May 16, 2025 • 22 mins
In this profound solo episode, Andrew Reed takes us deep into the philosophical and personal roots of the question that gives this podcast its name. Sitting on the charred remains of his mountaintop recording studio — a space consumed by wildfire — Andrew speaks candidly about purpose, mortality, creativity, and risk. The central question, "What are you willing to throw your life away on?" is explored not as a metaphor, but as a real-life compass that demands clarity, courage, and soul-level commitment.
From brushes with death to the sacrifices required for mastery, Andrew shares humbly what it takes to live without regret — a life not thrown away meaninglessly, but offered fully to something worthy. It’s a powerful reflection for anyone facing loss, transition, or the urgency to live a more intentional life... And the path to success, which includes deep satisfaction that is often missing in worldly "achievement".
Chapter Markers
(00:00) – Intro
(01:03) – Speaking from the Ashes
(03:24) – Philosophy in the Wild
(05:34) – Risk, Death & the Good Soldier
(08:41) – Burnt Lungs & Vision
(10:23) – Death, Regret & Urgency
(12:12) – The Cost of Mastery
(14:51) – Courage Is Not Fearlessness
(17:56) – Love and Focus as Sacred Forces
(21:00) – Finding Yourself in Isolation
Song: Twisted World - andrew reed & the liberation
Album: As a Bird of the Air… (Trilogy I Album 1)
Social Media Links
Official Website: www.AndrewReedMusic.com
Facebook: @andrewreedandtheliberation
X: @AndrewReedMusic
Instagram: @AndrewReedMusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Lx7DnbB5qyt7uwV8yeHwE
Youtube Channel: @andrewreedtheliberation
MVI Phone #: (828) 698-5885
Click here to view the episode transcript.
Watch out for the next message, every Friday @ 7:01AM EST (US)!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
What are you willing to throw your life away on? With
Andrew Reid and the liberation.It's a serious question, one
worth pondering. Am I living thelife I want, an intelligent
life, or something else? How canI have a better experience of
life?
These are some of the questionsexplored in this series of
(00:34):
messages without the brag andthe advertisement, getting
beyond even human institutionsand society into the wilderness,
nature, the reality of how lifeactually operates on this
planet. These messages rangefrom intimate recordings from
the awakened forest to concerts,national conferences, and
(00:56):
broadcasts on a wide array ofphilosophical topics.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Today, I sit here on top of the mountain, a charred
mountaintop. But guess what?It's clear. The fires in some
way purified the land, purifiedsouls, got rid of the old and
(01:25):
the little greens get to live.But it seems a good setting to
explore the central question ofthis very series of messages.
What are you willing to throwyour life away on? So here I am
the forest dweller, the hermitspeaking and this seems like the
(01:51):
right setting because being in apolished production studio like
we have and all that in acommercial setting just doesn't
seem quite right. Why? Because Ineed to be surrounded by
reality, by the truth. And ifwe're going to find ourselves,
(02:13):
if we're going to find ourpurpose, our direction, perhaps
it's best to do it surrounded bythe truth.
But I know that we can findourselves no matter where we are
and that the truth of our livesand what we want to do will
sometimes come in the mostimprobable moments or
(02:36):
unsuspecting times wheresuddenly we have an
enlightenment, an awakening, aDamascus experience where our
purpose is illuminated but it'sbeyond our control. You can go
out in the woods to try to bebrilliant, to try to lose your
(02:58):
grief sometimes, to write thebook, to write the hit song. But
all I know is that these thingsjust happen. So again we're
confronted with this dance withthe external world and
integrating it with ourselves.So this central question, what
(03:22):
am I willing to throw my lifeaway on?
Again the central question inall of philosophy is how best to
live. This is just perhaps amore pointed way of saying it
that grabs us, gets ourattention and the implications
of this very intelligentquestion and weighty questions
(03:44):
challenge us and that's whathuman beings need. It challenges
our positions in life, that isthe directives where we're going
through our routines of life,our activities of life, the
things we're thinking about whenwe're showering, on our drives
to work, on our drives home,when we really have maybe a gap
(04:09):
in our activities to considerthe day and what we're doing
with our lives or what I'll callour true honest moments. These
moments of self inquiry, what amI doing here? What do I really
want?
