Inside Out Leadership

CEO coaching, for founders, by founders. We help early/mid-stage startup founders scale into executive leaders & build low-drama companies, through CEO-coaching that blends psychological growth and operational excellence.

Founder, Executive Coach

Endeavor

Endeavor is a global non-profit that for 19 years has helped entrepreneurs and their companies in 25 countries reach global scale and relevance.

Endeavor Entrepreneur

GVSU Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Board Member

On Deck

Helping founders step fully into their lives and scale their masterpieces.

Coach for Scale-Up Founders (via On Deck Scale)

The largest and fastest growing high school sports communication platform in America.  As the exclusive web/mobile platform for over 11million passionate fans across 40+ states (20% of the total US market), VNN is rapidly aggregating the fragmented, multi-billion dollar high school sports market onto an intelligent platform, and transforming high school sports.

Co-Founder + CEO

Helping entrepreneurs in West Michigan connect to the resources they need, while cultivating strategic positioning within the Michigan startup community.

Entrepreneur in Residence

West Michigan All Star

The largest high school sports publication in Michigan.  A tight knit group of sports junkies who made it their business to ensure that high school athletes in West Michigan got the positive coverage and recognition they deserve.

Founder

Exited founder turned CEO-coach | Helping founders discover who they are as leaders and build high-performance, low-drama companies

Over 15 years I founded and served as CEO to three companies. The last of those, VNN, became the largest and fastest growing high school sports marketing platform in the US. I raised $20M from leading VCs, built a world class team of over 100 professionals, and scaled that company to nearly 20% of the US market.

All while doing everything I could to present only the most polished, hyper-competent version of myself and my company, at all times.

And then in 2020 I left it all behind.

When I signed the papers, officially removing myself as CEO of the company I’d started a decade prior, it felt like I’d been punched in the gut.

Without my persona as the “CEO of VNN,” I realized that I had no idea who I was anymore, or what to do with my life.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime.

I spent the next 2 years searching, meditating, hanging out with monks, diving into psychedelics, and trying on new identities that never felt right.

I was stuck.

And then, I finally opened up.

I started being honest about my struggles, despite the voice in my head telling me to play a role. I let go of my compulsion to be “Ryan the CEO,” or “Ryan the entrepreneur,” or even “Ryan the guy who’s raised a ton of money and scaled a media company.”

I was just, Ryan.

And the most surprising things happened.

1. The more I opened up, the more everyone else did around me. My network grew and developed into one of deep relationships spanning life and business.

2. The more I let go, the more the universe seemed to place exactly what I needed on my doorstep. Things began to happen organically, in ways much better than I could have planned.

3. The quieter my mind got, the more I was able to access an innate wellspring of creativity and inspiration that, frankly, made work feel easy and joyful.

Me, the guy who’d worked so hard his whole life to be perfect, when I learned to let go and be me, great, meaningful work flowed out of me.

And from that foundation, I started Inside-Out Leadership, a boutique executive coaching firm that helps founders transform their companies into their masterpieces and step fully into their lives.

Today, in my work as a coach I see the tendency to present that veneer of polished competence in nearly every founder I meet. And while I recognize the need for presentation in some cases (fundraising, recruiting), I also see how that need to look good actually gets in the way of our learning and growth.

If you're tired of doing your own impression of the "perfect leader," you're not alone.

Shoot me a DM. There's another way. And it's fucking incredible.

Ryan H. Vaughn

When I co-founded VNN in 2010, I didn’t know what I was doing. My degree was in creative writing, not business. But I learned fast how to play the part - to be whoever the room needed me to be.

Raising $20 million from top VCs? I could project unshakable confidence.
Scaling from two people to nearly a hundred? I could figure it out.
Even when I had seven days of runway with fifty families depending on me, I kept that mask perfectly polished.

For years, I mistook this performance for leadership. I thought my job was to absorb the fear so my team didn’t have to. When we were down to weeks of cash, I’d make decisions through the lens of survival, while my team wondered why I wasn’t thinking bigger.
They didn’t know we were on the edge of collapse.
And I was too afraid of being vulnerable to tell them.

The startup bias toward action became my nervous system. Move fast. Check boxes. Solve the next crisis. Never stop.
But the armor that once kept me alive was now suffocating me.

Then in 2020, I signed the papers and walked away from the company I’d built for a decade. The moment the title disappeared, so did the identity that had kept me upright. It was as if I’d been holding my breath for ten years - and now, all at once, I was empty.

Without the performance, I didn’t know who I was.
I’d spent a decade building something that looked successful on the outside, but I’d never stopped long enough to meet the person underneath it.

So I went searching.
I stayed at a monastery.
I studied meditation under Zen masters.
I sat in silence until the noise of ambition started to dissolve.

Meditation taught me something simple: when you learn to sit with urges without acting on them, you discover a space between stimulus and response.
In that space, I began to see how much of my leadership had been driven by fear disguised as responsibility.

When I finally dropped the armor, something unexpected happened.
Real conversations began.
When I shared the truth of what I was struggling with, everyone around me began to do the same.
It turned out we were all exhausted from pretending to be unbreakable.

I started a small meditation group for ten founders. Within six weeks, it grew to five groups - just people calling, saying they needed this space.
They were tired of performing too.

And then, because the Universe is weirdly awesome, that somehow evolved into Inside-Out Leadership - a place for founders to do the inner work while they’re still building.

Because you don’t have to wait for the exit or the breakdown to become whole.

If you’re tired of performing the perfect CEO and ready to lead from clarity instead of fear, let's talk.

Sometimes the most courageous thing a founder can do is to take off the armor and see who’s been waiting underneath it all along.

Exited founder turned CEO-coach | Helping early/mid-stage startup founders scale into executive leaders & build low-drama companies

Years ago, I gave a talk on risk that included jail time and went semi-viral. In my experience, risk is profoundly misunderstood. And this talk is every bit as relevant today...

I got to that jail cell by chasing the great American novelist dream the way Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson did, which is to say I drank like a fish and experimented with everything I could get my hands on. It led exactly where you'd expect.

Sitting there, I couldn't see past the next hour. The novelist dream was dead. My relationships were damaged. The path forward looked like court dates and probation, not companies and meaningful work.

I'd like to take the opportunity now to say that I'd advise you all to avoid jail at all costs. But that cell did teach me something pretty profound about risk:

Most of what stops us isn't the actual risk. It's our imagination of what the risk could be.

Risk = the actual possibility something bad happens.
Fear = your automatic emotional story about it.

