Sick of their job, willing to work for a better life, but unsure where to start.

It’s a great question, with frankly a pretty terrible answer.

What they wanted was for me to give them a niche or a checklist or a video to consume. Something they could carve out time for on Monday and get to work with.

Trust me, I wish it was that easy.

But in the spirit of actually being helpful and not just giving out aimless motivation, here’s what I actually said.

“For the next few years you’re not going to build a business, you’re going to skill stack.”

Talk about some vague direction, right?

But after reflecting on the past few years of my own life and also the lives of dozens of founders I’ve become friends with I’ve realized that skills, not your niche, are the key.

It’s the fundamental reason I was able to build and sell a software business for multiple six-figures, and now have the privilege of running two 7-figure real estate businesses in a space I knew nothing about just a few years ago.

Most of what you do in the moment tends to feel monotonous or wasteful. Then one day the skills you’ve developed solve a problem you didn’t know existed.

Something breaks in front of you and you’re the one who can fix it.

And that’s when the real fun begins.

So how are you supposed to measure “skill stacking” exactly?

Doesn’t the saying go - “What can’t be measured can’t be improved”?

The precise answer is, you can’t measure it. And that’s exactly why it gets skipped early on even though it affects everything else downstream.

It’s easy to measure revenue. You either do or do not make money.

So when someone comes to me on month 6 of their new business and says “I haven’t made any money, I’m going to quit and chase the next thing.” I get it.

When I was in elementary school I started competing in math competitions (I am a self-identified nerd so you won’t hurt my feelings by thinking it.)

From then until the end of college I spent the majority of my time learning different skills in the engineering space.

Early on it was math, then it moved to electrical circuits and finally more complex coding and design.

After choosing to become a raft guide after college instead of getting a job, and then leaving my only real engineer job after 12 months of work, I got called out pretty often for wasting my time.

Why spend all of those years and all that money to never use the skills I gained?

Those people weren’t trying to be cruel (at least I hope not?). They were just measuring in the only way they knew how.

But it was that close-minded approach that caused them to miss the mark.

Here’s what actually happened with those skills.

First, I learned how to think like an engineer.

Technical, very process driven. I saw every problem as an opportunity to create a solution.

Second, I learned how to create software that solved said problems.

After leaving my engineering job in 2023 I was faced with one of those very problems.

So, I created a basic personal solution for myself and the real estate team I worked with at the time, and gave it away for free to other people who wanted it.

I then partnered up with someone, developed it a little more, and last year sold it for multiple six-figures.

The skills I stacked for many years didn’t have a clean measurement, but their results certainly have. And the effects of what engineering taught me and what I learned will continue to show up in my life as long as I’m around to implement them.

And although my software story has a resolution, most of mine don’t.

So let me give you one that you’re experiencing with me right here in real time…

In January of this year I decided to commit to writing a Substack article every single week.

My rules:

• No AI used to write

• Share my own experiences, don’t preach at people

• Edit posts to make them actually useful

So far this year I’ve written 34 posts total (including this one) which comes out to just over 40,000 words written.

I started writing these posts with one (somewhat) clear goal in mind: Learn to write better.

Why? I’m not 100% sure.

But I’ve noticed over the past few years how much the skill of writing has fallen off as AI has grown, and I know how valuable the skill itself is.

Not just in storytelling - but in sales, teaching, and problem solving.

Hopefully one day I’ll be able to write books to share with people to pass on whatever helpful information I’ve acquired along the way, but I won’t be able to do that very well if I suck at writing.

So here’s the tie in.

If I was measuring by any common metrics my Substack posts would be an epic failure.

Trying to grow a huge following? Failed.

Trying to make lots of money? Failed.

I spend 3+ hours every week writing these posts and almost no one reads them.

If I were measuring normally, I’d have quit by now.

The difference is I’m looking at inputs, not outputs.

Those 40,000 words aren’t a result, they represent the work I put in to get to my desired goal. It’s controllable, and if I fail it’s no one’s fault but my own.

Most of you who feel burnt out in business feel that way because you’re measuring for outcomes on an unrealistic timeline.

“I’ve made $0” becomes “I’m a failure” instead of “I can’t believe I’ve become an expert at XYZ so quickly.”

It’s all just perspective and time jumbled together.

So, let’s revisit my friends question with all of that new information in mind.

If you want to make a change, create freedom etc. what niche should you choose?

People often ask me why I ended up in real estate, thinking that will help them on their own path.

Here’s the reality, I really don’t even love real estate that much.

It’s easy to get into, which means the quality of people is quite low.

Right now the market is brutal for owning property and scaling.

The reason I got into real estate is I heard a bunch of people on podcasts telling me to do it. Not very exciting, I know.

But the even bigger reality is that real estate isn’t my golden ticket anymore.

I could start a new business tomorrow in a completely different industry and succeed based purely on the skills I’ve gained over the past few years, not some real estate magic pill.

But if I had to give you an answer here’s what I’d say…

Go where you can find an unfair advantage.

I have a mentor who ran and sold a multi-million dollar glass printing business.

How the heck do you get into that? By having the rest of your family also be in glass printing of course.

If you have a close friend or mentor that can teach you the ropes for a lawn care business, go for it.

Connections to a service based business? Try it out.

Use the unfair advantages you already have to start skill stacking, keeping in mind that even if they aren’t a fit for you the skills will always carry over.

And at the end of the day, that’s the only result that matters.

That’s what I told my friend, and it’s the same thing I wanted to tell you.

Living the American dream, right? They made millions of dollars, then sold it to travel the world.

But they were sitting with me talking about starting another one.

Just last week, I heard three different stories just like that.

And sitting there it occurred to me that everyone I know building a business is searching for the answer to the same unspoken question.

What is all the work for?

The snap answer is typically “So I can have freedom and retire at 35” or something like that.

But everyone I’ve met who’ve actually executed on that plan? They hated it.

So, that puts us back at square one. What is it all for?

When I was in high school I started reading articles about the FIRE community.

If you don’t know, it’s Financially Independent Retire Early.

And whether it’s specifically stated or not, that’s essentially the goal of every person I’ve ever met. “I can’t wait until retirement”.

Not enjoying the days now, but counting down the days until you hopefully will.

It’s the entire premise behind business content now, so it makes sense that we’d all be chasing it.

You probably think of work as the price you have to pay to get to your final destination. Just a part of the process.

But if that’s the case, then why is it that almost every person I’ve met who made it to that finish line is more miserable than they ever were when they were working to get there?

Let’s go back to that table I was at last week, with the guy I’ll call John.

John sold his financial planning company 4.5 years ago, and signed a 5 year non-compete (meaning he can’t build another one for at least 5 years).

He said after just 4 months he and his wife had traveled where they wanted to go, bought what they wanted to buy, and now were miserable.

In fact, he was literally at the event to count down the days until he could restart his business.

“144 days” he told me, “until I can start the business back up and get my life back.”

That was just one of three stories I heard like that just on that one day.

Another man told the story of how he had been talked out of selling his company when he had been asked repeatedly what he would do with his life and he realized he had no answer.

And I can even draw some parallels on this thread from my own life.

Haley and I spent years traveling around, seeing some of the most beautiful places around America and quite literally doing whatever we wanted when we wanted.

The outside comments were always the same, “You’re living the dream!”

And they were right, it was the dream.

But dreams don’t always end up matching up with reality.

It was shocking to most of our friends when we told them we were trading that life to go back to normal jobs and a house.

That’s because they were still chasing the dream, not tasting it.

And what Haley and I found matches the same lesson I’ve heard over and over from the people who’ve had a similar taste of freedom.

The time they truly felt alive? The most excitement and motivation?

It wasn’t when they got to the end, it was the climb along the way.

The constant challenges, the setbacks, and the problem solving.

Which brings us back to the original question…

What really is the point of all the work? Building a business, time freedom, what’s the end goal?

Here’s my experience driven answer.

The purpose of your work isn’t for it to end, it’s to build something worth living for.

Something you enjoy doing on a random Tuesday, maybe even something you’d choose over cold drinks by the pool.

That idea is extremely hard to grasp for people who aren’t building towards it.

They ask me why I work so much, when the reality is I’m doing exactly what gets me excited.

It’s a choice, not a requirement.

When Haley and I got off the road most recently to go back to living in our house we’re in now, we did it with a plan.

That plan has turned into a very successful business not in terms of monetary success, but in terms of the fulfillment we get from running it.

And the secret to that of course isn’t just the building, but the constant evaluation.

I realized a few years ago that I both hated and wasn’t actually good at reading and reviewing real estate contracts.

If that was my job, it would’ve turned into the classic misery countdown to 65 scenario.

But in my new outlook, the game is played completely different.

I’m playing to keep playing, and not have the desire to stop.

So instead, I just found other incredible people to bring onto the team to take that part of the business over.

And then the business became more enjoyable again. Until the next group of tasks I hated, and the process repeated.

Wanting to escape your work is a symptom of the work you do, not a concrete answer that work is bad and you’ll only ever be happy when it’s over.

So if you find yourself looking for a way out, look at what’s getting you there. Then put all of your energy into changing that thing.

John had to spend 5 years aimlessly wandering because he made a concrete decision as his solution instead of just testing it out.

Free trials exist for a reason!

And I can tell you from my experience and many others in my circle, a month or so of chasing the dream is almost always all it takes to realize it’s not what it’s cut out to be.

But the fulfillment that comes from chasing discomfort? Solving bigger and bigger problems? Seeing the ripple effects of your actions in the lives of others?

That’s work worth doing.

The goal was never a far out date on the calendar with no plan other than “get me out of what I’m doing.”

It was to live a life where the countdown became the enemy because of how much you enjoy every step of the process.

I spent around $15,000 to be a part of a 4-part mastermind in LA, and this Monday while at the event I spent the entire time completely bored.

Mind you I drove 6 hours on top of all the money to be in it, so doodling all day wasn’t exactly on my list.

But here’s the turn you probably weren’t expecting (and to be fair neither was I).

I left the event absolutely FULL of ideas. My entire 3 hour drive home was spent outlining them all with a full game plan of all the changes I was going to make.

And as I’m sitting here writing this right now I’m antsy to get back to it because there’s so much to do.

So how the heck does that happen? How am I somehow getting what will one day prove to be millions of dollars worth of value for something that has seemingly been so dull?

It all comes down to what I can control.

At these mastermind events the flow is very choppy.

We go over a topic, write down our thoughts on it, then sit down with someone else and take turns sharing them with each other for insights.

And although I feel like we could cover the entire day’s information in about 20 minutes, the empty space created an opportunity for me without me realizing.

With no computer or distractions, I was basically forced to sit there and spend hours thinking about my business, my goals and my direction.

At the same time, I got to hear from people literally decades ahead of me specifically on what they wish they would’ve done sooner.

Things like focusing on time over money, giving back, and never losing site of your true priorities.

And somehow that combination, when it all came together, gave me the result I didn’t even know I was looking for.

Not while I was at the event, but right after.

You can use this to your advantage right now in the exact same way.

Every day I hear from people who have been “burned” or feel behind.

They spent money on a program that “didn’t work” or put all of their time and energy into a business that didn’t pan out.

And as a result? They’re angry, upset and don’t know what to do.

They feel like they’ve been wronged, like they’re the victim.

But after this weeks event, I finally realized that that’s completely self-inflicted.

I kid you not, I left that event Monday feeling like the victim.

But as I was sitting there driving home, ideas flowing, I realized that I was in complete control of my outcome.

And it wasn’t the first time that’s happened to me.

The same thing happened years earlier when I spent every single day for a year on a business I ended up shutting down completely.