What would make me happy? Whatwould make me content? And so
(04:32):
this question summons all thesethings. Just think about the
words used. What?
What equals or requires achoice, a determination of
focus, a specific thing orthings and saying no to the
(04:52):
multitude of optional choices.Say no to the attractive
opportunities to focus on thingsthat are more singular. The word
willing connotates again choice,a product of the human will
which is at least 50% of thelife equation. The act of the
(05:14):
will dancing with the externalworld. And then to throw your
life away involves an unsettlingproposition of risk that things
could go bad, we could die, wecould lose our money, something
could happen to our loved ones.
(05:34):
And that summons the subsequentquestions to the logical mind,
is life serious? Or maybe life'snot so serious? Or the third
option which I think is alwaysor most always more correct is
it could be both or multiplethings. Again I'm kind of
(06:00):
purposely sitting here in theashes of this burnout recording
facility, this world class placeon my property looking at it and
in a way it's sad and in a wayit's it's absolutely beautiful
at the same time. But theseclose brushes with death, I
(06:23):
almost died here.
I mean I I was ready to die forthis property. I was ready to
die for my cabin except for oneof these forest fighters from
Oregon just grabbed me almostslammed me against his oxygen
tank and said we gotta get outof here. We're gonna die. And of
course we retreat as mybuildings are going up. The barn
(06:45):
went up in flames and then Icome back and realize the
recording studio gate becauseit's a gated property had not
been undone so I parked alongthere because I knew that if I
drove in there and I got introuble people wouldn't know
where to find my body.
That's how bad it was but I hadto knowing me and what I'm about
(07:09):
of course I'm not just going tostand by and watch my things go
up in flames so I go around themountain because it's a long, I
own that mountain and I go upand there's flames coming out
but they hadn't consumed theroad yet and so I circled the
mountain and there's the studioup in front of me and it's just
(07:33):
engulfed in smoke where youcould just barely see the
outline and then you could seethe surrounding structures,
little well house and all thatbeing consumed. And of course I
had things I loved. I hadancient guitars from the 40s 50s
60s, a Voyager system, my SarahMcLaughlin guitar, my favorite
(07:56):
acoustics and I thought maybe Icould grab a few of those. Oh
there's a deer that just wentby. How beautiful.
They're so lovely this time ofthe year with their shiny coat.
And so I was determined to getsomething and I started up
towards it and I thought wowthis is really hot and I can't
(08:18):
breathe. Can't even see whereI'm going and then I turn around
I hear a roar and then you knowI'm shut off. My path back is
blocked by flames that eruptedbehind me and sealed me off
except for the road. So I justput my head down I really didn't
have any other option and I ranthrough and I burnt my lungs up.
(08:41):
I didn't know it at the timeeveryone said it'd probably go
away well it didn't and so onGood Friday I knew it was my
last day on earth but somehow Isurvived the night and it was a
slow rebound and it still is andI still am fighting it but I
(09:03):
want to live. Why? I have avision for my life. There are
things I still want toaccomplish, things I want to do
but I also know that thisproperty is a big part of it and
my makeup is to throw away mylife on whatever because I think
it's a key to success. It's ait's a key to living really a
(09:27):
very fulfilled life.
So there's this risk element.What are you willing to throw
your life away on? So itcontains the acknowledgment of
death, the great certainty thatwe all must face that we're
gonna have our turn to die. Arewe gonna die well or are we
(09:48):
gonna die with the music stillin us, with the unfinished book
with the unfinished piece of artwith the unaccomplished business
family goals whatever. But theseclose brushes with death just
like the bullet fragments in myhead from a robbery or just all
(10:13):
these things being knockedoverboard and drowning near
drowning in Alaska a few timesor the when the grizzly got at
me and I had to jump off a cliffto get away.
These brushes with death bringus to ourselves, bring us to our
senses and say what am I livingfor? If it was over now would I
have regrets? And some peoplecould say well it's lights out,
(10:35):
you're not gonna know anythinganyway. Well maybe not. I
suspect that we continue once weexit the physical body but we do
know this we're never gonna beback in this form like we are
now because that's just not theway life works.