When you've hit actual rock bottom - not the fear of failure, but genuine loss of freedom, you gain perspective on this distinction. And it changes how you evaluate every decision after.

The framework for separating these: 

First, name your catastrophic fear story. 
Then name the actual risk, stripped of drama. 
Most founders realize their fear is playing a 10 when the risk is a 3.

This distinction powered everything that came next for me.

I hid the concept for my second company, VNN, for months, terrified someone would steal it. Then Matt Anderson approached me at Ford Field and pitched the exact same idea I'd been sitting on. Turns out if you have a good idea, a hundred other people probably already have it.

I started VNN with Matt in 2011. During our first funding round in 2012, I had to separate the real risk (they might say no) from my fear (I'm a fraud). I can tell you now, the risk was not equal to the fear. 

I also remember being terrified when our two largest competitors announced an alliance. We had 20 schools, they had 500+. I remember walking around telling a friend it was over, and he agreed.

My fear said: We're finished, I'm exposed as a fraud, it's all over.

The actual risk: Competitive dynamics might shift.

Separating those two kept me building, and we ended up being 10x their size.

I learned this through a painstaking process of trial and error, and now I see a ton of other founders trapped in the same pattern. Every overwhelmed CEO convinced they're about to be exposed, every founder paralyzed by decisions, confusing actual risk with fear stories.

I gave this talk nearly a decade ago, running an entirely different company, and yet parts of it have become the foundation of how Inside-Out Leadership helps founders move from fear-based decisions to clarity-based action.

If you're making decisions based on fear rather than actual risk, DM me. I've sat exactly where you are, scared the next choice will be the wrong one. There's a better way.

I’ve invited one of our awesome clients to tell his story about working with Inside-Out. Stories like these are usually highly confidential, but this client has agreed to share theirs. Here goes:

I reached out to Ryan on Twitter in 2021 after launching my business the year before. From the outside, everything looked good - new company, new role, clear opportunity. But inside, I was drowning.

I'd been to therapy and worked with coaches before. It had always helped, but I'd plateaued. I had this gnawing sense that if I didn't overcome my personal challenges, I could experience very scary consequences.

The first year Ryan and I worked together, we focused 80% on my personal life and 20% on work. Because, as I came to learn, there's no separation. It's all just me issues. Early on, Ryan would ask where a feeling was located in my body, and I'd go completely blank. I felt embarrassed, deficient.

So he'd guide me: "Do you feel it in your throat? Your chest? Your stomach?"

Eventually, I could say, "I guess... in my throat," and that felt okay.

I was learning the language of my own feelings. I remember thinking, "It's like he's speaking a language I don't speak. I feel really illiterate."

Ryan helped me see my disconnection wasn't a problem. It was reasonable. It had served me. That release of shame let us go deeper.

2022 became the year I learned that awareness alone is progress. I got curious about my patterns without trying to immediately change them.
In 2023, we landed on a theme of where to go next: messy and connected.

I'd spent my life creating safety through control. Being the "good" son, husband, CEO. But control is an illusion. Real safety comes from being messy and connected. From showing up as who you actually are.

At work, I started speaking from uncertainty. "I'm feeling fearful about this decision" instead of always having the right answer. My team didn't pull back - they leaned in. They wanted more of the real me, not less.

My business grew from 1 company with 75 employee-owners to 4 businesses with 250+ employee-owners. Enterprise value up 200%. But more importantly, my stress dropped from unsustainable to manageable.

Here's what captures it best.

I always felt I needed to be perfect. Now I understand I was put on earth to be me. The best version isn't perfect. He's the messiest, most connected version. How much more fulfilling could life be if just being me is the point?

---

Nearly every founder I work with wears some version of the perfect CEO armor. Achieving externally while struggling internally.

If you recognize yourself in this journey, if you're achieving but not thriving, send me a DM.

I work with founders at this inflection point. The work isn't easy. But it might be the most important work you do.

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My parents got divorced when I was 15, and 15 years later, it almost killed my business...

I was blindsided when my dad told me, driving home from school, that he was moving out. At the time, I played it off like it didn't faze me - no big deal. But I can see now just how thoroughly that event shaped my view on life. On relationships. On business. On people leaving me.

Fast forward 15 years. I was running a venture-backed company. We'd scaled from 15 to 75 people in 9 months post Series A, hitting all our numbers.

But I'll never forget the specific brown of the boardroom chair in which I was sitting when an investor told me the presentation I'd spent weeks on was garbage. He instructed me angrily to take an entirely different angle.

The CEO's job is to push back, and I knew this. But I didn't, because fear took over.

I remember the wave of shame hitting me. A bodily rush that turned me from a competent CEO to a defensive little boy, scared his father would leave if he didn't do what was asked. That fear whiplashed me into a 180-degree turn in how we were going to market.

None of this happened consciously. I simply found myself executing a new plan because the investor was so convinced.

I changed the pitch to what he wanted. And naturally, because I didn't believe in it, the investors I pitched didn't believe it either. Our raise failed. We closed a bridge round with our tails between our legs, and it took years to recover.

We can call this poor leadership, but ultimately it's just a symptom of unexamined fear.

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate." - C.G. Jung

The issue is that we treat this internal fear as a personal flaw to be hidden, rather than a quantifiable business risk to be controlled.

Think of how many times you've seen:

• Burnout
• Being uncoachable
• Flat investor pitches
• Flinching in a negotiation
• Defensiveness or blaming
• Underhiring key direct reports

These are all fear-based. Mostly unexamined. We can see it in others easily, but struggle to see it in ourselves. For founders, ignoring this can mean the difference between success and failure.

So what do we do?

In short, we look at the fear directly and talk about it openly. In this way, we can learn the texture of our fears and manage them consciously.

For those brave enough to do the work, the best bet is to do this with a trained professional, which is one reason why so many venture funds are funding mental health programs for their founders. 

As in my case, we’re often too close to see how our decisions are being made, so it’s helpful to have an outside perspective to help us see what’s going on. 

Doing this, helping founders navigate their fears consciously to enable authentic leadership, is one reason why I coach.

We need to treat fear as a business risk to be managed, not a weakness to be shunned.

If you're ready to look at what's really driving your decisions, send me a DM.

For years running a startup, I only used 2 notes: On and off. On meant running full tilt toward the next objective, and off meant recharging so I could do it again. 
But I became so optimized for productivity, my creativity died...

While I checked boxes efficiently, my company's innovation slowly died. What had once been a font of creative output, slowly, by degrees, became an optimized machine driving ever more efficiently to where the puck used to be.

It's remarkable how quickly nimble startups turn into slow legacy companies when they stop nurturing the creative recklessness they started with.

