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June 29, 2025 12 mins

Have you ever wondered why some people seem unstoppably driven while others constantly start and stop? The difference isn't talent or opportunity—it's having a powerful emotional driver that keeps you moving forward when challenges arise.

In this raw and passionate episode, I dive deep into the concept that "a man or woman with a strong enough why will always find a how." Drawing from my personal journey of watching my father battle addiction, serving time in prison, and completely rebuilding my life, I reveal how our most painful experiences can become our greatest motivators. Pain, properly channeled, transforms from a burden into rocket fuel for achievement and personal growth.

Most people seek motivation through surface-level desires—money, status, or material possessions. But these external rewards rarely sustain us through difficult times. True transformation requires something deeper, something that "burns inside you so bright that it could never be extinguished." For me, this fire came from my commitment to be the father my children deserve, breaking cycles of addiction and absence that shaped my own childhood.

The path to extraordinary achievement isn't about ignoring your past wounds but about consciously repurposing them. That childhood bullying, parental neglect, heartbreak, or failure that once defined you can become the very thing that drives you to exceptional heights. This perspective shift is powerful—instead of asking "why did this happen to me?" we ask "how can I use this to become exceptional?"

What's your deep "why"? What painful experience could you transform into purpose? Listen now to discover how to tap into your most powerful source of motivation and become truly unstoppable in pursuing your dreams.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
A man or woman with a strong enough why will always
find a how, and what that meansis if you get very clear on what
you want in life and why, andthat why is very powerful, like
it drives you every day,nothing's going to stop you.
Pain is the greatest motivatorin life, like right now.
You all have goals, you havedreams, you have things you want
to achieve, but part of yourbrain doesn't even think that
you can accomplish those things.

(00:21):
I saw him start to just losecontrol of his life at a young
age.
I saw him drinking excessively,using drugs.
He overdosed one time in mygarage as a kid and I had to get
mouth to mouth till theparamedics came.
He was in and out of prison,always promising to get sober,
never got sober till the day hedied.
I had to figure this shit outon my own because I didn't have
that leadership and I wentthrough a lot of difficult times
because of that.

(00:41):
I was able to recapture it andtap back into my inner child
when I was in prison and getclear on what really matters in
this life and what doesn't.
You have to find something deepinside you that's going to
motivate you and push you to gothrough any obstacles, to face
any fears, that you have to notgive into excuses.
It has to be something thatburns inside you so bright that

(01:02):
it could never be extinguished.
You could use those negativemoments in life and that emotion
and channel it into positiveactions, and for me, that's how
I almost make sense of what Iwent through.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Unstoppable Mindset

(01:23):
Podcast.
I'm your host, sean Crane, andhope you guys are having an
amazing summer so far.
Kids are out of school, sun isshining.
I'm feeling blessed.
Man.
Yesterday was Father's Day andit really got me thinking about
this message I want to sharetoday, really about how to find
that deep drive and motivationin your life to excel, to
overcome anything that is goingto hold you back and to really

(01:44):
create the ultimate life foryourself.
So, before I share this message, go ahead and, if you haven't
already subscribe, share thiswith a friend, a family member,
somebody that's looking forinspiration in their lives.
I want to start you guys offwith a quote I guess it could be
, or a saying that I oftenarticulate, and that's a man or
woman with a strong enough whywill always find a how, and what

(02:06):
that means is, if you get veryclear on what you want in life
and why, and that why is verypowerful, like it drives you
every day, nothing's going tostop you.
But a lot of people don't knowwhat they want.
They haven't clarified it.
And, secondly, they don't knowwhy.
There's nothing internallythat's driving them.
Now, if you're somebody that'smotivated by money and flashy
stuff and material things,that's not enough.

(02:28):
There needs to be somethingemotionally charged inside of
you that's going to compel youto go above and beyond for your
in your life, and what I mean ispeople that are extremely
driven.
They didn't just wake up thatway.
They didn't just suddenlyrealize, oh, I need to be more
motivated or, oh, I got to go tothe gym and be more disciplined

(02:49):
, like that's what a lot of youguys try to do.
You try to, like cognitivelyright, consciously think about
why you need to change, versusfinding something deep down
inside of you that's going todrive you.
When you have excuses, whenyou're tired, when you don't
want to do the work, when youhave doubt, when you have fear,
you have to have somethinginside of you that is more
powerful than all those things,and so for me, it's pain and,
honestly, for most of you it'sgoing to be something painful.