At the time it felt like a massive waste of a year of my life, but looking back it was the foundation of everything I do (and don’t do) today.

Alex Hormozi loves to talk about the fact that he paid for dozens of mentorships, many of which everyone else called a scam, yet he never left a single one without getting some sort of information that made it “worth it” to him.

Why is that?

Because it was his choice. And if he can choose to be grumpy and play the victim, he can also choose to find the silver lining and prove that it was well worth it.

So if you’re reading this feeling like you lack direction, have wasted time or aren’t getting the results you “deserve” out of your efforts here’s a list of things I took away in retrospect after the event.

1. You get to choose your ROI, not someone else

ROI stands for return on investment. But return isn’t just a term to represent monetary success. It can be your time, your joy, your peace etc.

Regardless of whether you spent money on something or not, your return is a choice. And even if it’s not obvious in the moment, I’ve found that choosing to find the return in everything is a skill worth having.

2. Boredom is a feature, not a bug

I’m speaking to you, the person who pulls out their phone to scroll on social media for the 17 seconds your food is in the microwave. Or who has the TV on at all times in the background. Or has to have music blaring on every single drive.

Some of the most impactful people in the world, especially on the innovation side, protect their time like a commodity worth 10x more than money. If you’re always moving, you’re rarely thinking.

One of my biggest takeaways after this event is that I need to schedule more time to just be bored and think.

3. You’re never the victim unless you want to be

And I mean that. Some people just want to live their lives for people to feel sorry for them, and it is what it is.

But sympathy doesn’t bring fulfillment or progress so maybe we should search for some better alternatives?

Every situation has a positive outcome. I’ve lost thousands of dollars, had major setbacks and had months of my own work thrown away multiple times. But I can always go back to reminding myself that it’s a part of the game. And as long as I stay in the game, I can’t lose.

Here’s what I’d actually do with this.

Pick an experience or moment you’re in right now that feels like it’s been a total waste and hasn’t worked out.

Then write down all of the lessons you’ve learned, people you’ve met, and actions you’ve taken as a result.

If the answer isn’t obvious, good. Sit there until it is.

Empty space, I’ve learned, goes a long way.

We were sitting down for dinner when Sam Ovens (Skool CEO + co-founder) pulled out his phone to show me a new Skool feature.

His home screen? Only one app - Skool.

No social media, news apps, or literally anything. Just empty space.

When I mentioned it he told me a while back he changed his phone number too. Now, he said he gets about 2 texts a week.

That, my friends, is what I call focus.

And notice what it’s not. He’s not trying to “brute force” his way to success through sheer discipline. He’s removing the temptation completely.

Focus is a word everyone loves to talk about and maybe even glorify, but what does it look like when executed to perfection?

After spending the day with both Sam and Hormozi this weekend and hearing dozens of questions all get answered in the same way, I think I have that answer.

And of course, it wasn’t what I expected…

In the room there were over 50 people all running communities on Skool. Lots of them were making $5-10k/month, others were doing millions annually.

And the theme that started showing up was the exact opposite of what we’d like to think if we’re honest with ourselves.

The people that were just starting to make money? They had all of these fancy CRMs and automations and AI across the board.

But the guys at the top? No AI, one simple system, and no notable changes.

Their businesses were boring.

Here’s what’s actually going on if we take a minute to break that down.

Complexity is what you build when you don’t know what else to do. It looks something like “I don’t know why I’m not making more money, so let me try something new”. And over time, it adds up.

But simplicity? That’s the result when you stop guessing. It’s when numbers, data, and proof take over an otherwise “free-for-all” approach.

So if you feel like you’re “at the bottom” aka still getting started, it’s rarely because of lack of effort. Instead, it’s just too much guessing.

Or to put it in terms almost any new entrepreneur will understand, shiny object syndrome.

I often think of it as the “what if” moments.

“What if I tried to wholesale and fund deals at the same time?”

“What if I try multiple side hustles at once to increase my chances of success?”

“What if I tried a new strategy for bringing leads into my business?”

Those questions feel like progress in the moment. They feel like you’re actually being strategic instead of just going rogue and hoping for the best.

And yes, doing something new feels like progress, because it’s new. You are going from 0 to 1, and there’s power in actually doing something.

But progress isn’t the same thing as momentum.

Momentum can only come into play when you are doing the same thing over and over again to the point where it would be unreasonable not to see the desired result.

Now here’s the part that really kills that momentum for the majority of you.

Most of those new paths you see? In real estate, business, AI etc? They work. If they didn’t, nobody would be talking about them.

But you see the problem was never whether or not something works.

The problem is that nobody shares the middle part. The part where there were thousands of reps taken with no one cheering them on. The part where they lost money, sleep, or friendships on the road up.

And that’s the reality check. Everything works, but it will also take 10x longer and be 10x harder than you were told.

I bought a stock trading software “guaranteed” to make me a 100x return over the summer, only to lose all of my money along the way.

I got into wholesaling real estate for the big paychecks as advertised, only to wake up with threats of lawsuits and a miserable cycle of chasing a prize that had no end in sight.

As recently as a few months ago I dropped everything to build out an entire new lending program that I thought would be revolutionary in the real estate space only to shut that business down and fall behind on my current business that’s actually impacting the lives of the people around me in real time.

I traded my proven systems that work for a rogue gamble that didn’t. Why? My best answer is that I just thought it would add something more exciting into my repetitive schedule.

I’ve had flashes where I am as bad as they come with good ol’ fashioned focus, but I’m writing this because I’ve turned the corner.

I no longer wake up trying to drum up 100 new big ideas to change the world. I just get to work on doing more of what I’m already doing that’s working.

Literally as I’m writing this I’m reminded that the reason I’ve fallen into the shiny object traps so many times in the past is because chasing something new is 10x more exciting than the boring work I’m trying to avoid.

But if you can take a step back, I think you’ll start to realize the power of focus in the lives of 99.9% of all entrepreneurs.

So, if you want to practice the art of relentless focus, here’s the test I’m running this week. Feel free to join me.

Step 1: Write down everything you do this week to try and make money

If your list has more than your primary job and one side hustle on it, you do not have a business yet. You have options.

Options feel safe, but kill results. So kill the options, and pick one thing to focus on.

Step 2: For the next 90 days, craft your environment

Literally look at your list from step 1 and decide what you’re going to say no to.

Have a conference you’re planning to attend that has no impact on your business? Change your plans.

If YouTube distracts you with new ideas, block it. If social media keeps your eyes off the prize, delete it off your phone.

Having one app on your home screen looks like “discipline” to the outside world, but it’s not. That’s your environment, something you can control before discipline ever comes into play.

If you want to win you don't need more discipline. You need a shorter list.

It was the second time I’d done it just since we sat down to dinner. I pulled out my phone, checked the notifications, and ended up scrolling on something. Even with Haley right there at the table with me while we were out to eat.

My iPhone became the habit you hate but just can’t break. And with all of my work coming from it, the nagging feeling of constantly needing to check it was even worse.

So last week I put my money where my mouth is and bought a dumb phone. Ya, like a flip phone with a keypad and caveman-like texting.

Here’s what I’ve learned after a few years in business, as well as working on things like health and fitness. Discipline doesn’t work for 99% of people. It’s a fun idea that falls apart over time.

Environment is different. Change what’s within reach and your actions will of course change as a result. Leave it alone and you’ll be telling the classic story of how you “tried so hard” but just couldn’t pull it off.

So the flip phone is my environment change. Not a full one, I still use my iPhone during work hours (at least for now). But evenings and weekends have become flip phone hours, and I just leave my iPhone in my office.

Here’s everything that’s changed as a result.

The Setup

A lot of people reading this will instantly come up with a reason why a flip phone won’t work for them. To be clear, I’m writing this to share my experience in case there’s something you can take from it and apply in your own life. Not for you to buy a flip phone.

That being said, here’s the main complaints.

• I won’t be able to listen to music

• I need maps for driving around

• I need WhatsApp to communicate

• I don’t want the green bubbles in my texts (lol)

• I need Uber for traveling

I had those same pushbacks, and what sent me over the edge was a flip phone that instantly solved all of that. It’s by dumb.co and has software on it that actually has all of the above listed apps and even sends iMessages. Pretty cool.

At the same time, there are plenty of things that really are missing. I can’t really take photos and videos that are good. I can’t check the surf, which for me is actually a pretty big deal. I also don’t have Apple pay on there which has already come back to bite me once.

In other words, it’s not perfect. And that’s okay, because it reminds me of something I seem to have to learn over and over about environment change, it takes sacrifice.

Leaving an old friend group to get out of drinking all the time and replace it with better habits is going to suck. It’ll be more lonely, especially at first, but it’s also guaranteed to work. It’s a trade you have to decide on.

So in light of that I’ve found myself thinking less about what’s missing as a “negative” and more like a symptom of the change. Then, I get to decide whether or not I can live with it.

What actually changed

So 8 days into having this thing, what actually changed? A week isn’t a long time, so I’ll just preface this by saying it hasn’t been anything that drastic.

But here’s a few things of note.

In the evenings after work I’ve been filling my time with much better activities. Instead of my classic “wind down” that involved scrolling through videos and social media as a well deserved break after a long days work, I’ve been switching it up.

This last week Haley and I biked to the beach almost every day after dinner. I’ve been doing puzzles like Sudoku every evening and reading a lot more.

We’ve also gone out to dinner 2x now where I found myself either in better conversation or just enjoying the moment more instead of taking a quick peek at my phone for the life altering notifications that are never actually there.

My daily screen time has gone down pretty drastically as well. I count “screen time” as time spent on dumb stuff like social media since I also use my phone for emails, recording etc. And as you can see that social time has dropped from about 1hr 20min daily down to as little as 15 minutes or so.

And honestly I think the real win is just learning to fill time with things that actually benefit me instead of the other way around. I’m certainly not missing anything by not getting updates on the world news every few minutes, and I’ve learned that it’s okay to get the score to the Phillies game after it’s over instead of checking every 5 minutes.

But to be clear, I think a lot of this can be done without actually buying another phone. Mine only costs $20/mo so it’s not like it’s that crazy of an investment, but especially on weekends I could also just not bring a phone with me at all and probably survive.

My lessons learned

Habits beat discipline alone, but environment trumps all. There’s just no other way to slice it. I cannot scroll social media if I do not have a device with which to scroll upon, that’s it.

So yes, I know I’m only 8 days in. But the lesson I’ve learned so far is that I have a lot more control over my environment than I might admit to myself. I like to complain that my work, owning a small business etc. etc. just doesn’t allow me to get out of some things.

But even something like lack of quick communication only becomes a problem when left alone. So as I’ve started telling people I won’t respond on the weekends or at night, they’ve come to expect that.

And on the flip side (pun intended), not even having the temptation of pulling out an iPhone to fill dead time is amazing. My options are endless on new things I could do, but the one option I hate falling into is no longer there.

So I’ll close by encouraging you to look at what’s within arms reach. Whether it’s your phone, a friendship, food or some other bad habits - find a way to distance yourself from them without just slapping the “discipline” label on yourself just to end up right back at square one.

Everyone wants to put themselves on a pedestal and tell you how to live your life.

I’ll admit it, although my goal for these articles is to share lessons from my own journey I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t writing with the hopes that you’d actually implement what I’m saying.

Not because I think I’m always right, but because I know what’s worked for me and that’s better than nothing.

But there’s a Hormozi quote I heard recently that I wanted to use to reframe things this week.

When he got married, he talks about how him and Leila (his wife) studied all of the reasons people get divorced. They then used that as their foundation to build around of “what not to do”.

So with that in mind, here’s a list of actions that will ruin your life in 2026.