I've since learned there's a spectrum, with productivity on one side and creativity on the other, and I'd been stuck at the productivity extreme for so long that I'd forgotten about everything else.

So the question became: is it possible to optimize for creativity?

I used to think creativity was chaotic. Something spontaneous, unmanageable - useful for artists, not CEOs. But I’ve learned it can be cultivated deliberately, like a muscle you’ve simply stopped using.

Creativity begins where control ends.

It can't emerge from pressure or optimization - it emerges from permission.
From leaving a little space in your schedule unclaimed.
From walking without plugging in to a podcast.
From noticing what your mind does when it isn’t told what to do.

The irony is, the less I tried to be creative, the more creative I became.
I’d gone from “on/off” to something much richer - fluid, alive, responsive.

As leaders, we model the behavior we most value. If we only reward output, our teams will learn to suppress imagination. But if we make space for curiosity, they’ll follow us there too.

You can’t build a masterpiece from binary inputs.
You need the full range.

If you're wondering how to rediscover play after optimizing it away, try the Imaginary Lives exercise, modified from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.

If you had 5 other lives to lead, what would you do in each?

I'd be an astronaut, author, professional basketball player, hippie, physicist. You might be a cowhand, psychic, scuba diver, belly dancer, painter, rock drummer.

Write down whatever occurs without overthinking it, then select one and do it this week. If you put down country singer, can you pick up a guitar? If you dream of being a cowhand, what about horseback riding?

The secret is realizing you only have one life, and you won't get another chance unless you take steps now.

Not only does this work wonders for juicing your creative capacity, it is a great launchpad to a more nuanced, complex, and complete way of life.

---

Proud to coach with Inside-Out Leadership, CEO coaching by exited founders who've been there.

I've never been big on business books. Most say their point in 3 chapters, then repeat themselves for 200 pages. But these 5 books changed everything for me - in my business and my life:

1. Reboot by Jerry Colonna

Written by a former VC turned executive coach, this was the first time I felt someone really understood what I was going through as an early-stage CEO.

Colonna's questions helped me see how my need to appear competent was actually making me a less effective leader. After reading it, I stopped presenting only the polished version of myself in meetings and started being honest about my struggles with my leadership team.

Perfect for: Founders struggling with the weight of the role.

2. The Second Mountain by David Brooks

This book transformed a monthly book club I set up over a decade ago.

So many of us spent years chasing success, only to realize upon getting there that it was an incomplete goal. Brooks helped me shift my focus from optimizing my company's appearance to investors to building it around what truly mattered to me.

Perfect for: Accomplished leaders questioning their "why."

3. The Meaning Revolution by Fred Kofman

The former head of culture at LinkedIn taught me that people yearn to dedicate their lives to work that outlives them and connects to values beyond themselves.

His framework helped me reframe our team's work from hitting metrics to building something that mattered. We went from tracking outputs to talking about impact.

Perfect for: Second-stage companies hitting a ceiling.

4. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

Most founders look back at their early days as a time of tremendous innovation. Then the constant demands of running a company beat the creativity out of them.

Cameron wrote The Artist’s Way to help people rediscover their creative spark. For a leader, this can be the key to unlocking previously inaccessible levels of growth, as founders are simply artists working at scale.

Perfect for: Leaders looking to regain their edge.

5. The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni

The most useful "how to run a business" book I've read.

Lencioni's blueprint for company operations was foundational to how we rebuilt our corporate culture at VNN, aligning a 100-person team with only a few key structures.

Perfect for: Entrepreneurs leading companies >20 people

Reboot helped me see my patterns. The Second Mountain helped me question my goals. The Meaning Revolution helped me rebuild culture around purpose. The Artist's Way reignited my creativity. The Advantage gave us the structure to scale it all.

These books provided the frameworks. But turning frameworks into lived transformation is where the real work begins.

That journey from founder to conscious leader is exactly what we help navigate at Inside-Out Leadership.

And to save me some time, help me out. What other business books are worth reading all the way through?

In 2015, when Volkswagen’s emissions scandal broke open, the world focused on the software - the quiet lines of code that made 11 million cars look cleaner than they really were. But what struck me was the culture required to create it...

To build something that deceptive, you first need a room where truth has become dangerous.

A room where engineers are aware that the math doesn't quite add up, but also know that saying so might cost them their careers.
A room where fear, often slow, invisible, and cumulative in nature, has more influence than integrity.

Every founder builds some version of that room.

I certainly did.

Early in my first company, there were days when I moved through the office like a storm. I didn’t yell or threaten. I just radiated tension - the kind that makes people speak in careful, buffered sentences. I thought this was me being “focused.” My team thought otherwise: Don’t bring him anything he won’t want to hear today.

It happens gradually. A roadmap that’s slipping. A sales forecast that needs optimism to survive. A technical debt warning softened because last time you talked about it, your jaw clenched and your tone tightened.

No one lies. They just start performing.

This is how cultures drift - not through dramatic moments, but through tiny shifts in reality. The truth becomes something people handle with gloves.

Volkswagen’s investigation blamed “individual misconduct and weak processes.”
But the deeper, human truth is far simpler:

When leaders react poorly to hard truths, teams learn to stop sharing them.

And it almost always starts inside the leader.

For me, it started with fear:
Fear of slowing down. Fear of appearing uncertain. Fear of confronting the parts of myself I’d spent years outrunning.

When I couldn’t hold difficult truths internally, I couldn’t hold them externally.
So people shielded me. Humans are prone to protecting each other from discomfort, especially when power is involved.

It took burning out, emotionally and physically, to realize the actual cost of this. Once your team learns to protect you from reality, you very quickly lose the ability to lead it.

Unfortunately, like all complex things, the antidote isn’t as simple as transparency training or an open-door policy.

It’s inner work.

The slow, sometimes painful excavation of the fears, patterns, and old identities that make certain truths feel threatening.

When a leader builds internal safety - the ability to hear hard things without collapsing, defending, or retaliating - a strange thing happens:

People start telling the truth again. They bring you problems earlier. They stop curating the world on your behalf.

And the company breathes.

Volkswagen is an extreme example, but the pattern is universal. A culture of honesty starts with a leader who can sit with uncomfortable truths without flinching.

If you’re scaling fast and want to make sure fear isn’t quietly writing your culture’s code, DM me.

Moneyball came back to Netflix recently, so Laura and I watched it for the umpteenth time. Billy Beane’s quest to change baseball teaches us a surprising lesson about disruption in any industry...

