimidating
it's unknown
you in many ways can't control the
characteristics that make life what it
is but you can always control
you
just like you can't control the wind but
you can adjust your sails
you can't control the ties but you can
predict and plan and execute accordingly
you control you
and that is where the power is
and of course there's going to be times
where that's hard to see
but it's not your first instinct to find
the value
take for example a change a loss the end
of a relationship the point where people
uh tend to feel their lowest
it hurts to have something and lose it
to have what you were once so sure about
challenged what you once believed in
called into question
but this doesn't have to be a referendum
on you as a human being
right sure you made your mistakes
but you have
the opportunity to dwell on them or to
acknowledge them and ask the question i
know what i know now how can i be better
than i've ever been in my life
how can i position myself to get more of
the good and less of the bad same idea
different context
when those walls feel like they're
crumbling down you have to know there is
more on the other side
just beyond what the eye can see
and this isn't just an idea i play
around with in my head i make a
concentrated effort to think this every
time something goes wrong
when my first reaction is emotional my
first emotion is anger or frustration
it's like take a breath
compose yourself and start looking for
the value
because here's the truth the world is
not going to end today
there's going to be a time down the road
when i look over my shoulder and right
now is a distant memory
what will i have done with it
and it's the times that
might have broken you that contain the
greatest transformation
i like to say the greatest tragedies or
the hardest times made me who i am today
the losses taught me that i had
everything i needed
the failures showed me what i'm capable
of enduring
the times i was let down taught me to
de-personalize the shortcomings of
others but to simultaneously hedge
against them
the times i was lost showed me we only
discover or meet our potential when we
leave the little day-to-day realities
that we create
why because we
are in control
not of the external but the internal and
that ends up being a bridge
to a reality that means something
so when you find yourself at the base of
a mountain looking up
understand that there are two ways to
perceive the climb
you can see it as the gravity pushing
down on you as earth standing in your
way
or
as an opportunity to ascend to a version
of yourself that previously not only
didn't exist but wasn't available
this is your opportunity
the same opportunity that the vast
majority of the world would disregard or
misinterpret
[Music]
that most would feel fear of
and be dissuaded by
most would live in the stories about who
they aren't and what they aren't capable
of
but not
you you didn't place that mountain
before you
but you sure can extract the value from
it
all you have to do is decide that you're
capable
and that the meaning
and the value and the freedom of
tomorrow means more than the discomfort
of today
if you allow that for yourself you will
become truly unstoppable
not because the path simplified or got
easier
but because the traveler trusted himself
to walk down it
[Music]
you