I was inspired to write a post in this style by @francisco29 on Substack.

If you do a few of them your world won’t end, but the more you do the worse it gets.

1. Scroll on your phone all day

I’m told studies show that the more time you spend scrolling on social media the more valuable information you collect.

Nothing like keeping up to date with your friend’s friend who’s on vacation in Cabo this week to put you in a bad mood.

Or better yet spending hours going down a doomsday rabbit hole of how AI is going to take over the world.

Why face your problems head on when you can just ignore them and catch up on a whole bunch of nothing.

2. Have surface level friends

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that friends are for the “How are you?” - “Good, you?” exchange and that’s about it.

Don’t worry, when you run into them again tomorrow you’ll have the golden opportunity to ask them that same question again.

But the real stuff? Your struggles, worries, ideas etc? Those best be kept to yourself.

And if you want to isolate yourself even more make sure you only keep friends who can’t relate to where you’re at in life.

Young married entrepreneur? Shoot for only hanging out with single W2 employees to keep yourself as isolated as possible (ask me how I know).

3. Take small consistent action

This of course is to check off your “at least I tried” box for the day so you can go back to whatever you were doing that you don’t enjoy but isn’t quite bad enough to make you miserable yet.

Every great success story begins with “I just tried one small thing in my free time and 86 years later I had some momentum.”

Small action is easy, pick one thing you can complete in the allotted time period to get that sense of achievement.

After 10 years you may have nothing to show for it, but you’ll be pretty sure you’re well on your way to something great.

4. Prioritize comfort at all costs

Hate waking up early? Don’t.

Get miserable having tough conversations? Just skip them.

The simplest route in every situation is to simply ask “would this make me uncomfortable?” and if it would, do NOT do that thing.

After all, if you think back you’ll probably start to realize that the best moments and accomplishments in your life came from being comfortable, right?

5. Spend money to avoid your problems

Tired of a job you hate and a life you don’t enjoy?

Don’t worry, it’s nothing a steak dinner or night out at the bars can’t fix.

Facing problems is very uncomfortable, and we’ve already talked about why you should avoid discomfort at all costs.

So instead, just use money to forget they even exist.

I hear if you spend enough money and wait long enough the problems just seem to go away eventually.

At least I think that’s what I heard.

6. Stay in one place

The recipe for growth is isolation.

If travel, movement and new friends with different worldview creates perspective we’re hot in pursuit of the exact opposite.

When you stay in one place, you control the variables. You know what to expect, everyone else knows you, and you’re only mildly unhappy with your life.

It’s okay, you’ll survive.

Plus, travel is expensive anyway. Why spend $100 on a roadtrip to see somewhere new when you could spend it on a bucket of beer you won’t remember.

7. Find the best “get rich quick” opportunity and take it

This is crucial. There are people every day on social media that are getting rich quick, and if they can do it so can you.

I saw the other day an NBA player signing a $500M contract. Just like that, infinite riches. Not sure what they spent their time on the previous 25 years but who cares.

And what about Elon Musk? Seems like his riches just appeared out of nowhere.

So just remember, if you see someone promising life changing money in as little as 30 days then and only then should you lock in. Statistically speaking it’s gotta be highly likely that you succeed, otherwise they wouldn’t be talking about it.

8. Eat out anywhere other than Panda Express

Seriously, why would you get 100g of protein for $10 when you could just grab a fast food burger and fries for the same price?

And I’m pretty sure at least 100 people have told me Panda Express is bad for you even though they’re 30 pounds overweight and don’t understand macros.

So ya, just keep eating junk food. It tastes good after all.

9. Live life without hobbies

There is nothing more satisfying in life than spending 90% of your time working for someone else and then “taking back control” by watching a few hours of Netflix and falling asleep on the couch.

Forget back in college when you used to play sports, dream up projects and randomly knit a sweater at some point.

If you get rid of hobbies you don’t have to do all of the work that comes with creativity, and you get to avoid failure.

After all, you can’t fail if you don’t try to begin with.

Hobbies are a time and money suck to say the least, and with most of your time already being sucked away at work it’s best to spend the rest of your time comfortably.

10. Wait for other people to solve your problems

Whenever I’m having money issues I always remind myself, this is not my fault.

The government has allowed housing prices to get out of control, health costs are insane, and I’m just a pawn.

So I do what any logical person would do and complain while I wait for someone else to fix it. After all, we’re all just victims in whatever crazy schemes are going on out there.

Can’t control my eating habits or learn to prioritize exercise? I’ll toss it up between blaming the American food industry and waiting for Ozempic to do the work for me.

No jobs popping up on the market? The recruiters are probably just bad at what they do, there isn’t anything you can do it is what it is.

Just like with most things in life, if you wait long enough someone else will solve the problem for you. Don’t stress, and of course make sure you always stay comfortable.

This is not an exhaustive list on how to ruin your life in 2026, but I believe it is a very good start.

If you are doing a few of these things your life is probably still salvageable.

But if you’re doing most of them, you have successfully pulled it off. Your life is likely in a state of disrepair.

And whatever you do, make sure you do not take ownership of your life and forge your own path.

That’s weird and makes the lazy people uncomfortable.

Should we pull off a part 2 sometime? Let me know.

And when I did? I kept hearing the same phrase over and over again…

“Just take action.”

For me, that came in different forms. First it was consuming content about real estate, then it was calling sellers, and eventually putting houses under contract to try (and eventually fail) to sell.

Overall a positive, right?

One thing is for sure, taking action will teach you a heck of a lot more than the alternative route.

But here’s the part, looking back now, that irks me enough to write an entire article this week about that very topic.

I met hundreds of people when I was getting started.

Of those people, I can’t even count the amount who’s lives went 1 step forward and 10 steps back.

Huge debts, lawsuits, and life-altering mistakes made not out of ill intentions but simply made out of following the classic “take action” advice.

And even further, there’s an even larger group of those same people who aren’t behind but simply never got anywhere at all.

Here’s the reality…

Taking action was never what got you ahead, taking filtered action was.

One filter is risk, the other is strategy.

And without those filters, you’ll end up wishing you just stuck to the boring W2 instead of digging yourself into a hole you may not be able to get out of.

Here’s how each filter looks in the real world.

Filter 1: Action without a downside filter

A few years ago I took the time to really deep dive on this topic because frankly, I felt like I got lucky.

The people I was convinced we’re “crushing it” that I wanted to be like were suddenly anything but that.

A few examples:

• One friend had $70k in credit card debt from furnishing houses with no money to pay it off

• One person was named in multiple lawsuits for raising money

• Another person had all of their properties foreclosed on

You get the picture, things were not going the way anyone would hope.

And as I looked at what all of the bad situations I was encountering had in common I found the theme. It’s the second part of “just take action” that mysteriously gets left off.

Action can only create the desired learning experience if the upside is clear and the downside is minimized.

Buying a rental property with none of your own money has 10x more downside than upside.

IF it goes well you might make $200/month. If it doesn’t? Your life and/or someone else’s will be wrecked.

Starting a wholesale operation to make some active income and learn the game of real estate is a great upside approach. Spending $10k/month for data and operations with nothing to show for it is the opposite.

I could go on, but I think you get the point.

The traps of real estate and business often disguise themselves as opportunity.

If, instead, the actions taken truly only stand to benefit you (either monetarily or with experience) that’s the path I’ve seen time and time again lead to real success.

The problem is that path reveals itself as the “slower” route.

For example, if you join a team of other wholesalers who spend their money for the leads etc. and offer to pay you a small cut for deals you get under contract, that’s the dream.

You won’t make much money, but you can quit at any time and not be buried in a pile of debt and responsibility.

Then as your competence increases risk adjusts.

My simplest example of that in motion is my business now.

This week we funded a $1.5M deal for someone, and I partnered with a community member for it.

That person had the exposure of the deal, plus a profit. I took on the responsibility of paying our staff to run the deal, and the personal liability of all $1.5M were anything to happen.

But I’ve also done hundreds of these deals, so my risk might be quite literally 1000x less than the person who partnered with me because of my experience.

At the end of the day it’s all personal interpretation, but the goal is the same.

Make more money (or just get closer to whatever your goals are) without presenting even the slightest opportunity for it to backfire horribly.

It will be slower, but it will actually work.

Unlike all of the people I know who took action and are now struggling to pay bills and fighting off lawsuits.

That’s what happens when action ignores downside, here’s what happens when it avoids strategy altogether.

Filter 2: Action without a strategy filter

I had a great call with someone this week who had spent the prior 90 days chasing the goal of closing their first transactional funding deal with extreme consistency.

Every day they posted accountability on what they were doing.

But when we sat down to look at their actions vs. results we discovered something.

They were so focused on doing everything that they had never taken the time to actually measure what was creating real results.

And that is the downfall I want to help anyone reading this avoid at all costs, because I’ve been there too.

I personally can think of a handful of people whose names I saw popping up on social media and live calls 4 years ago when I was just getting started.

And today those same people continue to pop up in those same places with absolutely nothing to show for it.

They have no business, no income, no progress. Just years of showing up thinking that “taking action” was all it took when it’s just not.

Strategic action is what changes everything.

Back to the story about my call this week.

When we sat down and looked at all of their “inputs” aka actions taken we found a few interesting things.

For one, they had stopped the lead gen strategy that had historically built the most momentum for them because it took a lot of time.

And they didn’t have that spare time anymore because they were too busy using it on a bunch of new strategies instead.

Essentially they (like most of us at some point or another) got too roped into consistency to take a step back and build a strategy based on their data (not just guesswork).

And that’s the “action only” trap.

Oftentimes now you’ll find me telling people to step back at least once a month to evaluate where their time is being spent and if their actions during that time are producing the results they want.

As you can probably guess, the discovery is often that it in fact is not.

To be fair, most people don’t take action at all so it’s still a good start.

But evaluating it and creating real strategy is what tips the scales.

And by the way, creating a strategy can oftentimes be more of a hypothesis.

You look at the data, come up with a plan you think will work, then re-evaluate again.

Maybe it works, maybe it doesn’t. If not, you repeat the process until it does.

It’s not about being perfect, it’s about knowing where you’re going.

I wish I had a giant following in times like these so I could share this with the people who need to hear it most.

But if you can just work those two filters into your perspective as you go, you’ll be on the right track - not the one that feels easy but the one that actually works.

And in the end, I’m pretty sure that’s where we all want to end up.

If you made it this far, which of the above 2 filters have you fallen victim to either now or in the past and how did you overcome them?

Leave a comment, would love to hear!

1. Ruthless focus on one thing for long enough virtually guarantees success.

I’ve always known that focus was one of the keys to success, but this year I’ve really experienced that for myself.

As you know, the “status quo” so to speak is for people to try something for a bit, realize it’s hard, then get sucked into something else with promises it will be easier.

Stack on top life, work, and a severe lack of time and you’ve pretty much just summed up the classic cycle most people stay trapped in forever.

But what does this rare ability to focus actually do?

For me, I’ve learned it all comes down to my perspective and approach.

Alex Hormozi has a phrase he uses constantly - “More, better, new.”

It means that if you want to make more money, have more time, or whatever your goal is the trick is to do more of what’s working first. Then once you’ve done more learn to improve the thing so you get more out of that time.

Only once both of those have been done should we move onto something new.

I consider it to be the greatest compliment when I get messages from people I haven’t spoken to in years asking if I’m still running the same business and I can say “yes”.

But I’m no saint, and that answer has almost fallen off the rails more times than I can count.

In fact I spent the first few months of 2026 trying to build an entirely new business only to realize at the very end that I was going for “new, more, better” and was killing myself in the process.