In every field, the status quo resists outsiders. Disruptors must push against inertia, often alone, with a hunch, limited data, and a willingness to risk more than others. Beane spends the movie confronting the possibility that he’s wrong, and the failure and ridicule that would follow.

Even inside his own organization, people push back. They tell him all the reasons he’s wrong, all the reasons he should give up and build a team “the way it’s always been done.”

But as the disruptor, Beane’s job is to keep going. Disruptive ideas aren’t recognized as such until after the fact. Until then, the leader’s task is to persist through doubt.

Once he’s “convinced” his staff to sign players based on on-base percentage instead of conventional value, the pressure ramps up. For the first dozen games, his approach seems to fail - providing early data that “proves” the old way is best.

At the early stages, success is often indistinguishable from failure when measured by traditional metrics.

He keeps going.

“A good process produces good results.” - Nick Saban

With every reason to quit, Beane continues because his team’s actions align with success, even if results don’t yet show it. He sees that consistent actions matter more than short-term outcomes. It’s one of the deepest truths in entrepreneurship.

He doubles down on his belief that optimizing for on-base percentage will win in the long run. He sees his players getting on base and trusts his system to translate that into wins.

And it does.

The same story unfolded in the NBA with Daryl Morey and the Houston Rockets. “Moreyball” valued threes, layups, and dunks above all else. Early on, focusing on shooting threes, and not necessarily making them, looked absurd. But when the Rockets started winning, every team copied them.

As The Athletic put it, “Results, often, are the least important thing. The process of what happens does matter.”

Beane’s A’s looked like a misguided experiment until they rattled off 20 straight wins. Now, every team in baseball follows their playbook.

Moneyball shows what real disruption looks like. We imagine it as a bold founder rewriting an industry overnight. In truth, it’s an entrepreneur pushing an unproven idea uphill while everyone says he’s wrong and every metric says he’s failing.

When the world finally catches up, the disruptor feels vindicated. But after so many sleepless nights, doubts, and near-collapse, the first thing he actually feels isn’t pride.

It’s relief.

Keep going, friends. Second-guessing yourself is part of the process.

“How will your company become a unicorn?” The question seems innocent enough. But there’s a trap inside, just like there’s a trap in any question that asks a founder to predict the future with certainty... 

No matter how much you know about your business, how compelling the opportunity, or how confident you feel, you cannot predict the future.

Describing a spectacular outcome and a straight path to get there can seem like the norm when we pitch our companies. But predicting the future with certainty, besides being inaccurate, may also cause you to hold onto a bad strategy for too long and sink your company. This is backed by science.

A famous study once showed that rats preferred receiving shocks to the brain in the present to the possibility of receiving bad outcomes at some later time in the future. They feared the uncertainty of the future more than the pain itself.

We're not so different. Humans also hate uncertainty - so much so that we are immensely attracted to folks who seem certain. Given that, it’s no wonder startup founders project certainty in order to attract others. Certainty gets coffee, because certainty is a closer. 

But as effective as certainty is at closing deals, it’s equally effective at closing minds. 

The minute we fixate on a singular solution, not only do we stop looking for alternatives, but our minds (specifically the Reticular Activating System) filter out any evidence to the contrary. For example, when you buy a new car, and you suddenly start seeing that car everywhere. It's not that there are more of them; your mind just notices what it chooses to notice.

So when someone asks you how your company will become a unicorn, and you tell them precisely how you’ll get there, you’re locking your nervous system - and your company - into a single path.

If everything goes according to plan, you're fine. But the moment something off-script happens, your previous prediction may become your blindfold.

The best leaders, on the other hand, are confident but never rigid. 

They are confident, even when they’re uncertain, because their confidence is rooted not in their plan coming to fruition, but in their ability to navigate the uncertainty. Some leaders hide the areas in which they are unsure. But the most effective leaders own their uncertainties, knowing that uncertainty is unavoidable, and are confident in their ability to pivot and figure shit out.

Next time you spot the trap, “How will your company become a unicorn?”, I invite you to smile and confidently own your uncertainty:

“I don’t know. The current data suggests it might happen this way. But if not, we have a plan for that, too.”

Why would someone follow a leader who answers like that?

Because they see that you have the same doubts that they have, but you are confident in your ability to navigate the unknown, and you’re betting your life on it anyway.

Proud to coach with Inside-Out Leadership, CEO coaching by exited founders who've been there.

It seems self-evident that the harder and longer you work, the more you get done. It's also not true. NASA's long-term study showed that taking a 26-minute nap in the middle of each shift increases job performance by 34%:

To restate: take a 26-minute power nap and you'll get 1/3 more done.

Before you dismiss this as "interesting but I gotta get back to work," recognize that most major breakthroughs come from leaning into something that's both counterintuitive and true.

I speak with stressed CEOs regularly, and when I talk about self-care I usually hear the same thing: 

"I'm too busy. I know it's important, but right now I'm just strapped. Maybe tomorrow."

If I share this NASA data, most get excited about it. Many even think about how their teams could power-nap. But almost none would take a nap themselves later that day.

If I told them that Harvard Business Review found:

Healthy eating leads to better moods and higher energy, exercise increases blood flow and boosts learning and memory, and good sleep improves focus, creativity, and empathy... they'd probably still think that's compelling for someone else, but they themselves have too much to do.

I get it. I've been there. And now I spend 5-7am every morning on a rigorous self-care routine, simply because it makes me more effective.

Here's the thing: trying to outwork your problems is precisely how most leaders react to the idea of taking care of themselves first. 

And that's the popular choice.

Which means there's a competitive advantage when you lean into the counterintuitive benefits of self-care.

Eat healthy, exercise, sleep well, and take naps. Go win your market.

If you're ready to address the deeper patterns driving your burnout and your inability to stop, shoot me a DM. I'd love to help.

I chased achievements for 20 years and felt empty the moment I got each one.
Only the next goal mattered, until that became meaningless too.
Here's the pattern that kept me trapped (and how to break it):

Everything humans do is either to steer toward feelings they interpret as positive or to avoid those they interpret as negative. There isn’t much more to it than that.

I’ve gone to incredible lengths to curate the feelings I’m exposed to. Ended relationships rather than face my failings. Blamed others rather than confront what I’ve done wrong. Most often, I imprison myself in tunnel vision, diminishing everything that isn’t the Goal to avoid my deepest fear: 

The fear that I’m not good enough.

That fear leads to knee-jerk decisions that seem right in the moment but that I regret later. I’ve sent so many emails that gave me a dopamine hit of productivity, but did more harm than good.

