00:00They say the Chinese have an ancient curse.
00:03May you live in interesting times.
00:06Well, personally, I've lived through very interesting times.
00:10And let me tell you something, it wasn't a curse.
00:14It's been a gift.
00:15And we are most certainly living in very interesting times indeed.
00:19My name is Len Cook, and welcome to The Maverick Mind.
00:23You see, we're all taught these comfortable lies
00:26that love conquers all, that good people are good
00:30because they believe in the right things.
00:32And if you follow the rules, everything will work out just fine.
00:36But here's what several decades of living have taught me.
00:40The truths that keep me awake at night
00:42and the wisdom I wish I'd known sooner.
00:45Listen carefully, because these aren't the comfortable truths
00:49you'll find in a greeting card.
00:51These are truths carved from my own life's hardest moments.
00:55One of the biggest is if you want something you've never had,
00:59you must be willing to do something you've never done.
01:02Sounds simple, right?
01:04But simple isn't easy.
01:06I've watched people spend decades circling the same mountain
01:09wondering why the view never changes.
01:13Change demands courage.
01:15And it demands stepping off the familiar path into the unknown.
01:19To be willing to accept failure.
01:21And all the lessons that you can learn from that failure
01:25as much as the possibility of reaping the rewards.
01:29Believing yourself is not some cute motivational poster.
01:33It's oxygen.
01:35Without it, nothing grows.
01:37Nothing changes.
01:38Nothing becomes.
01:39I've seen brilliant people collapse under the weight of their own self-doubt.
01:45While those with half their talent soared
01:48simply because they believed that they could.
01:51And while believing in yourself is vital,
01:54ensuring the people around you do not drag you down
01:57is also a vital lesson in life.
02:00However, in the end,
02:01it is your responsibility to cut away or ignore
02:04those negative people from your life.
02:07Rest assured, we all have them.
02:09Nothing happens without first believing in yourself.
02:13Here's another life lesson in the truth that may shake you.
02:17Your beliefs, or lack of beliefs,
02:20do not make you a good or a bad person.
02:24Good people with wonderful beliefs
02:26do terrible things.
02:29And terrible people
02:30many times have admirable ones.
02:34Because life isn't about what you believe.
02:37That doesn't define you.
02:40It's about what you do.
02:42Every single day.
02:44Not on Sunday.
02:45Not on Saturday.
02:46Not on Wednesday.
02:47It doesn't matter what day it is.
02:48Every day.
02:49Your actions write your legacy.
02:53Not your intentions.
02:55As they say,
02:55the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
02:59And way too many people hide behind their beliefs.
03:02One of my favorite quotes in life
03:05is by Leonardo da Vinci.
03:08As he understood something profound
03:10when he said,
03:11simplicity
03:12is the ultimate sophistication.
03:15Simplicity
03:16is vastly more complicated
03:18than being complex.
03:21Simple requires courage.
03:22simple means
03:25stripping away
03:25everything that
03:26doesn't matter
03:27until you're left with
03:29facing what does.
03:31It means questioning
03:32the normal way
03:33of doing things
03:34and not being afraid
03:36to be wrong
03:37and try something new.
03:39Which leads to the next step,
03:41which is
03:41question
03:42everything.
03:45Especially the things
03:46that they say
03:46you should not question.
03:48Doing so requires
03:49vastly more courage
03:51than simply following
03:52what is expected of you
03:53and what you have been told.
03:56The most dangerous prison
03:58is the one
03:59where you can't see the bars.
04:02I've watched too many people
04:03live lives designed by others
04:05following rules
04:06they never chose to accept.
04:09Why?
04:10I've witnessed good people
04:11become consumed by greed
04:13and destroy more lives
04:15than any natural disaster.
04:18It's a cancer
04:19that eats the soul
04:21and they think
04:22they're invincible.
04:23That nothing
04:24will ever happen to them
04:25and that they have
04:26actual power.
04:28But here's the beautiful irony.
04:32The best revenge
04:32against those
04:33who wrong you
04:34is to live well.
04:37Building a life
04:37so good
04:38it makes them irrelevant
04:39turn their chapter
04:41in your story
04:42into a footnote.
04:43Nobody on their deathbed
04:45has ever said
04:46I really wish
04:47I would have spent
04:48more time at the office.