But what do we all want? We wantto live a well lived life, we
(10:57):
want to live an intelligentlife, we want to live a life
which we've thought through, aconsidered life and we want to
be a realized person not leavinganything on the table, anything
that's going to cause regret orguilt. But this question,
questions do what? Questionslike this cause us to go deep
(11:19):
within ourselves into the realmof thought, the realm of ideas.
And thinking and thoughts arewhat people produce and are.
We are thinking creatures.That's what you do on your drive
to work. That's what you do onyour commute home. We think and
(11:42):
we like puzzles, likechallenges, we like games of
chance. But many ways we're in agame that has no ultimate
solution, only temporarydestinations, temporary oases
until we get bored with our MaiTais, our Bloody Marys and
sitting under the coconut treeand say to ourselves maybe the
(12:05):
coconuts are better in the nextoasis.
But this is such a worthwhilequestion. And can you say what
would truly satisfy me? Whatwould I be content, truly
content with? Where it's notjust fun. Usually, again, it
(12:30):
contains this element ofaccomplishment, of doing
something, of risking something,of sacrificing something, the
pain side, in order to have thehappy side or that deep
satisfaction of achievement andthere's something to that to
grow yourself and become reallyyour best self which is really
(12:54):
probably your function in thisearth.
Why else would you exist?There's only one of you. Are you
to imitate the masses? Livelives imagined by other people?
Of course not.
Your job is to figure out yourown life. So what are you
willing to throw your life awayon? And one way to look at this
(13:16):
is what I'll call the goodsoldier. Now who is the good
soldier? And of course I'm usingidiotic reference to humankind
here, but the good soldier canonly be a good soldier if he or
she considers themselves alreadydead.
(13:38):
Because if they're stillclinging to life, they don't
have the courage to get up outof the foxhole or charge out of
the trench. They're clinging totheir lives. They're not even
good at saving their neighbors,their fellow soldiers because
again they're clinging to theirlives, they might die. Whereas a
(14:01):
good soldier goes I'm alreadydead, it's a good day to die in
fact maybe and they flingthemselves in the hail of
bullets. That's a great attitudein a way to live life and I'm
not seen to be outrageouslyreckless.
(14:23):
We need to make calculated movesbased on intelligence but what
are you really risking? It'salmost a zen and spiritual
state. So this question summonsand conjures up many things.
Again risk, loss, it can be abit scary. But we have to
(14:44):
recognize that there's arelationship of risk and reward
and those at risk more attainmore.
And you might say I have a hightolerance for risk. This has
developed over time and it's noteven applicable to all
situations sometimes we're moreterrified of some situations
than others and you see some ofthese guys in their pickup truck
(15:07):
no fear. Well they're foolingthemselves. Fear is part of the
game guy. You think the soldiergetting up out of the foxhole
even if he considers himselfdead isn't terrified?
But that's part of it. That'spart of courage. And like I said
(15:27):
earlier, it confronts us withthe great certainty. The great
certainty of death that not manyof us get out of this life
alive, right? And despite ourbest efforts to preserve it, we
can't.
So it's best to throw ourselvesinto whatever endeavor we have
(15:48):
with full force. It alsorecognizes the will, this self
determined aspect, this personalagency as it's called in
philosophy and the role that weplay in our lives and that we're
not just this little speck ofdust that's being thrown around
by the big bad world. We needthese events if we really
(16:09):
reconcile and these events,forest fires, this illness,
going broke help us. And on afurther subtler level, what am I
willing to throw my life away onalso implies the truth that in
order to truly be good or greatat anything, that it will
(16:31):
require tremendous time,sacrifice, literally your life.
Like when I was really breakingout, I heard Earl Nightingale
say, if you'll spend five yearslearning everything about your
profession, spending all yourtime doing it, whether you're
making cabinets, what are thespecial screws, how do you
(16:54):
prepare the wood, justunderstanding everything
thoroughly, every aspect, everydetail, the minutiae, being
meticulous in your knowledge,that you will find yourself in
five years in the top 5% ofthose in your field.