I learned early in life that I wasn’t good enough, and decided I’d do anything to prove otherwise. My life became one long chain of achievements, each seeming like the most important thing until I attained it, at which point it became irrelevant. I was still not enough. Only the next achievement would prove otherwise.

It wasn’t until I stopped achieving - forced through failure to slow down - that I could see the operating system I was living through. It was painful as hell, but it forced me to confront my inadequacy head-on. Through that pain, I finally saw the pattern and realized I had a choice.

Instead of achieving to outrun inadequacy, I could stop. Face it.

Sitting in that inadequacy was exquisite torture, yet freeing. I didn’t have to reflexively jump into action. I could simply be and, as Trungpa Rinpoche says, “lean into the sharp points.” Feel what I’d been running from and let it pass.

By sticking with the feeling, I developed familiarity with it.

For me, fear feels like:
• Wired eyes, like I haven’t slept
• A tight chest, like after smoking too much
• A pounding heart when I see success in others
• A spinning mind, comparing my achievements to others

I can now recognize it when it comes, and resist the reflex to act. I know it always passes, even when it feels like it won’t.

I’m familiar with my primal fear. Not friendly with it, but acquainted enough to recognize it. The fear I once jumped through hoops of fire to avoid is just bodily sensation mixed with an urge to achieve.

For years, that feeling drove my actions - fueling both success and destruction.

Now, when it arises, there’s a choice. Most of the time, I sit with it and appreciate how its intensity reminds me I’m alive.

Then I look at the situation with clarity and do the next right thing.

That shift from reactive to conscious changed everything.

I created Inside-Out Leadership to guide founders through this transformation because I know how powerful it is - and how difficult it is to do alone.

If you recognize this pattern, let's talk.

Ben Horowitz says most successful companies will experience 5 "WFIO" (we're f*****'d, it's over) moments. It’s an entrepreneur’s resilience in those moments, not strategy or tactics, that separates the successful companies from the rest:

I use the word resilience intentionally, deliberately drawing a distinction between it and its close cousin: persistence.

Most founders hear "resilience" and think of a stone-cold badass shrugging off every challenge. A scarred warrior gritting through the pain, lifting up his spear once more.

That's persistence. 

Persistence is force.
It’s the inner voice that says, “Keep moving, no matter what.”
It gets you out of bed when everything hurts.
It carries you through the sprint, the crisis, the all-nighter.

But persistence runs on pressure. And while it works in the moment, it comes with a huge cost.

It demands control, suppresses emotion, and burns a fuel that will eventually, without fail, run out.

As decades of psychological science will attest, every time you push down your emotions to get shit done, you incur what I call emotional debt.

Like companies incur technical debt, leaders incur emotional debt when they repress fear, worry, or anger to keep moving. A little can be useful when managed consciously and paid back quickly. But perpetual emotional debt clouds your judgment.

Think of a time when you’ve seen a leader bite an employee’s head off for asking a question. Or think of the dreaded burnout. I know this one personally. I thought I could will myself past the unpleasant stuff with no repercussions. Then it all came due at once and I had to take a sabbatical. 

It can be a good decision to max out your emotional credit cards by persisting in the heat of a crisis. Just remember that debt compounds, and if you don’t pay your bills, don’t be surprised when the creditor comes calling to break your kneecaps.

Resilience is different.

Resilience is supple. It bends.

It's the way skyscrapers flex in the wind, moving with every gust before returning to center. It's water adjusting to every obstacle but never stopping its flow.

Resilience is intentionally feeling the emotions without changing them, all the way through to completion, and then moving forward with a clear head.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, leaning into your negative emotions - consciously feeling the texture of your fear rather than trying to fix it - produces profound results.

By processing emotions in real-time with curiosity rather than resistance, you allow them to move through you and be completed. You pay the emotional cost in cash, not credit.

Next time you get bad news, try this:

Before opening Slack or calling your team, take 90 seconds. Close your eyes. Notice where the emotion lives in your body. Chest tight? Stomach dropped? Just observe it without trying to make it go away.

That's resilience.

How about you? Are you habitually practicing persistence or resilience?

I ask one question in every CEO group I run: Tell me about the time when you felt most alive. 90% of the answers are the same (and not what you'd expect):

One CEO, fresh off selling his company: "Halfway up a mountain in Patagonia, alone between everything. Looking back at how far I'd come. Looking forward at where I was going. That moment."

Another: "Almost dying in a truck in Asia during a freezing rainstorm. I'd never felt more alive."

A third: "After 100-hour weeks, standing at our kickoff watching it unfold. Everything went wrong the day before. But we did it. I felt like I could do anything."

These moments have something in common. They all happen in liminal space. 

The transition space between who we were and who we're becoming. When we step off our path and see it clearly. In these spaces, stripped of our everyday answers, we're awake to the fundamental question of ourselves.

We feel infinite. Alive.

Yet we spend most of our lives avoiding these moments.

We optimize away uncertainty. We convince ourselves we know exactly where we're going - Series A by Q3, Series B by next year, exit in 5 years. We shine our pitch decks and LinkedIn profiles until every rough edge is gone. We tell ourselves once we hit the next milestone, close that round, get to profitability - then we'll have time to figure out who we are and what we want.

But when faced with the fundamental question of our lives, we race for the next answer. The next salve of certainty, in a milestone, a compliment, or a white picket fence. The very moments that could wake us up - uncertainty, transition, not-knowing - we treat like problems to solve as quickly as possible.

The power of liminal space, and the importance of intentionally creating it in your life, is actually the oldest topic in the book, and as close to perennial human wisdom as it gets.

Richard Rohr: 

"If at least one-seventh of life is not consciousness, presence, and naked human being, the other six days will be caught up as human doings that have little depth, meaning, or final effect. 

If at least one-seventh of life is somehow Sabbath and sabbatical, the rest will take care of itself. 

Without daily, weekly, and yearly choices for liminal space, our whole lives eventually become liminoid and we end up just doing time.”

Read this post ten times and you'll find no answers. No four steps. It's uncomfortable publishing this way. But I'm not writing for comfort. I'm writing to feel alive.

Life will create opportunities for liminal space whether we like it or not. The question is whether we'll rush toward the next answer, or allow ourselves to be changed by the question. 

This is some of the work we do with founders through Inside-Out Leadership. Creating the liminal spaces where you see yourself clearly, stepping off the path long enough to know if it's the right one, and accessing the aliveness that's always been available.

What a fun job I have :)

I worked with a founder recently who was about to begin raising his Series B. His company was doing well, its unit economics outstanding, and its growth rate solid. But he was still worried he was going to f**k it up...

