This content was created by Thomas Anglero. This content was uploaded by Thomas Anglero. This is a podcast episode titled "Episode 144: Find yourself in 2022" (PODCAST) published January 23, 2022, hosted by Thomas Anglero. The content is a first-person monologue/reflection in which Anglero recounts friends who nearly lost everything in 2021 and draws lessons about resilience, self-investment, awakening, and confronting painful truths. He uses the Dorian Gray metaphor to urge listeners to look in the mirror, address harmful habits, and prepare for the future; the episode closes with contact information (anglero.com and social media) and a call to action.
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Welcome to the Soul of Innovation podcast. I am Thomas Anglero and I am trying to get these thoughts out of my head, to put it and format them in a way that you would understand what I am feeling. And it is sometimes so hard to do that. The thoughts in my head are— I met two friends becoming better and better friends over the years. And that's how friendship works, right? And they both told me about what happened to them in 2021. To the outside world, everybody thought they had a great year. But as friends, real friends, they told me what happened. Both of them almost lost their business. Both of them had to sell private stuff. Both of them had to go to their wives, and then their wives had to sell their jewelry. To pay the bills, to survive 2021. They had to grind, man. They had to go with that deep place where you see that you're gonna lose everything, your family's gonna be out on the street. Have you ever been in that situation? Have you ever been in that situation that you and your family about to be on the street? If you haven't, you're lucky. If you have, there's no more of a painful feeling, at least from a man's point of view, of being not able to take care of your family. From a woman's point of view, women want to make sure that the nest is taken care of. There is no nest. It is a horrible feeling for everybody. And both my friends in 2021, they tasted that. And they saw that and they fixed it. Now, it's when I talked to them a few days ago and they said for 2022 everything is fine. They have backup plans, they have built-in things that these things will not happen again. And I spoke to them, and as they spoke to me, I saw wisdom, I saw confidence, but I also saw humbleness. And I also saw someone who was awake. I share with you these stories because I envy them and I feel sorry for them, not in a negative way, but I'm so sorry that they had to go through that. I've been through that many times. But to see people who have wonderful lives and then have to taste that taste or see that, that picture of that I am about to live on the street. That hurts me. But that they made it out the other side, I am so happy for them. The point of this story for you is during 2021 or during any part of your life, have you invested in you? Have you grinded through what you needed to do to get awoke. I hear this expression all the time, awoke. Are you awake? Do you understand what the challenge is in front of you? Do you understand what life really is about? Do you understand what love is all about? Do you understand what friendship is all about? Or do you just go through the motions? I love talking to these two guys. Because we were real friends. One of them, who I don't talk to enough, but whenever we talk, man, we sat down for 2.5 hours, we couldn't leave each other alone. It was the most wonderful thing. And we were like family, the talks were so deep. Last night, late last night, he sent me a message, sending me love, saying it was wonderful to talk to me. Out of nowhere. Real friends. Have you connected? Do you know who you are? Can you have those conversations? Are you ready for what's ahead of you? Do you know where you need to be? I want you to be ready. I want you to be honest with yourself. Have you addressed the things you need to address? Life is happening and you have to be ready. Go forth and spread beauty and light. I'm sorry for these strange messages I'm giving. It's just that I was touched by people who almost lost everything. And they made it. I'm inspired by that. I feel blessed to even know these people. But then I look around me and I see other people who are still asleep, and that means those people may, and most likely, are gonna have to go down like my friends have gone down before they wake up, and they may not wake up, and I don't want that to happen to you. Look at your situation around yourself right now. Have you addressed what you needed to address, or have you put it off, or are you continuing some ridiculously bad habit? You are causing the hole that you're digging to be deeper and deeper, and why are you doing that to yourself? Why? The only way to fill that hole is by addressing all those issues, going through a pain, taking your licks, your wounds, eating crow, use whatever expression you want, paying your dues. And then the hole starts filling, and then you start growing. And then once the hole is filled, there's no more negativity, there's no more doubt, there's no more badness that's going to come into your life. But if you don't do this, if you don't be real with yourself, Man, this world is going to eat you alive if it's not eating you alive already. Look in the mirror. Do you look older than you're supposed to be? I remember reading The Book of Dorian Gray. You don't know what I'm talking about? Just go on Google, search The Book of Dorian Gray or The Picture of Dorian Gray. I think that's what it's called. Dorian Gray. The story goes that Dorian Gray This is man, very good-looking man, but he didn't age because he made a deal with the devil. He was one bad guy. He killed people, he cheated, he stole, adulterous. He did whatever he wanted, and he lived for years and years and years, but he never aged. And he would move around to different parts of the UK. This was the England time, took place in England. And I remember one time in his life, these two men cornered him in the alley, threw him against the wall, said, we got you, Dorian, you did this to my wife, you did this, you stole money, da da da. And he was in the alley, he stood in the light, he came out of the shadow and stood in the light and looked at the two gentlemen and said Gentlemen, look at me. The person you're talking about did this to you 10 years ago. Do I look like I'm that old? They go, no. Oh, I'm so sorry, sir. I'm so sorry. The deal he made with the devil was that the painting that he had had, it aged. He had this painting in his attic that every time he did something bad, he would go to the attic and look at the painting and it got older. And older and older. He would look at that painting all the time and see who he really was. It was a painful reminder of who he really was. The world saw one thing. He knew who he was in his painting because it saw him for who he was. Look in the mirror. We don't have a Dorian Gray painting that could absorb all our years. When you look in your mirror, look in your own eyes, look at your face, look at your posture, look in your eyes. We can't hide from who we are and what we've done and what we've not done. What we've avoided. Who are you? Look at you. Invest in you. Address those things that are most painful. Address those things that make you the most happy. And make sure you don't turn into a Dorian Gray. I love you. Messages like this are only to wake you up. It is hard, but it's worth it. It is hard, but it is worth it. Take care of yourself. I love you. This is Thomas Anglero. Until next time. Thank you for listening to that episode. If you want to contact me, you can contact me on my website at anglero.com, and you can also subscribe to the newsletter, or you can find me anywhere on social media with Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. Thank you so much, and I hope to hear from you very soon.