And boy has that not worked outmany times for me depending on
(17:16):
where I want to focus. That'sgreat advice. But normally
you're not going to get great atanything working forty eight
hours a week. I don't even knowhow to do success with that. A
lot of times it's the eighty,one hundred hour week especially
for durations or seasons of yourlife.
(17:39):
There's the risk. Is it worthit? You better enjoy what you're
doing. And I did. And so whywould anybody go into a
direction that didn't give themenergy, that felt like burden
and didn't give you back life?
So even that five years inwhatever direction throwing
(17:59):
yourself into it entirely whereyou wake up, you work the day,
at night, you sleep on it, youdream about this and it's
something you enjoy andobviously you get good. Because
what we find is that thefiftieth percentile, the average
people, the huddled masses, theherd know very little about what
(18:21):
they do even if though they'regetting a paycheck from whatever
job or field they're in or thesatisfaction from raising a
family, they're probably doingvery average ways and they
wonder why they're in thefiftieth percentile and that's
the fact. That's what makes iteasier to succeed than not. But
(18:45):
you got to pay the price in thisjust world. The other thing
about what are you willing tothrow your life away on again it
kind of takes this zen state.
Right? A state of pure focus, ofpure intention. Focus,
(19:05):
intention, purpose, discipline.It can even be language just
love. This is of high mind, ofhigh consciousness, of high
vibration and at least inquality.
If you love something enough,yeah you're willing to throw
(19:26):
your life away on it and that'ssuch a beautiful thing. And I
think the other thing is we justwant to avoid the regret and
guilt of dying before wefinished our business. We don't
want to die with the music orart still in our heart, Our art
(19:48):
never seen, our music neverheard, the building never built,
the business not grown. So weneed to be startled by an
unsettling question, anuncomfortable question. What are
you willing to throw your lifeaway on and what is worthy of
(20:12):
your life?
Again, it's why so many shamans,holy people, myself, whoever,
would go out in the wildernessto get around the truth in a
lonely state, isolated fromsociety, from other people,
(20:32):
where we gain our vision orperhaps regain the vision of our
youth. Think about what you usedto think about as a kid, what
you wanted to be, what turnedyou on. That may give us some
clue. So with this excellentquestion, what are you willing
to throw your life away on?Perhaps intelligence is the key
(20:56):
here because it's such anintelligent question.
Recognizing all these aspects ofsuccess in life and living a
considered life that we'reconscious of and that we're not
living obliviously but we'reliving the life that we
determine, what's right and goodfor me as I see the world and
(21:21):
not through the lens of anyother belief system, whether it
be a religious belief system ora societal belief system or
whatever. But to become thistruly self actualized, self
realized person knowing theirdirection in the areas that we
deem right, good and delightfulin our eyes. And that's the
(21:43):
whole point, that we isolateourselves to find ourselves, to
bring ourselves to ourselves, torealize that our happiness and
everything comes from within usand not from the external world
or circumstances. That you arethe world.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Thank you for listening. If you need anything
further, just go to mbi.life.
What are you willing to throw your life away on? With
Andrew Reid and the liberation.It's a serious question, one
worth pondering. Am I living thelife I want, an intelligent
life, or something else? How canI have a better experience of
life?
These are some of the questionsexplored in this series of
(00:34):
messages without the brag andthe advertisement, getting
beyond even human institutionsand society into the wilderness,
nature, the reality of how lifeactually operates on this
planet. These messages rangefrom intimate recordings from
the awakened forest to concerts,national conferences, and
(00:56):
broadcasts on a wide array ofphilosophical topics.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Today, I sit here on top of the mountain, a charred
mountaintop. But guess what?It's clear. The fires in some
way purified the land, purifiedsouls, got rid of the old and
(01:25):
the little greens get to live.But it seems a good setting to
explore the central question ofthis very series of messages.
What are you willing to throwyour life away on? So here I am
the forest dweller, the hermitspeaking and this seems like the
(01:51):
right setting because being in apolished production studio like
we have and all that in acommercial setting just doesn't
seem quite right. Why? Because Ineed to be surrounded by
reality, by the truth. And ifwe're going to find ourselves,
(02:13):
if we're going to find ourpurpose, our direction, perhaps
it's best to do it surrounded bythe truth.