04:49It's not that
04:51doing your work
04:52and being honorable
04:53is anything bad.
04:55Of course it's good.
04:57But it's not your life.
04:59It's not who you are.
05:02What they do regret though
05:03is the loves
05:05that they didn't pursue.
05:07The risks
05:08that they didn't take.
05:10The forgiveness
05:11they didn't offer.
05:14The regret
05:14the words
05:15that were left unsaid.
05:17The dreams
05:18left unexplored.
05:21We're all gonna die someday.
05:24But do you wanna die
05:25wondering what if?
05:27Life is way too short
05:28way too precious
05:29to live life
05:31wondering what if.
05:33We're all gonna end up
05:34in the same place.
05:35But everyday
05:35we have the luxury
05:36to define
05:38redefine
05:39do and undo
05:40who and what we are
05:41everyday.
05:41How would you live
05:44your life differently
05:45if you only lived it
05:47on your terms?
05:49Movies have convinced us
05:50that there is always
05:51a happy ending
05:52to every story.
05:53We're told that love
05:54is all you need
05:56to change anyone
05:57in every situation.
05:59But in real life
06:01the truth is
06:02that we're not living
06:03in a movie.
06:04And sometimes love
06:06just isn't enough.
06:09That's a hard truth.
06:11But it's better
06:11than a comfortable life.
06:13Love without understanding
06:14without growth
06:15without work
06:16is like a flower
06:17without roots.
06:19Beautiful, yes.
06:20But destined
06:21to fade.
06:23In life
06:24the absolute
06:25hardest lesson
06:25of them all
06:26is to know
06:27that sometimes
06:27all the love
06:28in the world
06:29cannot prevent
06:29that flower
06:30however beautiful
06:32it may be.
06:32from fading away
06:35oftentimes ignoring
06:36and taking for granted
06:38true love
06:39as many times
06:41right in front of you.
06:42Life will knock you down
06:43again
06:44and again
06:45and again.
06:47There's this beautiful moment
06:49in the movie
06:49Rocky Balboa
06:50where Rocky
06:51Sylvester Stallone
06:52tells his son
06:54something profound.
06:55Life is not about
06:56how hard you hit.
06:58It's about
06:59how hard you can
07:00get hit
07:01and keep
07:02moving forward.
07:03How much you can take
07:05and keep
07:06moving forward.
07:08And that
07:09is how winning is done.
07:10In my life
07:11I've been knocked down
07:12many more times
07:13than I care to admit.
07:15But I've learned
07:16there's a certain
07:17joy in those moments
07:18because I know
07:19something
07:19no one else does.
07:22When knocked down
07:23I become
07:24the most focused
07:25the most dangerous
07:27and the most alive.
07:30Why?
07:30simple
07:31because I know
07:32what I'm capable of
07:34and I will get back up
07:35and when I do
07:36you best step aside
07:38and get out of my way
07:39because nothing
07:40can stand in the way
07:41of what I'm willing
07:42to fight for.
07:44As Dylan Thomas
07:45said in his poem
07:46we must rage
07:47rage
07:48against the dying
07:49of the light.
07:50In your life
07:51you must be
07:51your own light
07:52because no one else
07:53will do it for you.
07:54The interesting life
07:55isn't the easy one.
07:56It's the one
07:57that challenges you
07:58that forces you
07:59to grow
08:00that sometimes
08:01breaks you
08:01before it makes you
08:02stronger.
08:03It's the struggle
08:05that makes the
08:05breakthrough possible.
08:07It's the struggle
08:08that makes everything
08:09matter.
08:10So here's my wish
08:12for you.
08:14May you live
08:15in interesting times.
08:16May you find
08:17the love of your life
08:18but also have
08:20the courage
08:20to walk away
08:21if needed.
08:22May you question
08:23everything.
08:24May you find
08:26the courage
08:26to be simple.
08:28May you get
08:28knocked down
08:29many times
08:31and find the joy
08:32in standing back up
08:34because the most
08:35interesting life
08:36is the one
08:37that you dare
08:38to live
08:39on your terms.
08:41It's never
08:41too late to start.
08:43Please
08:44like and subscribe
08:45comment and share.
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