(03:12):
Pain is the greatest motivatorin life, like right now.
You all have goals, you havedreams, you have things you want
to achieve, but part of yourbrain doesn't even think that
you can accomplish those things.
So you can accomplish thosethings.
So some days you're motivated,some days you're inspired.
Then other days you wake up andyou're like, oh, what does it
all matter, right?
Other days you wake up and youhave all these negative thoughts
, you have all this doubt, soyou don't do the work.
That's how most people livetheir lives One step forward,

(03:33):
two steps back.
One step forward, two stepsback.
It's because you're thinkingabout what you want right versus
why you want it, and somethingthat's going to drive you to get
away from a bad time in yourlife, a painful experience that
you went through.
So what I found with mostpeople when it comes to change
is you're going to be moreconsistent, more driven and
you're going to get a lotfurther in life If something

(03:53):
internally is driving you.
That was a painful lifeexperience, something that
caused you, you know trauma,anguish, sadness, depression.
You know it could have been areally bad breakup.
It could have been a loss of aloved one.
A lot of times it's things fromchildhood, you know, like
growing up with parents whoweren't there to support you or
parents who were going throughtheir own struggles that caused

(04:14):
you some type of pain in yourown life, right, and that that's
what it is for me.
So I was thinking a lot aboutthis yesterday because I saw a
picture of me and my dadactually posted on social media
and I think about my dad everyday.
He was my best friend.
I love him so much and he didso much for me, but he also
caused me a lot of pain becausehe was battling his demons, his
addictions, and he could neverovercome them.

(04:36):
So you know, I saw him start tojust lose control of his life
at a young age.
I saw him drinking excessively,using drugs.
He overdosed one time in mygarage as a kid and I had to
give him mouth to mouth till theparamedics came.
He was in and out of prison,always promising to get sober,
never got sober till the day hedied.
You know his addiction took himand so you know, on the one hand

(04:57):
, I loved him so much, but onthe one hand, I loved him so
much but, on the other hand,there was so much pain that I
experienced because of thatrelationship, because I never
had the man, the dad, the fatherfigure that I needed in my life
, like I never had that personthat I could 100% trust, you
know, and that person that couldlead me to a better life.
I had to figure this shit outon my own because I didn't have
that leadership and I wentthrough a lot of difficult times

(05:19):
because of that.
I didn't have that leadershipand I went through a lot of
difficult times because of that.
And so for me, my why thereason that I'll get up early
every day?
I'll outwork anybody, I'llpursue my dreams, I'll pour my
heart and soul to every message.
Everything that I do each andevery day is for my family, it's
for my children.
Like I look at their beautifulfaces, they're like, so innocent
, so pure.
Like I look at little Preston,my boy right, or Scarlett, my

(05:41):
oldest daughter, bella, myyoungest daughter, mason, who's
going into high school now, andlike they're so perfect, man, as
children.
Kids are born with just thisgift, you know, like they're
right from heaven, they'reperfect, they're flawless.
And this world starts tocorrupt them over time and they
start to change.
That's what happens to all ofus.
We're all born perfect.
You come into this world yourskin's perfect, your heart is

(06:04):
pure, your intentions are pure,you're honest like you're
perfect, and then the worldstarts to impose these ways upon
you and we change over time.
So anyway, without getting offon a tangent on that, you know,
um, I just remember what it waslike to be a kid and have
massive dreams and goals.
I wanted to be a professionalbaseball player.
I wanted to do so much goodLike I would picture, like you

(06:25):
know, building a home for myparents one day, or just doing
all this good for society andgiving back Like I had a really
good heart, and I lost thatversion of myself when I went
through a dark time right due tomy parents' neglect and their
actions, and so I know the painof being a young child with so
good in my heart, so much drive,so much ambition, so much love

(06:47):
for life, and I lost that forabout 10 years.
I was able to recapture it andtap back into my inner child
when I was in prison and getclear on what really matters in
this life and what doesn't.
So what I'm getting at is atthe core of what I do each and
every day, so that my childrendon't experience that pain at my
hands, right At my neglectbecause of me, that they don't
experience sadness and sorrowand feeling lost and feeling

(07:10):
confused because of me Like howpathetic would that be?
I'm supposed to be their rock,their leader, their provider,
their protector.
That's what I'm on this planetto be for them, you know.
So, each and every day, mymotivation is to continue to
develop myself so I could bethere for them Inner strength,
right Sobriety, mental strength,physical strength, to have
these habits that I'veestablished, to be an example

(07:32):
for them, to the point where Idon't even have to tell them
what to do, but they can justobserve dad and they know what a
good man is, they know what thestandard is, you know.
And so if you're somebodythat's going through struggles
in your life right now andyou're not where you wanna be
now and you're not where youwant to be, you have to find
something deep inside you that'sgoing to motivate you and push
you to go through any obstacles,to face any fears, that you