New opportunity can be tempting, trust me I know. But taking advantage of the opportunity in front of you? That’s the recipe for success, at least for me.

2. Working more doesn’t mean getting more done.

At the end of 2024 Haley and I entered a 90 day competition to grow our skool community as much as possible in that 90 day stretch.

And for 90 days straight, we worked an average of 14 hour days chasing that goal.

The cool part? It worked. The not so cool? We had no life.

I’ve always prided myself in work ethic, so I’d be lying if I said that habit didn’t carry over into 2025.

But the key point I learned was that we were doing it to ourselves. Every day I would come up with an idea that required us to build new websites, challenges, trainings etc.

I was trying to constantly re-invent in order to “get more done” or achieve my goals faster. That’s when I finally learned my lesson.

Here’s what changed. At the start of 2026 I stopped creating a new challenge every week. I stopped trying to design an entire new workshop every week too.

Instead, I looked at what I had done in the past year that was most helpful to people and just focused on doing that more and even better. Notice there’s no “new” in that.

The result (without including all of the painful details within the process…) has been me working 50% less while we’ve had our best start to the year ever.

I don’t think I’ll ever fully get it through my head, but I can now prove to myself that it isn’t about the amount of time I put into something that determines my results. It’s whether or not I’m spending that time in high-leverage places.

3. There’s always someone better at a task than you, find them.

A few years back I read the book “Who Not How” by Dan Sullivan that talks about hiring. Its whole thesis is finding the person best equipped to do a job, then offloading it to them.

The part I’ve always felt was missing was where to actually find that person.

This year, I’ve finally started to get my foot in the door with it. Not without a solid dose of failure along the way of course.

And one of the keys I’ll share with you that’s hard to measure is a person’s investment in what they do. It’s why we all know that the original owner of something is going to care more than someone who steps in and takes over.

As you start to grow a business you’ll be asked to do a ton of things you have no clue how to do. But you’re the business, so you’ve gotta figure it out.

But as quickly as possible, you have to find people to take on the tasks you suck at.

This year I’ve already found people to run my social media, editing, sales team and marketing. Last year I found people to handle our transaction coordination. They are 10x better than me, so we now are moving forward 10x faster.

You find these people one of two ways. You pay a lot, or you build a pool of people who already know you and want in. The second one is cheaper and the loyalty is better.

Whichever route you go, I’ve learned that as quickly as humanly possible you need to outsource tasks you suck at. It’s virtually guaranteed to make you more money anyway.

4. Higher reward means higher risk.

I saw another Hormozi clip recently with someone trying to take their business from $1M to $100M. He said “To get your business into that arena you have to take exponentially bigger bets.”

That stuck with me, because naturally I’m an extremely conservative person. I saved every dollar I ever got as a kid in an envelope and never spent it.

I will add real quick that although I’m talking about monetary risk here it takes on two forms. Risking substantial cash strategically for payoff is a part of the game and is exactly what I’m referring to. Being an idiot and taking on loads of debt or situations you can’t support isn’t smart risk, it’s being dumb.

Here’s how I learned this. We recently hired a team to help us with sales, and it came at a hefty cost to us. Even though we believed it would work, it was still a lot of cash invested.

The risk turned out to be exactly what we needed to level up our business from both a financial and structural standpoint. Uncomfortable to pull the trigger on, but rewarding later on.

Now the important caveat is that we had to be prepared for it not to work. If it’s guaranteed to work there is no risk. So choosing where to place your bets is a huge key to pulling this off.

5. It’s the best time in history to build something on your own.

AI was relevant before 2026 began, but I learned just how relevant it is for business this year.

Last year I spent north of $30k having a team help me develop a website that honestly wasn’t going to make me any money but was going to be helpful for the investors I lend money to.

But at the beginning of the year I trained myself and then took over that project to finish it on my own. Yes that meant more work for me, but it also meant more control and no more $$ spent.

The project went so well I then started another, and another. Important caveat here - these projects weren’t the “new” in “more, better, new” they were the “better”.

I used each one to improve my business and the experience everyone had with it, and it couldn’t have gone better.

Literally a year ago I was in dozens of meetings interviewing people to try and help me build out ideas. Now I can have them built overnight while I’m asleep, for free.

As someone who has a growing business now I can’t even put into words the opportunity this presents for people still getting started. You can run an entire business on your own that would’ve required 10 people a few years ago.

That’s a lesson that will continue to develop more in the next few years, who knows where it will take us.

6. Innovation is important, but start with copying what works.

I have a bad habit of always thinking I have the most original exciting ideas ever. I then seem to have a track record of realizing I’m just doing a worse version of what’s already been done. At least I’m learning…

Getting into business you hear about the Amazon, Tesla, Airbnb of the world. The companies that brought a brand new idea to life.

But 99.9% of companies just build businesses off of ideas that already work. It turns out with billions of people out there this concept works quite well.

I’ve learned this year that there are millions of people who have come before me and built lending businesses. Those people have already proven what works.

There are also a lot of businesses that parallel lending even if they’re in a different space.

Part of my “do less, get more out of it” approach this year has been learning to stop trying to be a genius from the start and just develop the skills to execute on what works.

I’ve learned it as “replicate before you iterate”. I still love to create new ideas, but building them with a backbone of what already works has been one of my greatest keys to growth this year.

I could go on forever, but I’ll stop there for now. 6 lessons that have reshaped my life so far in 2026.

Whenever people bring up that the year is half-way over they like to drop the “time flies” statements like crazy, so I have to jump in on that real quick.

I disagree. I would say looking back on this year time has actually moved quite slow in comparison to all of the things that have happened.

The reason people say time flies is because they’re spending it procrastinating instead of actually doing.

So if you’re feeling like time has flown by this year, I hope you can implement the lessons I’ve learned so far this year to slow it down a bit and get closer to your goals.

40 hour workweeks to someday “retire” - only to find that if/when you do you’re too old to enjoy all of the things you put off.

Missing family events to work late or on weekends with the promise that it will create more opportunity - only to find out that that opportunity is just more work.

Making the amount of money you dreamed would satisfy you - only to replace that dream with wanting more money and feeling less satisfaction than you did when you started.

It might sound a bit harsh, but that’s the “American dream” most people are living.

The good news? It’s 100% a choice, and it’s yours to make.

And the solution? It’s something I’ve personally been working through over the past few years that anyone can execute on today.

What I’m talking about is working backwards.

Some might hit you with the old “begin with the end in mind” and that’s definitely part of it.

Another part, however, is literally knowing what you want.

At this point one of the most classic pastimes in America is the pursuit of money with no real reason for why. It’s an “everyone else does it” moment just like college, corporate jobs etc.

But I’ve found that the people who describe themselves as the happiest go about it in the complete opposite direction.

For example if the goal is to travel constantly, you don’t have to be rich to build a life around that.

I have a friend who only applied to jobs with weird schedules where they would work full-time for 2-4 weeks and then have the next 2-4 weeks off.

Of course, he spends that time off traveling.

Easier said than done if you have a family, responsibilities etc. so I will add in that a major factor in this is the discipline to not burden yourself with tons of liabilities you don’t need. Or if you have, work to remove them.

So most of what I’m sharing here won’t be instant, but it should have a significant impact on how you live your life moving forward if you can put it into practice.

Here’s the reframe I learned that you can literally do with me right now.

Step 1: Write down your perfect day

What does it look like? What are you doing? Who are you with? Where do you live?

Many people (myself included) find that a lot of their dreams can actually become reality in a very short time frame just by naming them and working backwards.

And if you don’t have the answers to the above, work towards them!

As most of you know Haley and I spent years traveling around trying to find the answer to where we wanted to live. The answer didn’t come easily, but eventually we found it.

Here’s a basic example of my “perfect day” that I have written down:

• Living somewhere with cool “sweatshirt” weather

• Workout every morning

• Work on something challenging that will benefit others

• Some sort of outdoor activity

• Hangout with Haley

That’s it, pretty simple. But 2 years ago it was pretty far from my reality.

I was living in a place that was 100 degrees and humid, spent every hour of daylight at work, and was doing mostly busywork at a desk.

2 years later, I do everything on that list every day.

So once you have that day written down, here’s how to execute…

Step 2: Break that day into two buckets

The first will be the bullet points you listed that are just choices you can make. They may require re-arranging priorities and making some changes, but you can do them right now.

Easy example is working out every day. Anyone can do that, the vast majority choose not to. If you don’t want to then it doesn’t matter, but if you do then it’s just a shift in priority.

When we moved to Jacksonville I hadn’t worked out in years and realized quickly that if I left for work at 6:30am and got back later I was never going to get around to it.

So I started going to bed way earlier, woke up at 5am, and have more or less worked out every morning for the past 5 years since then.

The second bucket is for things that do actually require time and money.

Plenty of you will find tasks on your list that require a substantial amount of time or money that is out of reach at the moment, and that’s the point!

Now that you have it in your bucket, you can yet again work backwards to it.

My favorite example of that (which I will of course get made fun of for) is that I used to think my dream was to eat out every day.

I thought of it as such a great way to explore, meet people and eat really good food without having to cook it.

And when I learned this concept I sat down with Haley and just did the math.

$30 per dinner x 30 nights = ~$1,000/month

Working backwards made it feel way more attainable, and shortly after we added enough income from our business to execute on the plan.

Now of course we ate Panda Express for 90 days in a row to kick that off, but hey that’s what I wanted so don’t be a hater.

Once you have your “perfect days” or even “perfect life” down on paper split into those two buckets you have a pretty clear roadmap laid out.

First, figure out how you can re-arrange your current schedule to make the bucket 1 items a reality as quickly and consistently as possible.

Then set specific goals on how to attain bucket 2 items, and measure those goals consistently to track your progress.

Before long you’ll wake up and realize you’re living your perfect days right now, not waiting for “someday” to never come.

It’s easy to just go through the motions, that’s why most people do it.

But you’ll never be satisfied if you don’t know where you’re going.

If you want to make a change, start there.

And if this helped you re-arrange some priorities in your life this week I would love to hear about it in the comments!

Leave a comment

If someone said that to you about the gym you’d probably laugh and tell them to be patient, right?

But switch it to business and all of a sudden you’re looking straight into the mirror realizing you’re saying the same thing.

So what gives?

How come we can go through 17 years of school without a paycheck feeling like we’re right on track, but committing a few years to build a business is just way too much?

We watch one YouTube video and use ChatGPT to create ourselves a logo and expect to be retired on the beaches of Mexico within the year?

I have a community of over 10,000 aspiring business owners and have personally been on hundreds of phone calls with people starting from $0 trying to reach “financial freedom” so I can say with confidence that what I’m about to tell you isn’t theory.

If you’re reading this and feel a gap between where you are now and where you want to be (financially, health wise, personally etc.) the problem isn’t that what you’re doing doesn’t work.

The problem is the clock you’re measuring against.

In other words you’re not failing, and you’re certainly not a failure. Your time horizon is just wrong.

They say winners measure in decades, not days.

Easy to say, a lot harder to put into practice. So I wanted to share a framework I’ve personally been using for the past few years to reframe my circumstances, in hopes that it can benefit you in some form or fashion as you go about your week this week.

Being that my two favorite things are business and fitness, I’ll break it down from both sides of that equation.

Let’s start with business.

If I told you that you had to work every day for the next 3 years and I would pay you $0, would you do it?

Of course not, that sounds like a fair labor lawsuit waiting to happen.

But…

What if I said that after those 3 years you would be guaranteed to net $25k/month in profit for the rest of your life, then would you do it?

Assuming I have a fairly competent audience of people reading this I’m going to assume your answer to that would be yes.

