labels
you say visionary. i say lazy entrepreneur avoiding the work. you say integrator. i say entrepreneur hiding behind the work. labels are a crutch. at the end of the day, you either succeed or fail. you either execute or make excuses. Zuckerberg wrote the code and had the vision. one doesn’t handicap the other. vision…
potential
slam the gas pedal. incredible acceleration. razor-sharp performance. $250K car. topping out at 45mph… and frequenting school zones. you don’t belong here. capable of so much more. nice car. everyone’s impressed. and you like that. but you’ve got $250K of performance. with $50K problems. don’t be the smartest person in the room. don’t be the…
hoodie and headphones
no stethoscope around my neck. no courtroom to be in today. just a hoodie and headphones. no commute. no boss. just a hoodie and headphones. no corner office. no ladder to climb. just a hoodie and headphones. create value. solve problems. have ideas. move fast. kill the imposter. scale. all that’s needed to takeover the…
scale
grow or scale? some use the words synonymously. but they are not the same. when you begin, growth is the only goal. growth is painful. messy. expensive. growth cannot last. it’s to take something you do not like and improve it. growth is a blunt force. but growth is necessary. it’s the foundation. without growth,…
sparks
spontaneous decisions. organize the closet. write a book. go for a walk. take a trip. learn to play guitar. just ideas… at some point you may act on your ideas. that action is a spark. an extreme concentration of energy. a very small, short-lived form of energy. sparks are intense, but fleeting. and I don’t…
days off
in 2025, you’ve got ONE month to achieve your goals. there are 365 days in a year. weekends off? 104 days. meetings, bullshit time? another 104 days. vacation? 18 days. holidays? 15 days. 2 days per month you’re ‘just not feeling it’—24 days. 265 days. 72.6% of the year… you’re not moving the needle. 100…
defined in fragments
I can’t tell you exactly what I want. it’s not a car, a house, or financial freedom. not impact, income, or a lasting legacy. do you know what you want? your dream? your paradise? have you defined it? the best I have are fragments. fragments from artists who seem to know: Zach Bryan on wanting:…
ChatGPT
I’ve found the most epic AI prompt ever feel like NOT writing? not creating? got ideas but no time to expand on them? I mean, they say everyone has at least one book in them… but few will ever write it. I’m here to help. let me show you how to break through. here’s the…
you’re slow
do the Olympics ever make you feel… underwhelmed? maybe it’s just track and field. the fastest man ever, Usain Bolt, ran a top speed of 27.78 mph. fast? I guess… it’s slower than an average mid-sized dog. the highest high jump ever recorded is just over 8ft. impressive? could be… a 2 ft. tall bobcat…
Hansel and Gretel sucked
don’t be like Hansel and Gretel. they sucked at leaving clues. abandoned in the forest, Hansel thought breadcrumbs would get them home. breadcrumbs? c’mon, Hansel… big surprise, birds eat their breadcrumbs. no more path. no way home. now a witch wants to eat you. try to be more like Lewis & Clark. meticulous. detailed journals.…
focusing question
are you focused? if so, are you focused on the RIGHT thing? a lot of symptom chasers. very few find the root cause. to be sure you are focused on the right thing… try the "focusing question." here it is: what’s the one thing I can do, such that by doing it everything else is…
unkink your business
just imagine… you’re trying to water your plants. you’ve got the hose. you turn the valve. no water… chances are the spigot’s fine. you’ve just got a kink. no fear. I’ll teach you how to handle kinks. step #1 – find the kink. step #2 – straighten out as much of the hose as you…
short work
short work or long work? what I’m about to tell you, I read in a children’s book in 2018… and it’s been a stupid-effective productivity tip. if i need to accomplish something, i do it. if its going to take 6 hours, no problem. 6 hours straight. done. that’s, ‘long work.’ i suck at ‘short…
hotel gyms
I’ve traveled a lot. stayed in all kinds of hotels. Motel 6. La Quinta. Hilton. Ritz-Carlton. past the Motel 6 level, you can expect a gym. and here’s what I’ve always noticed. the higher the nightly rate, the more people in the gym. which leaves me with a chicken-or-egg question: does money make you fitter?…
universal language
do you know the universal language for aviation? it’s English. since we won WWII, we got to pick. Chinese pilots to America, American pilots to China. all English. do you know the universal language for humans? it’s effort. sports field. boardroom. we recognize effort. the sistine chapel. the great wall. the pyramids. we marvel at…