I grew up in a house where financial literacy just wasn't a thing. We faced some tough lessons because of it, sometimes having no bank account at all, other times relying on check-cashing spots. I can’t bring myself to speak ill of the lottery, because scratch-off tickets were what got us through more than a few tight spots. The truth is, I was 26 years old before I even knew the stock market was a real thing.
When you first start a side hustle, it’s easy to get caught up in the visuals—the logo, the website colors, the fonts. While those things matter, your brand is so much more than that. Think of it as your business’s identity. It’s the sweet spot where how you want the world to see you meets how the world sees you. Your job is to make sure those two perspectives align.
The idea of love feels timeless. While the English word is only about 800 years old, the concept itself is woven into the history of nearly every culture, from the ancient Greeks to the Persians. It’s a cornerstone of every major religion and seems to have been with us since the dawn of civilization. Love is the force that brings us together, giving us strength in hard times and rallying us toward something bigger than ourselves. It’s the classic theme in stories passed down through generations: good versus evil, love versus hate. Maybe these ideas resonate so deeply because we all feel those opposing forces within ourselves.
We’ve already talked about getting to know our true selves and realigning our mental operating system around the core beliefs we were born with, like our limitless ability to learn. It’s impossible to reboot our minds if those fundamental programs aren’t in the right place. Most of us understand that panicky feeling when a phone or laptop gives us the "screen of death" and won't start. We worry that everything is lost. But what many people don't realize is that the most important technology they own—their mind—has been compromised for most of their lives.
As a leader, some of the most powerful concepts for growth aren't directives—they're discussion starters. If you want to elevate your team's mindset, the best way is to guide them through a conversation and let them arrive at the key insights themselves.
We are living in an era of unprecedented information. In the last fifty years, the dawn of the digital age has caused an explosion of knowledge and data. Every single day, we collectively generate about 1.15 trillion megabytes of new data—a fact I found in a quick 45-second Google search. To put that in perspective, we create more new information in a 24-hour cycle than all of our ancestors did over millions of years.
It all started on November 11, 2021, with a COVID-19 diagnosis. What began as a mild cold quickly devolved into a crushing fatigue that made it hard to even think about moving. By the 15th, I could feel the virus in my lungs, each breath becoming a conscious effort. I kept telling myself I’d push through it, but by Sunday the 21st, my wife, Michelle, knew better. She saved my life that day.