In that case, here’s the real question I then ask myself:

If I’m guaranteed to make $25k/month after 3 years, what difference does it make if I make money right now?

Sure, bills still have to be paid and I’ll probably have to maintain some other form of income in the mean time to make ends meet.

But in the long run, I know I’m completely set.

That is the exact mindset I followed back in 2022 when I was first getting started in real estate.

That year I made $0. In fact, I didn’t make any money at all for my first 12 months of action. But I kept asking myself “If I keep doing what I’m doing, do I believe I’m guaranteed to succeed?”

And although there were definitely some days I convinced myself otherwise, the overall sentiment was a resounding yes. So I kept going, and here I am.

Now for the gym one, in case this hits home more.

If I told you that you had to workout 5 days a week AND eat in a calorie deficit (aka consume less calories than you burn) for the next 3 months without losing a single pound would you do it?

I certainly wouldn’t, why cut out my chocolate chip cookies without cause??

But…

What if after those 3 months you were guaranteed to lose 10 pounds every month until you hit your goal. Then would you do it?

In this case I actually can 100% guarantee that you would succeed because of our good friend science. It is quite literally impossible not to lose weight if you do those 2 things.

So whichever way you slice it, the reality is the same.

If you can copy something that has been done before that is proven to work and you don’t see results, you simply have not given that thing the time it needs to develop.

There is no such thing as “This just doesn’t work for me.”

But your success can absolutely look different than someone elses.

If I lost everything today and had to rebuild a $1M real estate business I could do it 100x faster than someone starting today from square 1.

Why?

Because I already have the skills, connections and proof behind me.

But that doesn’t mean the person starting from square 1 can’t do it, their journey will just look different.

There is one alternative though to consider.

If you’re not seeing the results you were hoping for, you can just give up.

And if you do that it will be a lot easier for me to confidently guarantee your results, because there will in fact be none.

Otherwise you may need to consider one of my personal favorite lines to drop whenever I’m speaking with someone who’s struggling in their journey.

It will take 10x longer than you think, it will be 10x harder than you expected, but in the end it will be 10x better than you could’ve ever imagined if you just don’t quit.

Personally, that’s pretty dang cool to think about.

So the next time you’re feeling discouraged about your journey or intimidated to start just ask yourself “Am I thinking in days or decades?”

- Ryan

PS. I actually write these every week myself, if you get any value out of them I would love if you left a comment or shared this with your friends!

Between roots in Montana, Florida, California and living in either a truck or a van around the country the rest of the time? It’s been a lot.

And regardless of where we’ve gone there’s been a few hobbies of mine that I can pickup anywhere to try and make the next place feel more like home.

One of them is pickup basketball.

But if you don’t know, pickup basketball isn’t exactly your friendly neighborhood potluck that everyone invites you to with open arms.

It’s fast-paced, packed with people, and quite unfriendly to newcomers.

I’ll start by saying I’m decent at basketball, but obviously I’m not that good or I’d be playing on TV not at the rec center…

But whenever I go to a new city and new gym I feel like I’m back at summer camp just trying to get noticed.

The other guys? They’re already friends. They pass each other the ball and know how the others play so they can complement that on the court.

Me? I end up standing in the corner waiting for a shot they aren’t all too interested in giving me.

And when I finally get the chance to pull an open 3? I’m so worried about showing them I don’t suck that I forget how to shoot, which then confirms to them what they thought about me to begin with (lol).

One time in LA I even showed up and waited to play for over 2 hours and none of the guys would even let me join their team, so I walked back home having never even gotten a game in.

However this week was different, and it inspired me to write this for the rest of you.

Why was it different? Because this week I was asked to play on the “A team”. The group of guys that always show up and play together (and usually win all of the games).

And how I got from the short white dude people avoided to that invite mirrors my story in business with impressive similarity. Let’s break it all down.

So what changed from when I showed up brand new to when I got to play with the A team?

I can tell you one thing, it wasn’t that I magically became a better player.

More than anything, it was literally that I showed up. Over and over, every single week.

The first few weeks people probably didn’t recognize me, then they started to pay attention a bit more, and eventually a few weeks ago they slowly started to learn my name.

It wasn’t necessarily playing better that sparked that, it was just being physically present.

But as they started to accept me more on the court, I also became more comfortable. I wasn’t as worried about missing a few shots, so I slowly started taking more.

The confidence to shoot more meant more shots went in, and the more shots went in the more people wanted to play with me.

Here’s the reality that hit me this week after I went through that process for probably the 5th time in as many years…

I didn’t get better first, I got known. Being known gave me more confidence, and that made me better.

3 years ago I started a real estate business with no experience or connections.

I made a post on social media saying I was getting into real estate and my friends messaged me to ask if I was hacked…

Nobody knew who I was, so no one took me seriously. And frankly at the start I had no confidence in what I was doing because I felt like a poser claiming to be something I wasn’t.

Sound familiar?

Here’s what I did that changed that, without even realizing I was doing the same thing on the courts.

First, I showed up. For me that meant posting on Facebook, going to meetups and talking more about my new goals.

Over a few months time people started to recognize my name. Good start.

Then I had to establish myself. Being known benefits you little if people only know you and not what you do. This one took me a while, but eventually I was able to focus on one lane to become “The transactional funding guy”.

Not the wholesale, rentals, multifamily and lending guy. Just one thing.

But it still took a long time just for people to take me seriously.

You know that friend/family member who tells you you’re getting into something and you think “Come back in a year and let me know if you’re still into it”…

That’s how everyone treated me (and probably you right now?) with business.

They nod along with a smile and then forget about it. And it isn’t until you create real proof that they maybe start to listen.

When I started my community on Skool I texted a group of friends telling them about it and asking them to join. No one even responded.

Now? They’re all in the group, and they’re also asking me how I did it.

So if you’re reading this looking to grow your own business or someone else’s, here’s what I’ll leave you with from my own life.

My execution ladder if you will.

1. Pick One Court

If you try to show up everywhere, you’ll be known nowhere. You have to be able to narrow down your “court” to one place to focus your energy.

A lot of people never get past this step because they try to do it all. Take social media for example. Instead of trying to grow a YouTube, Instagram and TikTok all at the same time just pick one and become great at it.

2. Become Known For ONE THING

Even if somebody wanted to work with you, they won’t know how unless you tell them.

If you haven’t noticed by now, the vast majority of business owners shoot themselves in the foot by switching strategies constantly.

The key here isn’t that you need to have it all together or be right. You just need to choose your lane. Sticking with something long enough for people to ask my favorite question “Are you still doing _________” is the real win here.

3. Be Useful, Not Loud

I don’t start getting the ball passed my way by yelling every time we go down the court. That’s a great way to get kicked out…

Instead I always look for ways to be as useful as possible if I’m not going to have the ball in my hands.

Become a better defender, get more rebounds, and set other people up for great shots.

When building my business I focused on solving people’s problems, not making money first. That translated to income in the long run, and more sustainably I might add since it was built on a true foundation.

4. Don’t Quit

I have no clue if there’s a real statistic around this, but I’d bet 95% of people who quit would’ve succeeded at whatever they were doing if they had just done it for longer.

When I spent my entire afternoon at that LA gym without playing a single game it would’ve felt pretty reasonable to never show up again. But I did.

And slowly but surely I worked my way into that group just like I had with every group before.

Winning takes longer than you expect, always. The problem isn’t that it’s impossible, it’s that your expectations might not meet reality.

Executing on the above, in both life and business, have been the key to my growth over the past few years.

If you want to “win” more often I think implementing and learning from the same 4 steps would be a great start.

And if you often find yourself playing the “victim” in your pursuit of success, I think you’d enjoy reading this post next. 👇🏼

[READ] You Deserve Nothing

Consistency, shiny object syndrome and working hard without actually doing real work all make the list.

But at the top of that list? You won’t find an action at all.

The real indicator of failure? The point of no return?

It’s a mindset issue.

Entitlement.

And if you read these posts every week hoping to get a little nugget of insight that will propel you forward in whatever your goals are, this week will go one of two ways.

1. You get butt hurt, decide I’m wrong, and then go on doing exactly what you were already doing that wasn’t working.

2. You can identify the areas in your life and business where entitlement is holding you back, then actually do something about it.

I’ve found a lot of benefit in the latter, and I hope you will too.

Let’s get into it.

Most characteristics bend based on how they’re used - they could be positive in some contexts and negative in others.

Entitlement is not one of those things.

Any way you slice it, it’s just no bueno.

But I want to talk today specifically about its context in the world of entrepreneurship.

To demonstrate my point, let’s start with a message I was sent the other day.

Here it is, slightly paraphrased as to not expose lol.

“I should be making $100k/month by now. I work harder than everyone else and do all the right things but the world is just against me.”

Yes that really was said, and if you think it’s a rare sentiment it’s not.

Think about where that same mentality might come out in your own life (especially when you’re angry…)

“I don’t get why they’re not helping me more, I’ve earned it.”

“There’s no reason they should be making $X and I’m not.”

“This business just doesn’t work for me like it does for them.”

These phrases and approaches are, quite frankly, the reason why I find it so easy to win in today’s age of business.

People feel so deserving that they lose the plot and forget reality.

Winning is hard.

It takes sacrifice, consistency and a lot of humbling. But it’s always worth it in the end.

And the cool thing is that when I was thinking about what to write this week I realized that the opposite of entitlement is actually very easy to lay out and execute on if you’re willing to listen.

So here it is, in all it’s glory.

• No one is coming to save you

• If you want something done, figure it out yourself

• If you’re not getting results, YOU are doing something wrong

That alone changed my life.

I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve told myself “I’ve done everything they told me and it just isn’t working.”

The reality? Well, I think you already know.

If what I did already works for other people and I did it exactly right, it would’ve worked.

Since it didn’t, it’s a me problem.

For most, it just becomes a blame game.

“I followed your social media strategy perfectly but got no views.”

“I copied your sales script to a T and got nothing from it.”

NO YOU DIDN’T.

That’s how I live now, because it’s just not true.

And if you want to go cry in the corner feel free.

You may very well be at a disadvantage or treated unfairly.

So what?

Is that really going to be the reason you live a life short of your goals? Because someone else was mean to you?

If you want to be an entrepreneur you’ve already chosen the hard route.

So… it’s going to be hard.

And the fact is there is no amount of work or intention or skill that makes you deserve anything.

One of my favorite quotes to reflect on when I’m struggling is this -

In order to succeed you can’t just do your best. You have to do what’s required.

Here’s the reality…

If entitlement is the belief, victimhood is what it turns into when reality doesn't cooperate.

The lowest level you can stoop to is becoming the victim.

Unfortunately that’s the route most people will choose.

Gas is too expensive, let me complain about it.

My life is so busy, let me complain about it.

Politics aren’t going my way, let me complain about it.

Those people feel better in the moment, but don’t get anywhere in life.

If you want to win, stop living like anyone owes you a single thing.

Go take it instead.

So to the person who’s convinced they “deserve” to be making $100k/month by now, and to all of you reading this who’ve felt the same at one point or another here’s what I’ll leave you with.

You deserve nothing, but you’re capable of anything.

There is nothing someone else has done that you can’t do better.

There is no skill you are lacking that you can’t develop and perfect over time.

You’ve got this thing.

Believe that, then start acting like it.

-Ryan

I had gone full-time in real estate after quitting my engineering job, but I hated it.

Not the hours (I love to work!) but how those hours were being spent.

Constant phone calls, angry real estate agents and definitely no stability.

But one day I was on a call with a friend and something new came up called Skool. They mentioned a little bit about what it was and said we should both try it out.

The conversation happened the first week of March, right after I made the life-altering (now confirmed in hind site) decision to stop wholesaling real estate and start funding real estate deals full-time instead.