But I know that we can findourselves no matter where we are
and that the truth of our livesand what we want to do will
sometimes come in the mostimprobable moments or
(02:36):
unsuspecting times wheresuddenly we have an
enlightenment, an awakening, aDamascus experience where our
purpose is illuminated but it'sbeyond our control. You can go
out in the woods to try to bebrilliant, to try to lose your
(02:58):
grief sometimes, to write thebook, to write the hit song. But
all I know is that these thingsjust happen. So again we're
confronted with this dance withthe external world and
integrating it with ourselves.So this central question, what
(03:22):
am I willing to throw my lifeaway on?
Again the central question inall of philosophy is how best to
live. This is just perhaps amore pointed way of saying it
that grabs us, gets ourattention and the implications
of this very intelligentquestion and weighty questions
(03:44):
challenge us and that's whathuman beings need. It challenges
our positions in life, that isthe directives where we're going
through our routines of life,our activities of life, the
things we're thinking about whenwe're showering, on our drives
to work, on our drives home,when we really have maybe a gap
(04:09):
in our activities to considerthe day and what we're doing
with our lives or what I'll callour true honest moments. These
moments of self inquiry, what amI doing here? What do I really
want?
What would make me happy? Whatwould make me content? And so
(04:32):
this question summons all thesethings. Just think about the
words used. What?
What equals or requires achoice, a determination of
focus, a specific thing orthings and saying no to the
(04:52):
multitude of optional choices.Say no to the attractive
opportunities to focus on thingsthat are more singular. The word
willing connotates again choice,a product of the human will
which is at least 50% of thelife equation. The act of the
(05:14):
will dancing with the externalworld. And then to throw your
life away involves an unsettlingproposition of risk that things
could go bad, we could die, wecould lose our money, something
could happen to our loved ones.
(05:34):
And that summons the subsequentquestions to the logical mind,
is life serious? Or maybe life'snot so serious? Or the third
option which I think is alwaysor most always more correct is
it could be both or multiplethings. Again I'm kind of
(06:00):
purposely sitting here in theashes of this burnout recording
facility, this world class placeon my property looking at it and
in a way it's sad and in a wayit's it's absolutely beautiful
at the same time. But theseclose brushes with death, I
(06:23):
almost died here.
I mean I I was ready to die forthis property. I was ready to
die for my cabin except for oneof these forest fighters from
Oregon just grabbed me almostslammed me against his oxygen
tank and said we gotta get outof here. We're gonna die. And of
course we retreat as mybuildings are going up. The barn
(06:45):
went up in flames and then Icome back and realize the
recording studio gate becauseit's a gated property had not
been undone so I parked alongthere because I knew that if I
drove in there and I got introuble people wouldn't know
where to find my body.
That's how bad it was but I hadto knowing me and what I'm about
(07:09):
of course I'm not just going tostand by and watch my things go
up in flames so I go around themountain because it's a long, I
own that mountain and I go upand there's flames coming out
but they hadn't consumed theroad yet and so I circled the
mountain and there's the studioup in front of me and it's just
(07:33):
engulfed in smoke where youcould just barely see the
outline and then you could seethe surrounding structures,
little well house and all thatbeing consumed. And of course I
had things I loved. I hadancient guitars from the 40s 50s
60s, a Voyager system, my SarahMcLaughlin guitar, my favorite
(07:56):
acoustics and I thought maybe Icould grab a few of those. Oh
there's a deer that just wentby. How beautiful.
They're so lovely this time ofthe year with their shiny coat.
And so I was determined to getsomething and I started up
towards it and I thought wowthis is really hot and I can't
(08:18):
breathe. Can't even see whereI'm going and then I turn around
I hear a roar and then you knowI'm shut off. My path back is
blocked by flames that eruptedbehind me and sealed me off
except for the road. So I justput my head down I really didn't
have any other option and I ranthrough and I burnt my lungs up.