He had tried and failed to raise the year before. He’d told investors the story, generated interest, gotten partner meetings with top-tier funds, moved through diligence quickly. But then every firm passed.

Failed fundraises are traumatic.

It’s not for nothing that people refer to a founder’s company as “their baby” - founders pour every ounce of their lifeblood into their company for years in an effort to help it grow up. Then, when other smart people tell you your baby isn’t worth their time, it tends to leave a mark.

As a good CEO, he went back to the drawing board, broke down the story he’d been telling investors and himself, and identified critical issues that needed fixing. He and his team spent twelve months ruthlessly addressing them.

And yet, preparing for the growth round, he hesitated.

What if it turned out the same as last time?

His failed fundraise had given him valuable data, which he used to improve the business. But the driver of that change was also traumatic.

The reptile part of our brains deals with trauma in a way so highly adapted to survival that it hurts. His nervous system was “helpfully” reminding him how dangerous fundraising was. It recognized a threatening situation it had survived and sent the same red alert.

Our brains are wonderful tools, but trauma can sabotage high performers and prevent them from regaining confidence. And to get a fundraise across the finish line, confidence is everything.

So he needed to process the trauma.

One way to deactivate a traumatic response is to look analytically at the present with your more evolved brain, clarifying what’s different now so the fear center calms down. For him, that meant examining the previous raise closely.

Looking at it through a process lens, we noticed something important: all investors passed post-diligence. That meant he’d actually done a great job getting them excited - otherwise they never would have completed diligence. They passed because they uncovered flaws in the business - the same flaws he’d gone on to fix.

Which meant this: 

If he was the guy who convinced smart people to invest time into a fundamentally broken business, he was certainly the guy who could get them to invest time in the rocketship he was running now. And if they invested time now, he was confident they’d invest capital.

This simple reframe turned a confidence-sapping failure into a proof point of his fundraising mettle.

And this time, the odds were in his favor.

Nothing had changed. But by looking more closely, everything had. He left our conversation jacked up (a term I don’t use lightly) and ready to pitch. 

I felt like Wendy Rhoades in Billions.

I’ve always liked Paul Graham’s essay about how to do what you love. He describes a two-step process for achieving the career you've always wanted. However, research from Johns Hopkins suggests that he got this all wrong...

Graham's first step: working hard, with ridiculously incomplete information, to determine what you actually love to do.

Second step: incrementally steering toward that outcome via a specific process of either A) gaining influence to enable you to do more of what you like and delegate what you don’t, or B) moonlighting in what you love to do until you can make money at it.

This process is very similar to how I got started in entrepreneurship. 

I first decided I wanted to watch sports and call it “work,” then figured out how to make that happen. That also happens to be how Inside-Out Leadership started: I identified a passion for helping entrepreneurs build life-giving companies without self-immolating, and from that I’ve constructed a business to make that happen. The hard part, and Graham talks about this, has always been figuring out what you want.

So we’ll call this paradigm “How to do what you love.” 

It turns out, it may not be the best way.

Research from John’s Hopkins University indicates that it actually works the opposite of this. They showed in a clinical setting that humans random choices lead to preferences, not the other way around. We decide something, and then create reasons why we like that decision. From this, it follows that choices lead to preferences lead to habits lead to identity, to us becoming the person we somehow decide we were born to be.

In other words, from a granular, neuroscientific, process perspective, human beings don’t choose what we like - we like what we choose.

The implications of this on doing what we love are profound. The process of painstakingly finding what we like to do and then creating a life in which we get to do that is a tried-and-true one. But it’s hard, as Graham illustrates:

"Whichever route you take, expect a struggle. Finding work you love is very difficult. Most people fail. Even if you succeed, it's rare to be free to work on what you want till your thirties or forties. But if you have the destination in sight, you'll be more likely to arrive at it."

However, based on the science about how we actually develop what we love, there may be a better option, significantly less arduous and more in keeping with the mechanics of what it is to be human.

Instead of searching for what we want, we can simply search for why we love what we do. The “how to love what you do” paradigm, if you will.

As Seth Godin said: If we commit to loving what we do, we’re more likely to find engagement and satisfaction. And if what we do changes, we can choose to love that too.

---

Where in your life are you still waiting to “feel passion” before making a choice?
And what might happen if you flipped the sequence?
DM me or let me know in the comments.

I see over and over how traditional goal-setting methods can actually demotivate founders. Here's a quick, 7-step process for setting goals that actually produce momentum:

Here’s a typical case:

You set a long-term goal - say 1M users. You break it into milestones, like 500 users in 30 days. You build an action plan: SEO, paid ads, landing pages. You work nights and weekends, sacrifice everything - and miss.

Maybe your software went down, or Facebook changed its rules, or your target was just too ambitious. Either way, you worked hard and still missed. Now you’re not just fighting market challenges, you’re questioning whether you even have what it takes.

This is the trap: tying your self-worth to outcomes. Society tells us this is how it works. But it doesn’t have to.

Starting a company is hard enough without setting yourself up to feel like a failure when things outside your control go wrong.

The most effective founders attach their sense of accomplishment to completing actions, not to producing results. That way, they can generate momentum - the lifeblood of any startup - through their own efforts, regardless of outcome.

Here’s what that looks like:

You set your goal, break it down, and execute your plan. You finish your landing page, your SEO, your ad campaign. You celebrate completion because that’s the win. Then something breaks. You miss the goal - but you’re still winning. You iterate, adjust, and keep going.

You can imagine which approach produces better results.

The best founders I know follow this 7-step process:

1. Set your goal
2. Break it into milestones
3. Build an action plan for the first milestone
4. Complete the plan (this is where you either succeed or fail)
5. Analyze, dispassionately, whether actions taken produced expected results
6. Accounting for that analysis, iterate action plan to reach revised milestone
7. Repeat

Your job as a founder isn’t to control outcomes - it’s to complete the actions you commit to.

So by all means, set goals. Big hairy audacious ones. But remember: you control your actions, not the results. Be ruthless about doing what you said you’d do, and leave the rest to the universe.

Proud to coach with Inside-Out Leadership , CEO coaching by exited founders who've been there.

The #1 Done-For-You LinkedIn Growth System for Execs & Visionaries | We Don’t Just Advise, We Execute | Clients Gained 1M+ Followers in 2024 & 6-7 Figure Deals with Nike, NASA, US Army & More | Book Your Strategy Call 👇

After 10+ years building 15+ award-winning brands, and fueling 8-figure exits, I realized I was playing too small..

I craved a bigger impact.