Given that I was very much searching for new opportunities to fill my time after shutting down my old business, I got to work.

I went to the website, started a free trial and started the process of building a community.

By the end of the day I had it setup, chose a name and planned to make it about financial education, something I’m very passionate about.

Now if you’re reading this you probably know that that is not what my community ended up being about at all.

As I’m writing this that free community is about to cross 10,000 members, which is unreal. And the full business-in-a-box community that came out of that is over 250 members strong.

So why am I telling you all of this? And what does it have to do with you getting ahead?

To answer that, let me back up real quick and share with you from an angle you haven’t seen yet.

That phone conversation, the one where someone told me we should both start a community on Skool was the launching point to my life as I know it now.

But the person on the other end of the line? The one who had the idea and agreed to start a community of their own?

They never even started.

Words were spoken, actions didn’t follow. And our lives look incredibly different a few years later as a result.

So what’s it all boil down to?

Speed to execution.

I believe it is without a doubt the single biggest lever in my success and yours as an entrepreneur.

And so instead of just telling you to do everything faster, I wanted to take a few minutes this week to walk through some tactical steps I’ve followed to actually achieve a level of speed that has separated me more and more over the years.

Side note: You have to learn how to determine what’s actually worth pursuing, otherwise you’re not actually getting ahead. Comment below if we should cover that another week.

1. Shrink the first step

Ever felt overwhelmed with a new task? It’s probably because you feel like it’s so big you don’t even know where to start.

Trying to lose 30 pounds? You don’t even need to start at the gym, you can just start with taking walks and learning how to count the calories you eat.

When you shrink the first step it simplifies the process to be extremely achievable.

I like to do this constantly, and my process is super simple.

I just write down my main goal on paper, then start writing all of the things I’ll need to do to get to a finished product.

They might include research, phone calls, recording videos etc.

For me, a lot of what I do involves recordings hours and hours of videos, so I just break them up into smaller pieces I can do in 1 sitting.

This principle carries over to whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish.

2. Default to 80%, not 100%

A lack of action can often be traced back to a desire for perfection.

I see messages all the time from people saying they did 63 takes of a video because they wanted it to be perfect.

Forget perfect, you’ll never get there from 0.

The goal is simply 80%.

Think back to my Skool story. I ended up naming my community Financial Foundations and immediately pivoted it to be about lending money…

It had thousands of members before I changed the name to even make sense. But it’s a good thing I spent my time making it actually valuable instead of worrying about the name right?

When perfection is no longer the goal action becomes a whole lot more feasible.

3. Treat decisions as 2-way doors, not 1-way

This is a Jeff Bezos philosophy that seems to become more and more relevant for me, so I bet you’ll benefit from it too.

The vast majority of decisions we make aren’t “final”, so why do we treat them like they are?

I picked a weird name for my community? 2-way door, I can change it whenever.

Went into a real estate niche you hated? 2-way door, pivot and do something else.

Only when a decision is truly 1-way should it be treated with a heightened sense of scrutiny and input prior to pulling the trigger.

But if you’re still trying to get a business off the ground, your in 2-way territory.

Start acting like it.

4. Reduce your work in progress

I’ve struggled with this one a lot, but I know the benefits enough to share just how crucial this is.

Like I mentioned earlier, part of your success in execution will come from knowing what to execute on.

And to reduce your work in progress, you’ll need a heavy dose of my favorite word.

FOCUS.

Trying to script your new YouTube video and build a new website and try a new lead generation method and fly to real estate meetups isn’t going to do what you think.

I have a real problem with coming up with big ideas, to the point where I have a “Big idea list” to keep track of them all.

But my key to executing fast has become more and more linked to my ability to focus on one of those big tasks at a time and see it to completion (which is 80% btw…).

This concept gets stretched on massive goals that will extend over a longer timeline, so the real key isn’t to get down to only one task but to reduce your total tasks at any one time.

Easy to talk about, hard to do. But when done correctly, it’ll change your life.

If you can take everything we just talked about and put it into action, you will find yourself on the right side of progress, momentum and whatever “success” looks like to you.

Nothing frustrates me more than the classic “I should really start __________” statement from someone I care about.

Why are you talking about it instead of doing it?

Often times people will put off a task for months if not years that could be completed in just a few hours.

That’s it, that’s how small the gap is between progress and failure.

I hope this article can put you back on the right side of that.

Talk next week,

Ryan

May 2023. I had just flown out to Phoenix on a whim to try and get around people who were “successful” in real estate.

Being that I had spent the past year trying to make money to no avail, I was trying to get creative.

But as I showed up the first night one word kept popping into my head, and it wasn’t exactly what I had been hoping for.

Failure.

How come everyone there seemed to be crushing it meanwhile I had put in the work for a year straight and seen nothing.

I’d tried every strategy I could find in real estate, put in the long hours, and yet I felt completely out of place.

Sound familiar? Maybe the way you’re feeling right now?

Naturally, we like to go back to the good ol’ safety quote in times like that.

“Comparison is the thief of all joy” - Roosevelt

For the longest time, I believed that to be true.

And in the world we live in today, it’s inevitable. It would be hard to argue that comparison hasn’t played a significant factor in ruining the lives especially of the younger generation with the growth of social media.

So I made non-comparison my fuel.

I put my head down and kept working to block out the noise as much as possible. That, I thought, would be the key to my success.

But what I didn’t realize in that moment in Phoenix, or for a while for that matter, was that comparison wasn’t the problem.

It was one simple yet crucial mistake that I’ve made more than anyone.

Comparison to the wrong people.

Looking back on my journey now I can say with confidence comparison has played a major role in my “success”.

The issue for me (and probably for you right now?) was random comparison to the wrong people.

It reveals itself in your day to day life if you’re not careful, and that will definitely steal your joy.

So I wanted to take the time this week to break down my simple methodology behind comparison now, and how you can use it as rocket fuel instead of a burden.

Rule 1: Choose specific people, not a feed

I absolutely love this process. Here’s how it works:

Think about (or look for) one person you follow online or already know in your life who is 1-2 years ahead of you. That part is crucial, if you go past it the map becomes a blur without clear direction.

I am extremely careful about who I choose for this, because there’s a lot of factors involved.

The first would be whether or not their path is aligned with yours. If they’re doing something completely different you will have to work even harder to find the pieces that are in sync and the ones that aren’t.

Personally I try to identify leaders in different sectors since I haven’t really found one person I want to be exactly like.

I have my person for business, another for faith, another for lifestyle etc.

The second huge factor is determining if that person actually has a life you want. This might be one of the biggest turning points in my life.

Early on I compared myself to someone based solely off of their popularity in the business space. I wanted to reverse engineer everything they did so I could replicate it.

After the better part of a year trying to do that I realized something. I didn’t want to be anything like them.

They worked 24/7, I wanted freedom.

They were selfish, I wanted to serve others first.

They needed the spotlight, I wanted to be in the shadows.

You can see how bad the fit was, but I didn’t know then what I know now.

So now I look past the online personas and into reality. I literally look at what people’s day to day schedules look like, their relationships etc. and try to find people I can actually aspire to be more like.

The awesome thing is when done correctly, finding these people will truly change your life.

It’s allowed me to stop doing things I thought I should be focusing on, and feel like I’m truly seeing a glimpse into my future in real time.

Having a north star is incredible, as long as it’s actually aligned.

Rule 2: Model the rise, not the destination

This one has thrown me for a loop more times than I can count. Seems obvious when I talk about it, but I think you can probably agree it isn’t.

Here’s the principle behind it.

Let’s say I find someone 2 years ahead of me who only works 10 hours a week and runs a 7-figure business.

My first reaction used to be to ruthlessly dig into who they’ve hired, how they schedule their time etc. in an attempt to execute on whatever I need to do to be like them.

But the reality? When they were in my shoes two years prior they were working 100 hour weeks without breaks.

Here’s another one I’ve messed up multiple times - lead generation.

I’ll find someone I want to mirror that just posts 1 YouTube video a week and it drives all of the traffic for their business.

So I start posting 1 YouTube video myself and waiting for my own results?

Not at all, because that wasn’t their rise.

See, come to find out the reason their YouTube does so well now is they spent two years touring the US speaking on stages at events. Thousands of people came to know - like - and trust them.

So ya, now their YouTube drives traffic, but that wasn’t the rise.

Sometimes I see people make the same mistake when they try to copy me (not that what I’ve done is that exciting).

I now run a community of people in the transactional funding space and partner with them to fund deals.

But a few years ago? I was waking up at 4am sending out DMs on Facebook in the dark. I sat on hundreds of phone calls learning how to overcome objections. And I did it all before most people knew who I was.

If you have the incredible fortune of finding someone you want to model after, don’t blow it by skipping straight to where they are now.

Figure out how they got there and start there.

Then model the rise as you go.

It turns out comparison was never my problem, and it isn’t yours either. It’s comparison to the wrong (or random) people that drags you down.

So what did I do to get back on track?

Take a minute today to copy this.

Write down 1 person (or 1 for each category) that falls into what we just discussed:

1. In your line of work

2. Has at least 1 skillset you want to model after (WITH PROOF!!)

Then start looking back to see what that person did to get there.

If it’s time freedom - how did they model their days?

If it’s business - how did they generate leads?

What were the actions they started taking years ago that built into what you now see today?

If you can re-write your comparisons with purpose instead of randomness it can change your life the same way it did mine.

Try it out this week.

Over the next few weeks I wanted to share with you guys some of the most important lessons I’ve learned from him at these mastermind events and how you can apply them.

All of it falls under the perfect embodiment of what these articles are all about - building a business for lifestyle.

They won’t directly make you tons of money, but the lessons will do something much bigger than that. They’ll teach you how to find joy in what you’re already doing.

I’d venture to guess 95% of the entrepreneurial world, if asked, would say they “haven’t reached their goals”. That their successes or lack thereof are never enough. But what if they were?

Enter - the gap and the gain.

The concept is quite simple.

Most of us like to measure forwards. One of my favorite examples from the mastermind was a member who was working on losing weight. Their goal was to lose 20 pounds to start, but they had only lost 12 pounds.

The typical response? “I didn’t reach my goal.” “I suck.” “I’m a failure.”

The reality? He DID lose 12 pounds, a major step in the right direction.

Here’s how to actually put the concept to work.

Instead of measuring forwards, measure backwards.

The above is a diagram from our workbook to help you visualize.

I’ll take 2 seconds to say at first glance this might sound obvious like a kids exercise, but stick with me for a minute.

How many times do you end your day thinking about what you didn’t get done?

How often do you think about how far behind you are in comparison to where you wanted to be?

I’d venture to guess for most of you reading this, it’s pretty often.

You thought you’d be at $100k/month by now but instead you’re still trying to get started. Maybe you even had momentum and now it feels like it’s gone.

What gives?

Now lets flip it.

Maybe a year ago you were wasting your nights scrolling social media and now you’re spending them on a new business.

You used to be surround by people who didn’t care and now you’re surrounded by ones who want to keep you accountable and push you forward.

It could be that last year you’d never made money outside of a W2 job and now you have.

When you measure backwards, it’s impossible to lose.

But does that mean we should all just be satisfied with where we’re at? Not even close.

This is the part that gave me the most pushback. I don’t want to be satisfied, I love playing the game.

Perspective swap.

Dan Sullivan only works 50% of the year and does $40M+/year in revenue.

There’s a clear separation between the gratitude for where you are and the drive to get better. And that line is drawn simply by not defining yourself by your accomplishments, but using them as motivators instead.

That’s it, that’s the difference.