(08:41):
I didn't know it at the timeeveryone said it'd probably go
away well it didn't and so onGood Friday I knew it was my
last day on earth but somehow Isurvived the night and it was a
slow rebound and it still is andI still am fighting it but I
(09:03):
want to live. Why? I have avision for my life. There are
things I still want toaccomplish, things I want to do
but I also know that thisproperty is a big part of it and
my makeup is to throw away mylife on whatever because I think
it's a key to success. It's ait's a key to living really a
(09:27):
very fulfilled life.
So there's this risk element.What are you willing to throw
your life away on? So itcontains the acknowledgment of
death, the great certainty thatwe all must face that we're
gonna have our turn to die. Arewe gonna die well or are we
(09:48):
gonna die with the music stillin us, with the unfinished book
with the unfinished piece of artwith the unaccomplished business
family goals whatever. But theseclose brushes with death just
like the bullet fragments in myhead from a robbery or just all
(10:13):
these things being knockedoverboard and drowning near
drowning in Alaska a few timesor the when the grizzly got at
me and I had to jump off a cliffto get away.
These brushes with death bringus to ourselves, bring us to our
senses and say what am I livingfor? If it was over now would I
have regrets? And some peoplecould say well it's lights out,
(10:35):
you're not gonna know anythinganyway. Well maybe not. I
suspect that we continue once weexit the physical body but we do
know this we're never gonna beback in this form like we are
now because that's just not theway life works.
But what do we all want? We wantto live a well lived life, we
(10:57):
want to live an intelligentlife, we want to live a life
which we've thought through, aconsidered life and we want to
be a realized person not leavinganything on the table, anything
that's going to cause regret orguilt. But this question,
questions do what? Questionslike this cause us to go deep
(11:19):
within ourselves into the realmof thought, the realm of ideas.
And thinking and thoughts arewhat people produce and are.
We are thinking creatures.That's what you do on your drive
to work. That's what you do onyour commute home. We think and
(11:42):
we like puzzles, likechallenges, we like games of
chance. But many ways we're in agame that has no ultimate
solution, only temporarydestinations, temporary oases
until we get bored with our MaiTais, our Bloody Marys and
sitting under the coconut treeand say to ourselves maybe the
(12:05):
coconuts are better in the nextoasis.
But this is such a worthwhilequestion. And can you say what
would truly satisfy me? Whatwould I be content, truly
content with? Where it's notjust fun. Usually, again, it
(12:30):
contains this element ofaccomplishment, of doing
something, of risking something,of sacrificing something, the
pain side, in order to have thehappy side or that deep
satisfaction of achievement andthere's something to that to
grow yourself and become reallyyour best self which is really
(12:54):
probably your function in thisearth.
Why else would you exist?There's only one of you. Are you
to imitate the masses? Livelives imagined by other people?
Of course not.
Your job is to figure out yourown life. So what are you
willing to throw your life awayon? And one way to look at this
(13:16):
is what I'll call the goodsoldier. Now who is the good
soldier? And of course I'm usingidiotic reference to humankind
here, but the good soldier canonly be a good soldier if he or
she considers themselves alreadydead.
(13:38):
Because if they're stillclinging to life, they don't
have the courage to get up outof the foxhole or charge out of
the trench. They're clinging totheir lives. They're not even
good at saving their neighbors,their fellow soldiers because
again they're clinging to theirlives, they might die. Whereas a
(14:01):
good soldier goes I'm alreadydead, it's a good day to die in
fact maybe and they flingthemselves in the hail of
bullets. That's a great attitudein a way to live life and I'm
not seen to be outrageouslyreckless.
(14:23):
We need to make calculated movesbased on intelligence but what
are you really risking? It'salmost a zen and spiritual
state. So this question summonsand conjures up many things.
Again risk, loss, it can be abit scary. But we have to
(14:44):
recognize that there's arelationship of risk and reward
and those at risk more attainmore.
And you might say I have a hightolerance for risk. This has
developed over time and it's noteven applicable to all
situations sometimes we're moreterrified of some situations
than others and you see some ofthese guys in their pickup truck
(15:07):
no fear. Well they're foolingthemselves. Fear is part of the
game guy. You think the soldiergetting up out of the foxhole
even if he considers himselfdead isn't terrified?