(07:53):
have to not give into excuses.
It has to be something thatburns inside you so bright that
it could never be extinguishedright.
And what I found is oftentimesit's pain, it's stuff from
childhood, it's things that youwent through that scarred you.
You could use those negativemoments in life and that emotion
and channel it into positiveactions, and for me, that's how

(08:13):
I almost make sense of what Iwent through.
Now I look back at my parentswho battled addiction, all the
stuff that I saw, the toxicityin my life, the trauma I
experienced.
It makes sense now and inhindsight it served a purpose.
God had a plan for me that Icouldn't see in the moment.
Now that pain drives me to gofar above and beyond in my life
than I ever would have had I notgone through those moments.

(08:34):
And so it's not gonna always belike oh my, why is my children?
Oh my, why is you think it'syour children or you think it's
these certain things?
But do you have the results youwant?
Are you pushing yourself eachand every day the way that you
should be?
Oftentimes it's somethingdeeper than that.
It's personal to you and it'ssomething from your youth,

(08:56):
something that you experiencedearly on in life, Because when
you're young you're soimpressionable and the things
that we go through andexperience.
They really have an effect onwho we become.
They have an effect on how wedevelop and for most people,
they hinder your progress forthe rest of your life.
You were bullied at school.
Your parents got divorced.
Maybe you saw your mom and daddrinking too much, like I did.
Maybe, like the first time yougot your heart broken in a

(09:18):
relationship, you got cheated on.
Whatever it was those thingsthat you were once you know that
jaded you, that scarred you,that hurt you, you, that made
you self-conscious.
If you can take that and getthat fuck you attitude and be
like you know what, no, I'mgonna use this to drive me to be
a better person.
You hear terms like the revengebody, women who have been
cheated on or go through abreakup.

(09:39):
Now they wanna get in shape.
It's kinda like that right.
It's like you got this chip onyour shoulder because you're
pissed off about something.
Now you have two choices be avictim because of those things
or use it to drive and motivateyou to become the most
exceptional person you couldever.
Be right and that's like whatI've done in my life, whether it
was my parents and the way wewere brought up, my household
just falling apart, you know,not playing sports in high

(10:00):
school and just being viewedkind of like as a loser by other
people.
You know another kid thatdidn't live up to his potential.
That was me Then going tofreaking prison being a drug
addict, like I had all theselabels, but deep down inside I
knew that I was better than thatman, and so that's what drives
me each and every day.
My why is a culmination of allthat stuff?
It's the regret that I facedwhen I sat in prison.

(10:21):
It's not having the dad Ineeded growing up.
It's living as a shadow of theperson I could have been for all
those years, not playing sports, not going to the MLB, not
fulfilling my dreams as a kid.
I'm still making up for losttime today.
So my why is so personal to me?
It's all of those thingsintertwined in one driving force
inside of me that compels me totake massive action each and
every day.

(10:42):
But if you're a parent, ifyou're somebody that knows that
you have responsibilities, ifyou're somebody that has goals,
a couple things you need to bethe epitome of success in your
children's eyes the food you eat, the way your body looks, the
way you treat other people.
Are you going after your owndreams?
You have to be the example.
You set the standard for themright?

(11:02):
That's something that, each andevery day, you've got to be
thinking about.
And if you're not doing thatstuff, why not?
Why not?
Like you got to get tosomething deeper inside of you
that's going to motivate you.
Why are you not going above andbeyond?
Why are you holding back?
Why are you wasting time?
Why are you scared?
Why are you just not doing whatyou know you should do?
So somewhere in those answersis the secret to your success,

(11:24):
the things that are causing younot to do what you know you
should be doing.
In there you can shift yourperspective.
You can flip that reason anduse it to motivate you, just
like I did.
Like what if, oh, I didn't goafter my dreams?
Because I lost both my parentsat a young age, or because I
have four felonies and I went toprison, or because I got out of
prison at 30 years old and hadto rebuild my life, like all?
Those could be reasons why Ididn't achieve my goals, but I

(11:46):
use them as a catalyst tomotivate the fuck out of me to
achieve my goals.
You see the difference.
One of them's a victimmentality.
The other one is somebody whoperseveres, someone who defies
the odds, someone who becomes anexample.
So, whatever it is that'sholding you back, with a shift
in your mindset, a shift in yourperspective, you can use those
same things to drive you tobecome the most exceptional
human being you could everfathom being.

(12:07):
That's how you becomesuccessful in life.
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