At the mastermind we went through many stories of people who from the outside looked like they had reached the top when in reality they were miserable.

Actors, athletes, and business tycoons alike all falling into addictions, depression or worse. And the theme was the same - they kept searching for their dream life instead of realizing they were already in it.

Tactical Applications

Here’s how I’m actively working to apply these principles, take whatever you want from this to do the same.

1. Awareness

Literally just being aware of this concept will work wonders in your day to day life. You just read this post, so you’re on the right track. But staying aware requires reminders. Buy the book, write it on a sticky note, whatever works for you.

2. Daily actions

Try this out. At the end of the day, write down 3 things you accomplished that day. This is an actual skill, I can’t tell you the amount of people I’ve asked about a win for their week that say “I didn’t have one.” What a terrible way to think. Keep track of your wins. And as a bonus, when writing down your 3 wins for today, write out what you want your 3 wins to be for tomorrow. Then head into the next day with purpose.

3. Look back often

Try it weekly, monthly and quarterly. If you’re anything like me it’s quite easy to move on to the next thing without appreciating the current one. It’s only when you look back that you realize “Oh dang, I actually got a lot done.”

4. Measure inputs first, not outputs

This one is crucial. Making $1M is not a definitive goal, it’s an outcome. Getting there means discipline, a clear strategy and a plan for execution. Once you have those things, you can measure what you put in. The outcomes are inevitable when this is done correctly.

I hope this has been a little light in your week. If you want to be a real legend stop right now and implement this. Then make it a focus of your days for the next week.

Build the habit of measuring backwards first, not for other people’s recognition but for your own. Then use that fire to keep playing the game.

Live life in the GAIN not the GAP.

It’s more fun that way.

Looking back my desire to succeed was based more on what other people thought than my own desire to win.

But as I’m writing this I can tell you one thing with complete conviction. It changed my life, and after working with thousands of new entrepreneurs over the past few years I can say with certainty it will change your life too.

Stop caring what other people think.

Easy to say, hard to do - right?

So this week I wanted to talk about how anyone can pull this off. And if you want more out of your business, your life and your friendships I hope this can be the highest 5 minute ROI of your week.

For Context

When I made my first video about real estate I filmed it 67 times. I was walking down the street in our little Jacksonville, FL neighborhood and couldn’t get over my fear of being judged.

Anytime a car drove by I would quickly put my phone down and restart.

Then someone else on a walk would come by and I’d do the same.

And when no distractions happened, I would make one up.

“What if someone is watching me out their window?”

“I sounded so dumb when I said that".”

The list went on until I was honestly sick of failing out there for over an hour and just gave up.

So as I was sitting on the couch trying to take that ridiculous jumble of videos and turn it into something I realized I had a problem. I cared way too much about what people thought of me.

And more importantly, I had to do something about it.

Here’s what I did.

1. The 100 video rule

Your first 100 social media videos will suck, that’s just how it works.

The victim would use that as a reason not to post them, but if you’re reading this you’re here to do the opposite.

That’s what I did. Literally recorded 100+ videos to post to social media for anyone to see. It did two things:

1. It taught me how to be more confident on camera.

2. It gave me a “virtual” audience. I was speaking in front of a crowd, but I didn’t have to actually see their eyes staring at me.

This was by far the greatest leap I’ve ever made in not caring what people think. It took effort and a whole lot of responding to messages and realizing some people really were seeing what I was posting. Brutal.

By the way, if you want a quick laugh here’s my first ever video posted to YouTube.

This was 2 years ago, not 20. Talk about terrible.

But this brings up another point worth talking about. When you watch this you could very easily say I’m not “good” at being on camera, right?

That’s the human default. “I’m not good enough.”

I very strongly disagree with that.

That video isn’t an example of me being “bad”, I literally just don’t have practice. It’s inexperience, and that’s it.

In my experience, there is no greater single tool to overcome caring what people think than making 100 videos. They could be about business, sports, food - doesn’t matter.

The point is you develop the muscle asynchronously so you have the time to work up the courage. You’re not going on stage just yet.

2. The Reframe Rule

This one gets a bit more into the mindset stuff, but I promise it’s tactical.

Here’s a checklist of questions I like to go through:

• When was the last time I stopped scrolling on social media and thought “Wow that must’ve been really embarrassing for them.” I bet your answer is never.

• What’s the most embarrassing thing one of your friends did this year? Can you even think of a single one?

• When was the last time I didn’t do something purely based off of fear of what people would think. Do I regret not doing it?

• What action would I take this week if I knew for 100% sure no one else was watching me?

• Do I personally find myself respecting people more that try and fail or do nothing at all?

I ask myself these questions and ones like it pretty often. Personally, I need to be constantly reminded of their answers.

This is a great exercise to incorporate into your week. Try it out, see what your results look like.

3. Public Discomfort

I will be the first to admit I’m terrible at this. But I’m still working on it.

The place my fear for what people think shows up the most is in everyday public settings. I have a strange fear of asking questions or being seen by random people around me.

Here’s some things I’ve personally done or have had friends do that helps:

• Lie down in public in the middle of the sidewalk. This is an absolutely classic exercise for building your “no one cares” muscle.

• Ask a waiter at a restaurant a random question. “How’s your day?” “Which meal is your favorite?”

• Start singing a song in public just to do it.

• Go up to a random stranger and give them a compliment (this one would have me beyond scared…)

What I’ve learned is that different people have different fears around what people think. Some care more about friends, others more about strangers.

But removing any and all of them is the way to go in the long run.

4. Public Speaking

The great master of them all. This is the final boss for many people.

On video you don’t have to face people directly, but in a crowd you definitely do.

If you’ve completed the first 3 phases from this post you should be beyond ready to face a crowd, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

“What if I say something wrong or look dumb?”

So let’s answer that question - what if you do?

Have you ever seen someone go on stage and be met by anything but genuine support? Seriously think about that.

I love seeing people make it to this part, and I have multiple ways you can develop your “lack of caring” muscle even further in this realm.

Start small - host a live Zoom call where you can see people’s faces. Then maybe talk at a small meetup or in a circle of people at a conference.

When you’ve done everything above enough, you’ll find yourself naturally falling into larger and larger rooms.

Oh and one more tip on this - it’s 1000x easier to speak and not care what people think when you’re confident in what you’re saying.

People stutter and trip over themselves when they’re unsure. You’d never struggle to tell me what you had for lunch today, right? So learn to prepare to a level where lack of confidence isn’t even in question.

Put It All Together

If you can do the above enough times, you will care very little what other people think.

But I have one more very important lesson I’ve learned over the past few years in the business space.

The people rooting for you, the ones whose opinions actually matter, will never judge you for taking action and failing.

They’ll judge you for not taking action at all.

In contrast, I’ve found the people who try to make fun of my newest business venture, cringy social media post or financial decision making are the ones who have a life I have no desire to live.

That’s it, that’s the game.

Judgement comes from the bottom. And any time you feel someone actually trying to drag you down just ask “Do I want their life?”

You’ll find the same answer every time.

Learn to stop caring what other people think and it will change every single facet of your life.

I’ll always be rooting for you along the way.

Ryan

Of everything we talked about, what I’m about to share was by far the most mentioned in the days that followed.

It’s a concept I originally learned from Dan Sullivan, the guy who put out books like the famous “Who Not How” and since then has become a massive impact for me personally.

And it helps answer the question “How do I build a business when I’m busy with ________”?

The idea is simple - divide your days into 3 categories. They may land on different actual days of the week, but there should be at least one of each every week.

And if you’re reading this as a W2 employee, you can take what I talk about and compress it to fit your life right now. For most that looks like doing something for a few hours instead of an entire day, and that’s a great start.

The concepts behind these categories come from performers and athletes, and you’ll see that theme throughout.

Category 1: Free Days

These are like a long lost friend for most of us.

A day off? Sounds more like a joke than reality, right? But that doesn’t make it any less important.

I recently read an amazing book called “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” that I highly recommend to anyone who is struggling with the concept of taking a day off. It really digs in on the sabbath, and specifically how you can get more done by actually working 1 day less.

So what is a legit free day?

It’s a day where you literally do no work.

You don’t check your email, record videos or write anything down.

The entire day is spent on non-work related activities. Hobbies, time with family, reading etc.

And it’s a skill.

I’ll be the first to admit taking a day off is very difficult for me. Frankly I love to work, so why should I stop? But the benefits of a weekly reset are clear, dating all the way back to the Bible.

So find a day (or at least a big time block) for a free day every week. And if you want to succeed, optimize it around your schedule.

I now do them in Saturdays because I like to use Sundays to prepare for my week.

Do what’s best for you!

Category 2: Buffer Days

For an athlete, this would be days where you just practice and prepare. Maybe you get a massage or some therapy done. You study the playbook and make a plan for gameday.

As a new or current business owner, you can draw from the equivalent.

• Writing scripts for a YouTube video

• Outlining a new lead magnet for your audience

• Going through a new training and taking notes

Basically it’s a busywork day, but with one very important goal in mind.

When game day comes, there’s nothing left to prepare.

You’re 100% ready, and all there’s left to do is execute.

This, of course, is much easier said than done. And that’s why most people make the mistake of mixing it in with everything else.

Prepare a little, take some time off, then try and execute all at once.

Buffer days create a designated time to knock out all of the little things.

Personally I have a laundry list of things I do on them:

• I write my YouTube scripts

• I write a bunch of emails and posts

• I go through my email and knock out tasks I’d really rather avoid from them

And the biggest sticking point for me is doing all of that to 100%. I’ve found oftentimes I will prepare, but then when it’s time to execute I realize I’m not prepared enough.

As they say, proper preparation prevents poor performance.

Think about all of the busywork tasks you do right now in your business.

Now think about how you could knock them all out at once while you’re in that “mode”.

There isn’t enough emphasis put on mental space when you’re running a business.

If you want to optimize, it’s key to batch the right activities together with the mental space you have (or whatever’s left of it after work…)

And that leads us to our final category, gameday.

Category 3: Focus Days

They way I was taught is that this is the day you do whatever moves your business forward the most. The external wins.

I’ll kick things off by sharing my laundry list.

Recording YouTube videos and social media, doing live trainings, and executing on my big ideas. For me that’s what actually moves the ball forward and makes me money.

But the key here is those are very easy to never get to if I don’t make space for them.

Trust me, I always have emails and DMs of people who need things from me.

So having dedicated days where those things wait allows me to take action instead of pushing the real work off.

And again, on my focus days I can lock into one mindset and go.

I think of it as my creativity days. I can think big without the distractions of little tasks and the needs of other people. Big win.

Focus days as a goal become focus hours for most to start, and that’s great.

But having them will be a huge unlock for anyone reading this with a goal of growth in their business.

I implemented this system into my life about 4 months ago, and the changes since then have been drastic.

And the real unlock getting started isn’t executing to perfection, it’s just having the awareness around it.

Which of these 3 categories are the most excited to implement in your daily life?

Let me know in the comments!

While planning some upcoming YouTube videos I came across a recent thread on Reddit with some eye opening accounts from people in the real estate space.

The gist - AI is making basic human interaction a literal commodity.

Here’s how I’m using that to get an edge in business, and how you can too.

What’s Happening

Simply put, I believe we are in the stage of AI where it’s severely misunderstood.

If you know me, you know I talk a lot about automation vs. amplification. The way AI is perceived right now is that it’s going to take over the world, and people instantly interpret that as meaning it should do all of the work for them.

That’s the automation mistake.

You see, the people winning with AI aren’t just plugging it in and letting it run. They’re using it to amplify the work they’ve already done.

Ex. I write a lot of emails etc. I now use AI to help me turn ideas into emails using the 100’s of emails I’ve written before. I then review each of those outlines individually to turn them into a final product.