But that's part of it. That'spart of courage. And like I said
(15:27):
earlier, it confronts us withthe great certainty. The great
certainty of death that not manyof us get out of this life
alive, right? And despite ourbest efforts to preserve it, we
can't.
So it's best to throw ourselvesinto whatever endeavor we have
(15:48):
with full force. It alsorecognizes the will, this self
determined aspect, this personalagency as it's called in
philosophy and the role that weplay in our lives and that we're
not just this little speck ofdust that's being thrown around
by the big bad world. We needthese events if we really
(16:09):
reconcile and these events,forest fires, this illness,
going broke help us. And on afurther subtler level, what am I
willing to throw my life away onalso implies the truth that in
order to truly be good or greatat anything, that it will
(16:31):
require tremendous time,sacrifice, literally your life.
Like when I was really breakingout, I heard Earl Nightingale
say, if you'll spend five yearslearning everything about your
profession, spending all yourtime doing it, whether you're
making cabinets, what are thespecial screws, how do you
(16:54):
prepare the wood, justunderstanding everything
thoroughly, every aspect, everydetail, the minutiae, being
meticulous in your knowledge,that you will find yourself in
five years in the top 5% ofthose in your field.
And boy has that not worked outmany times for me depending on
(17:16):
where I want to focus. That'sgreat advice. But normally
you're not going to get great atanything working forty eight
hours a week. I don't even knowhow to do success with that. A
lot of times it's the eighty,one hundred hour week especially
for durations or seasons of yourlife.
(17:39):
There's the risk. Is it worthit? You better enjoy what you're
doing. And I did. And so whywould anybody go into a
direction that didn't give themenergy, that felt like burden
and didn't give you back life?
So even that five years inwhatever direction throwing
(17:59):
yourself into it entirely whereyou wake up, you work the day,
at night, you sleep on it, youdream about this and it's
something you enjoy andobviously you get good. Because
what we find is that thefiftieth percentile, the average
people, the huddled masses, theherd know very little about what
(18:21):
they do even if though they'regetting a paycheck from whatever
job or field they're in or thesatisfaction from raising a
family, they're probably doingvery average ways and they
wonder why they're in thefiftieth percentile and that's
the fact. That's what makes iteasier to succeed than not. But
(18:45):
you got to pay the price in thisjust world. The other thing
about what are you willing tothrow your life away on again it
kind of takes this zen state.
Right? A state of pure focus, ofpure intention. Focus,
(19:05):
intention, purpose, discipline.It can even be language just
love. This is of high mind, ofhigh consciousness, of high
vibration and at least inquality.
If you love something enough,yeah you're willing to throw
(19:26):
your life away on it and that'ssuch a beautiful thing. And I
think the other thing is we justwant to avoid the regret and
guilt of dying before wefinished our business. We don't
want to die with the music orart still in our heart, Our art
(19:48):
never seen, our music neverheard, the building never built,
the business not grown. So weneed to be startled by an
unsettling question, anuncomfortable question. What are
you willing to throw your lifeaway on and what is worthy of
(20:12):
your life?
Again, it's why so many shamans,holy people, myself, whoever,
would go out in the wildernessto get around the truth in a
lonely state, isolated fromsociety, from other people,
(20:32):
where we gain our vision orperhaps regain the vision of our
youth. Think about what you usedto think about as a kid, what
you wanted to be, what turnedyou on. That may give us some
clue. So with this excellentquestion, what are you willing
to throw your life away on?Perhaps intelligence is the key
(20:56):
here because it's such anintelligent question.
Recognizing all these aspects ofsuccess in life and living a
considered life that we'reconscious of and that we're not
living obliviously but we'reliving the life that we
determine, what's right and goodfor me as I see the world and
(21:21):
not through the lens of anyother belief system, whether it
be a religious belief system ora societal belief system or
whatever. But to become thistruly self actualized, self
realized person knowing theirdirection in the areas that we
deem right, good and delightfulin our eyes. And that's the
(21:43):
whole point, that we isolateourselves to find ourselves, to
bring ourselves to ourselves, torealize that our happiness and
everything comes from within usand not from the external world
or circumstances. That you arethe world.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Thank you for listening. If you need anything
further, just go to mbi.life.
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