So I launched Brain Apes to serve visionary founders and execs who want real traction and more influence, without endless trial and error.

What we do:

→ We blend real-world business development and social media expertise, no “copy/paste” course nonsense here.

→ We live in the trenches, delivering presence, strategy, and results that speak for themselves:

🥇 Scaled an org to 200+ employees
🥇 Got a franchise acquired for 8 figures
🥇 Built 37 award-winning brands in 2024
🥇 Added 1M+ followers to clients in 2024 alone
🥇 Fundraised $300K+ in wellness tech pre-seed
🥇 Built a portfolio of award-winning cannabis brands
🥇 Elevated 20+ coaches to 4-5-figure offers that sell
🥇 Managed and monetized 6, 7 and 8-figure audiences
🥇 Helped a local biz win 85+ awards (most in the state)
🥇 Scaled multiple retail & service-based businesses to 7/8+ figures and win awards 

What clients say:

“Working with you in 2024 was so helpful for account growth for my co-founder and me. In total, we added over 40,000 followers and generated millions of impressions. It also helped us raise funds for Prescribe Life—we’re over halfway through our $500K pre-seed raise. You and your team were awesome!”
– Oli J., Co-Founder of Prescribe Health

“Thanks to the offer stack you helped me build, I’ve been closing $20K offers. Also, I can’t believe how quickly you grew my LinkedIn: 0 to 8K in just a few months! You seriously delivered.”
– XK, Founder & Master Coach

“One of THE BEST decisions for my business and life! It’s only been seven days and my LinkedIn is exploding: at least 10X reach, more high-quality interactions, and tons more calls booked for my publishing services!”
– Ben Gioa, Founder of Leadership Awake LLC

Our formula:

1. Nail your positioning and offer
2. Boost content performance
3. Go on offense and get attention

You could spend 120+ hours a week to figure it all out…

Or let us handle everything for you.

(Our Strategy + Your Expertise) x Our Team = Audience Growth & Revenue.

→ We don’t work with everyone.
→ We always have a waitlist.
→ We’re not cheap, but we deliver on our promises (and then some).

Ready for massive results and unstoppable growth?

Book a free executive strategy call with me. 
I’ll give you clarity, no punches pulled.. 

And if we’re a good fit, we’ll craft an offer to work together.

Ready to see what’s possible for your brand in the next 90 days?

Claim your spot here:
brainapes.com/strategy

Jordan Murphy 🧠🦍

Stop Solving Non-Existent Problems

Are you stuck solving problems that don’t even exist? 🚫

Many entrepreneurs get paralyzed by potential fulfillment issues long before they make their first sale.

Here's why that's a mistake and how I broke free from it:

↓

Worried about how to fulfill orders you don’t even have yet?

The truth is you'll have more resources when it comes time to fulfill.

→ It’s a common trap for new entrepreneurs because you can’t solve problems you don’t have yet.

→ They fixate on potential issues instead of securing their first customer.

↓

Focus on making your first sale before anything else.

• Create an offer so irresistible people can’t say no.
• Forget about fulfillment til you have clients.
• Your first priority is to get a "YES."

I see this all the time.

I recently helped a client shift their focus from fear to sales.

→ They were worried about being overwhelmed by too many clients.

→ Yet, they hadn’t made a sale yet.

→ We reoriented their strategy to close deals first, solve issues later.

Pro tip: Focus on solving problems for free and then let them know you have services if they'd like your continued support. You need proof and traction to scale faster.

↓

Here’s the simple truth:

Sell first, learn from it, and then refine.

• Each sale provides invaluable insights.
• You’ll understand what clients truly value.
• And you’ll see which parts of your offer can be streamlined.

So, what’s the actionable step today?

1. Create an offer that feels like a no-brainer.
2. Get out there and start selling it aggressively.
3. Learn and iterate based on real customer interactions.

↓

When I started Brain Apes, I focused solely on getting those first clients.

→ I didn’t worry about scaling or fulfillment.

→ I poured all my energy into making irresistible offers.

→ The result? A business that took off faster than I could have imagined.

Remember, no sales = no business.

• Don’t let the fear of future problems paralyze you.
• Your goal's to make people feel crazy for saying no.
• Once you’re overwhelmed with orders, you start optimizing.

↓

So stop solving problems that don’t exist.

• Focus on making those first crucial sales.
• Use early customer feedback to refine your offer.
• And then, build a scalable system based on real, not hypothetical, issues.

Because you can’t steer a parked car.

1. Start selling.
2. Learn from each experience.
3. Let your customers guide your refinement process.

Embrace the chaos of early sales - it’s where the real growth happens.

Need help making more sales or getting more leads?

You need more volume.. guaranteed.

Learn how we can put that volume on autopilot for you.

Hit my profile and book a call.

(get yours while it’s still free)

シ


♻️ Smash that repost button! ♻️
🔔 Follow me for the daily goodness 🦍

P.S. 💬 What’s your offer?

JSESSIONID

li_at

Talks about #growth, #branding, #business, #marketing, and #wellnessbrands

He Doesn't Know Every Detail. He Knows the Next Step.

A kid builds a trick shot.

But he's not planning the whole thing upfront.

He sets up one piece. Tests it. Watches what happens.

Then uses that information to set up the next piece guiding toward the end goal.

Each attempt tells him what to do next.

He's not guessing. He's building step by step.

This is how you actually build something.

Not with a perfect plan.

Not with a five-year roadmap that accounts for every variable.

Not by figuring out the entire thing before you start.

You build by knowing the next step.

Most founders waste months (at best) trying to see the whole path.

They want to know exactly how the product will scale before they build v1.

They want to map out year three before they've closed their first customer.

They want certainty about the end before they're willing to start.

And while they're planning, someone else is testing.

Someone else is setting up the first piece, watching what happens, and adjusting.

Someone else is building step by step.

And by the time the planners are ready to start, the builders are already three steps ahead.

Here's what that kid understands that most people don't:

You can't know the end until you start.

The trick shot reveals itself as you build it.

Each attempt gives you information you didn't have before.

The path forward only becomes clear when you take the step.

This is iterative strategy.

You don't need to see the whole staircase. You just need to see the next step.

You don't need perfect information. You need enough information to move forward.

You don't need certainty about the outcome. You need clarity about the next move.

And then you move.

You test. You learn. You adjust. You build the next piece based on what the last piece taught you.

The best companies I know were built this way.

They didn't start with the master plan.

They started with a hypothesis and a first step.

They shipped. They watched. They learned.

And then they built the next step based on what they learned.

The strategy emerged through building, not before it.