Ex. 2 I post a lot of content which requires editing. In doing so I’ve learned how I want my videos edited - what should be included and what it should look like. I used to then either do the editing myself or pay someone to do it. Now, AI takes my instruction and does it for me.

I think this is an incredibly important concept to master, because as of right now most have not.

Here’s the two biggest issues that are surfacing right now (backed by Reddit).

Problem 1: Overautomation

This is essentially the result of loss of human touch.

One of AI’s superpowers is the ability to do unlimited work - quickly.

For that reason it can master volume. I can text 1 person at a time, it can text 1,000,000.

Here’s some snippets from the article on how that’s working out:

I think this is so interesting it’s almost funny, and the lesson is a powerful one.

Many people are convinced pure volume will solve all problems, when the reality is human interaction is becoming the commodity. People can sniff out your crappy robot from 100 miles away.

To be clear - I automate a ton of workflows in my business. But the skill is understanding where to automate and where to not, and human interaction still seems to be taking the cake when it comes to the relationship side of things.

Here’s the full link to that thread (click here) it’s full of similar insights.

No one can replace an actual human relationship. You build rapport, find commonalities and then you dive in. In that order.

AI can replace a lot, but it can’t compete with that.

Problem 2: AI Slop

Oftentimes problems 1 and 2 are used at the same time - a true double whammy.

If you don’t know, AI slop is a new term reserved primarily for writing. If you look online today, it seems like 80%+ of all writing is just spit out by AI.

And the reason you can tell is because it isn’t even good.

I heard a guy the other day say he wrote an 80 page book he was going to release just by prompting AI. Sounds terrible, no one’s going to want to read that.

And the root problem causing the slop is just laziness.

I have an AI Agent trained on my writing. As of right now it writes emails for me based on over 250 pages of writing that I’ve done myself over the years. It knows my voice, what I do/don’t say etc.

I still take what it outputs and edit it to make it my own.

So if you’re wondering about what you’re reading now, rest easy. I write these every week purely to practice the skill of writing and articulation. Not a single word of these has ever been touched by AI.

Just like with an employee, AI can’t articulate for you if you’ve never done it to begin with. It can only amplify the skills and intentions you already have.

In other words, stop skipping the work.

The Reality

I saw a meme yesterday that sums all of this up pretty well.

I can’t find it now (of course) but here was the gist -

“When ChatGPT is spitting out garbage so you have to boot up the ‘ol brain and actually think.”

That’s it, that’s what I’m writing about today. Human interaction is becoming the commodity and I believe it’s actually making it easier to win.

People say if you don’t learn AI you’ll get left behind, and while there’s some truth to that there’s another side that says just don’t get ridiculously lazy and people will crave the normal interactions.

Gary Vee said there will be a business soon where people pay you to just talk to them as a human to human interaction. Wild.

We’re getting to the point where it can be a business to just pull people back out of the portal that is doom scrolling and AI.

Hopefully you can use this as your reminder that you’re special because you are you - so don’t lose that.

There’s a strange opportunity in the market right now to just be yourself. Who would’ve thought. But hey, idk about you but I can do that.

Anyway, that’s my thoughts for this week. Hope you can use them to your advantage.

Ryan

Not forever, just for now. Because if you want to build for lifestyle, you first have to actually build. And showing up to some calls every week and trying a few things here and there isn’t cutting it.

This is what your next 90 days should look like.

A story from my personal experience

In September 2024 I was offered an opportunity to join a cohort with 100 other people. The premise - make as much money as possible in 90 days. That’s it.

The catch? It was all public - aka no excuses to hide behind. And my fear of failure was the exact reason I agreed to do it. I knew if my stats were out there in public I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Those 90 days were crazy.

Haley and I slept in our truck the entire time. We woke up, worked out, then worked 14-16 hour days in a room with no windows. Every single day for 90 days.

Here were our public results:

That $211,728 changed everything for us. It unlocked opportunities, investments and growth that I would have never imagined. But at the same time I actually called it before the competition ever started. I told Haley “If we can do this for the full 90 days, our lives will change forever.”

And they did.

What this looks like for you

You can’t lock in if you don’t have a target. And you’ll never reach that target without support. During the 90 day sprint, I had both.

1. A clear vision - I drew out on a whiteboard exactly what my game plan was. It was massive, and all I did after that was adjust and execute.

2. Personalized support - I had a 1-on-1 call 2-3 times a week to review my data and what was/wasn’t working. I needed someone to just tell me what to do so I could spend all of my time and energy on doing it.

Having a clear vision is a lot more than just having some form of revenue goal. Everyone wants to make more money, very few actually do.

Some things to consider for that vision:

• How much money are you looking to make?

• What actions do you need to STOP doing in order to accomplish that?

• What actions do you need to START doing to accomplish it?

• Who are you going to have keep you accountable throughout?

For a more in-depth look, I’ve created this interview style prompt for you:

You are helping me design a focused 90-day lock-in plan. Your job is to
interview me with a small number of sharp questions, then produce three
things: (1) a sharpened, specific revenue goal for the next 90 days,
(2) a short list of what I should actually be doing, and (3) a short
list of what I should stop doing.

How you run this:

- Ask me ONE question at a time. Wait for my answer before moving on.
- If my answer is vague, push back and make me be specific. A range is
  not a goal. "Grow the business" is not a goal.
- Do not flatter me or pad your responses. Stay direct.
- Do not move on until I have actually answered the question you asked.

Ask these five questions in order:

1. What is your business, what do you do, and where are you today on
   the metric that matters most (revenue, customers, whatever it is)?
2. What specific number do you want to hit in the next 90 days? Be exact.
3. Why does hitting this number actually matter right now? What does
   it unlock, or what breaks if you miss it?
4. Based on what you already know about your business, what are the
   1 or 2 activities that actually move this number? Not theory. What
   you have seen work, or what operators like you are doing.
5. What else is currently competing for your time and attention that
   does not directly move this number?

Once I have answered all five, produce the following, in this format:

**Your 90-day goal**
A single, specific sentence. Number, timeframe, and the thing you are
actually trying to produce.

**Do these things**
2 to 4 bullets. The activities that directly move the goal. Short
and concrete. If I gave you weak activities in question 4, use your
judgment to suggest sharper ones based on the rest of my answers.

**Stop doing these things**
2 to 4 bullets. Name them specifically, using what I told you in
question 5.

Close with one short paragraph: an honest take on whether this plan
is realistic, too soft, or too aggressive given what I told you.

Use that to start building your plan. Then adjust it to be more “you”.

Example: I decided 30 days ago to lock in on Instagram for the next 90 days

This meant I was going to spend less time on YouTube strategy and some other important yet distracting goals and focus the majority of my content time on Instagram specifically.

My goal was to grow to 10k followers in 90 days. Here’s my progress:

For me that’s pretty dang good! But a long way to go.

My .02 on why most people fail here

90 days is nothing. People will say “time flies” for one thing but then fall off of their goals after a few days.

Here’s the reality - consistency is a skill you develop through repetition itself.

And frankly, you probably don’t have the skill yet. That’s okay.

So many people say they “tried”. Then they come up with why it just wasn’t working for them.

If, instead, you simply focus on why it will work for you the rest will take care of itself.

Remember, the goal is locking in for 90 days first. Not results, those come second. If I don’t hit my goal of 10k followers on Instagram in 90 days that’s okay, as long as I actually lock in on the inputs of daily posting on the platform. I control that.

It’s crazy to think that so much can change in such a short amount of time, and yet almost no one will ever get to experience those results because they can’t handle a little discomfort.

My final thoughts for you

Don’t let yourself be mediocre.

Starting and stopping. Making excuses. Living a normal 9-5. Anyone can do that.

Be different. Be better. Do the hard things.

Quit scrolling on your phone all day. Replace staying up late with getting up early. Intentionally do something that puts you in uncomfortable positions simply so you can learn to overcome them and keep going.

Being willing to try hard and fail is worth more than any end result in the short term will ever be. It’s the first step to unlocking whatever it is you want in the long run.

Lock in. Focus. 90 days.

Don’t waste your opportunity.

Ryan

”Start your own business”

”Work a high paying job”

“Buy stocks”

”Put everything into real estate”

And ever since I was in middle school I’ve been obsessed with it all. Whatever the world was trying to sell, I was bought in. Books, podcasts, courses - you name it.

But after trying everything, failing plenty, and now building multiple businesses of my own I’ve realized there’s a hidden pattern.

It has nothing to do with the avenue you choose or your skill sets. In fact it doesn’t even have to do with money.

Simply put - it’s my success formula.

But it’s not just mine. It shows up across the board in the successful people you and I look up to in basically every category.

And because this strategy has had a massive impact on my life over the past few years, I wanted to take some time today to share it with you.

So here it is…

Successful people do the most important tasks first. Every day. No matter what.

And before you say “well duh” or argue the other side let me explain exactly what I mean.

Let’s say you work a 9-5 job. And if you’re reading this I’ll also assume you’re trying to build some sort of income on the side.

But on top of that you want to stay in shape, have a family, and maybe even relax a little (if you’re lucky?)

Here’s the structure I implemented a few years back that made it all possible for me. It’s independent of time, you can do it on whatever schedule you want.

Every night I look at both my daily “non-negotiables” and also whatever I want to accomplish for the day.

For example every day I want to walk 10,000 steps, go to the gym, read my Bible and in theory get some work done.

The common approach would say fit it all in when you can. I’m saying put it first.

For me, my structure looks the same every day.

My 3 most important items are:

1. Reading my Bible

2. Going to the gym

3. My “1 big thing” for work (this changes every day)

So as soon as I wake up, I immediately go into checking those 3 off.

It’s not possible to forget my quiet time or workout because I got busy with work, because they’re done before I ever started work to begin with.

I can’t get distracted with random emails and admins tasks that take over my day, because I do my “1 big thing” first.

It’s a foolproof system, and it’s one you can control.

People who say they want to get healthy but slot the gym in for the evenings aren’t actually serious about it. Same thing for reading your Bible or getting your work done.

Feel free to disagree with me, but if you truly prioritize something it’s getting done first no matter what. That is the definition of priority.

That way your day can never end with “Man I totally meant to get that done today.” By the time you can get around to that thought, it’s already done.

And to the person who says it just isn’t possible with their schedule let me give you a reframe.

Let’s say you currently push all of your “personal work” (building your business, fitness etc) to the end of your day. You stay up until 10pm to get it all done. And then you wake up at 6am the next morning and head straight to work (or wherever).

All you have to do is go to bed an hour earlier, and move that late night work time to 5am in the morning. Problem solved. It seems like there’s no difference, but there is. One version guarantees success, the other relies on your day going according to plan (which we all know what can happen there…)

And for our true excuse makers out there, this isn’t about being a “morning person”. It’s simply about creating the space for true priorities instead of gambling and hoping they get done. You can do it at 5am or 10am, as long as it’s first.

4 years ago when I got my one and only 9-5 job (RIP) I learned pretty quickly that I needed to make a change if I wanted to get and stay on track.

This approach helped me lose 15 pounds, get back into working out and somehow also build my first real estate business all while working a job AND building an Airbnb in the evenings.

Oh, and it works the EXACT same for money.

People say they want to tithe 10% or invest 15% of their income, then they pay all of their bills and expenses and say “There’s no money left”.

But if they put that money aside first, they would be forced to build the rest around it.

It’s tried and true, it will work for anyone, and I hope you can find a way to either implement or improve the system for your own life.

I would love to hear about what changes you’re planning of making or ideas you got after reading this in the comments!

To your success,

Ryan