the word that almost broke me
Christian Ray Flores here —
I write the XE (Xponential Edge) twice a week. Sunday is free, Wednesday is for paid subscribers. Choose the paid version and you’ll get deeper dives, private chats, VIP invites — and my gratitude for supporting the work.
our sponsor – third drive media
All of my marketing is done by this team.
Reach out if you’re a business owner, expert, or consultant looking to create and execute marketing around your brand.
Client Highlight: RBI, a wonderful charity - a building campaign video that helped raise millions and got the team a Communicator Award.
To become a sponsor of XE and reach 12k subscribers with your product or service. Learn more here.
the word that almost broke me
Every one of us carries pain. Few ever turn it into power.
Circumstances, financial failures, health, relationships. Small bumps or life-changing trauma — the deepest wounds are almost always relational. Most people let those wounds define them. They become the invisible hand holding us down. This resistance is internal and has little to do with our actual capabilities or reality.
That’s what makes it so frustrating. I see it every day working with extraordinarily gifted clients. Some time ago, I was listening to a podcast that offered a brilliant way to identify this invisible hand. The host called it a shadow word — a word or phrase, spoken by others or yourself, that carries fear, shame, or regret.
Right there, on the trail I run daily, it hit me. My shadow word was refugee.
That single word shaped my core limiting belief: I don’t belong. I’m an outsider everywhere I go. Then the host asked: What word could reframe that shadow into the defining strength you’ve always had?
In a flash, it came to me. So clear it literally stopped me in my tracks. The word was Rebel Leader.
Because in every season of life, I’ve found myself equipping those who refuse to settle for being cogs in the machine. Those who rebel against the status quo.
Think about it: all the world’s epic stories are about turning pain into power. In American pop culture, every superhero has a painful origin story. We resonate with them because they’re not just their stories — they’re ours.
Resistance is ever-present. Shadow words will always whisper. At Xponential, we focus on strategies to build a new future, but almost every time we hit these limiting beliefs first. Until they’re broken, the strategies won’t work.
And here’s the twist: resilience, as much as it’s praised, isn’t enough.
Extraordinary lives aren’t built despite pain — they’re built because of pain.
Inside every wound are gifts and abilities forged in struggle. They’re treasure — hidden until discovered, nurtured, and deployed.
I’ve seen it with the entrepreneurs, athletes, non-profit leaders, and artists I’ve worked with. Every single one mined the gifts of pain and turned them into power.
In this episode of the XE Pod, I unpack the 3 gifts you can mine to find your own hidden treasure. There’s also a Pain to Power worksheet in the show notes — your guide to becoming a treasure hunter in your own story.
Happy treasure hunting.