Because what you learn is:

The market will teach you things no amount of planning can predict.

Your customers will show you paths you never saw coming.

Your product will evolve in ways you didn't expect.

You can't plan for that. You can only respond to it.

And the only way to respond is to be in motion.

To be testing. To be building. To be learning from each step.

So here's the question:

What are you waiting to have figured out before you start?

What's the next step you already know, but you're not taking because you can't see the whole path?

Because you don't need to know the end.

You just need to know the next step.

And then take it.

What's one thing you're overplanning that you could just start testing?

📹 littlebroslegit
🔔 Follow me for daily insights  🔔
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シ

He Built the Momentum Before Anyone Got On

A man built a wooden swing in his backyard.

Seats 4 people. Wraps around a pool. Suspended by rope.

But here's the part most people miss:

Before anyone gets on, he spins it. Over and over. Coiling the rope upward.

Building tension. Storing energy. Creating momentum.

Then everyone loads on. Gets in their seats.

And when they release it, the swing descends as it uncoils.

Spinning faster and faster.

The fun part only works because of what he did first.

This is how you actually build something.

Everyone sees the spin. The speed. The results.

They see the team celebrating. The customers flooding in. The revenue growing.

They see the momentum.

But they don't see the coiling.

They don't see the months you spent building the product before anyone cared.

They don't see the systems you put in place before you had a team to run them.

They don't see the audience you built before you had something to sell.

They don't see you spinning the rope, alone, building the momentum before anyone got on.

Most founders want the results without the setup.

They want the swing to spin without doing the coiling.

They want momentum without building it first.

They want the team, the customers, the growth, but they skip the part where you're alone in the backyard winding the rope.

And then they wonder why nothing takes off.

Here's what that guy understands:

The descent is automatic. The coiling takes effort.

Once the system is built, once the momentum is there, the results feel effortless.

People get on. The swing spins. Everyone has a great time.

But that only happens because someone did the work first.

The best businesses I know were built this way.

The founder spent months, sometimes years, coiling.

Building the product. Testing the market. Refining the message. Creating the systems.

Alone. Unglamorous. Invisible.

And then, when the momentum was ready, they let people on.

And it looked effortless.

It looked like an overnight success.

It looked like they just got lucky.

But the momentum was built long before anyone was watching.

So here's the question:

Are you trying to spin without coiling?

Are you expecting momentum without building it first?

Are you waiting for people to get on before you've done the work to create the ride?

Because the swing only spins if you wind it up first.

The business only scales, the audience only grows if you build the foundation.

The team only thrives if you create the systems.

You have to build the momentum before anyone gets on.

What's one thing you're building right now that no one sees yet?

📹 justinflom
🔔 Follow me for daily insights  🔔
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シ

He Let Go Mid-Air and Trusted the Timing

A guy sends it off a massive ramp.

Goes up. Flips his bike mid-air. Lets it go.

The bike flips faster than he's flipping.

He's front-flipping through the air. The bike's doing its own thing.

Then he catches the handlebars. Perfectly.

Pulls the bike back into control. Whips it into another front flip.

Lands it.

The bike flipped twice. He flipped once. Perfect timing.

He let go mid-air and trusted the timing.

This is the hardest thing for leaders to learn.

Letting go.

Not at the comfortable moment. Not when everything's stable.

Mid-air. When you're already committed. When it feels like the worst possible time.

But sometimes that's exactly when you have to let go.

Most leaders hold on too tight.

They try to control everything. Micromanage every detail. Keep their hands on the handlebars at all times.

And they wonder why they can't pull off the bigger moves.

Because some tricks require release.

Some outcomes only happen when you let go and trust the timing.

Here's what that guy on the bike understands:

You can't flip the bike twice while holding on the whole time.

To land the trick, you have to let go.

Not recklessly. Not without preparation.

But at the exact right moment, you release control.

And you trust that the timing will bring it back together.

The best leaders I know have learned this.

They let go of decisions their team can make.

They let go of control over processes that don't need their hands on them.

They let go of micromanaging outcomes and trust the people they hired.

Not because they don't care. Because they know the trick requires it.

You can't scale while holding onto everything.
You can't grow while controlling every detail.
You can't pull off the bigger moves while gripping the handlebars.

But here's the part most people miss:

Letting go isn't the same as giving up.

That guy didn't just throw the bike away and hope for the best.

He let go with timing.

He knew when to release. He knew when to catch. He knew the rhythm.

And that's what made it work.

Strategic release requires:

Knowing what to let go of.
Knowing when to let go.

Trusting the timing of when it comes back together.

And then catching it at exactly the right moment.

Most founders fail at one of these:

They let go of the wrong things.
They let go at the wrong time.

They don't trust the timing and try to grab back too early.

Or they let go and never catch it again.

But the ones who master it? They scale.

They pull off moves no one else can.
They land tricks that look impossible.

Because they learned to let go mid-air and trust the timing.

So here's the question:

What are you holding onto that you need to let go of?

What would become possible if you released control and trusted the timing?

What's one thing you let go of that felt terrifying but ended up working?

📹 rwilly
🔔 Follow me for daily insights  🔔
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シ

He Wasn't Playing Pool. He Was Playing Him.

Two guys playing pool.

One guy takes his shot. Sinks a ball.

While the other guy watches the ball go in, he grabs another ball with his mouth. Pops it in the pocket.

Fake chalks his cue with another ball. Slides another into a pocket.

Walks around. Lines up the eight ball. Game winner.

Sinks it.

Game over.

The other guy never saw it coming.

He wasn't playing pool. He was playing him.

This is what happens when you don't realize what game you're actually in.

You think you're competing on skill.

They're competing on something else entirely.

And by the time you figure it out, the game's already over.

I see this in business all the time.

You're focused on building the best product.

Your competitor's focused on controlling distribution.

You're optimizing features.

They're locking up partnerships.

You're playing product. They're playing access.

And they win before you realize you were in different games.

Or:

You're competing on price.
They're competing on brand.

You're racing to the bottom trying to be cheaper.
They're building a moat where price doesn't matter.

You're playing pool. They're playing you.

Here's the thing about meta-games:

They're invisible until it's too late.

You don't see the moves because you're watching the wrong thing.

You're focused on the ball going in the pocket.

You're not watching what's happening while you're distracted.

And that's exactly when they make their move.

The best competitors understand this.

They know the stated game isn't always the real game.

They know that while you're focused on one dimension, they can win on another.

They know that misdirection is a strategy.

And they use it.

So here's the question:

What game do you think you're playing?

And are you sure your competitors are playing the same one?

Because if you're optimizing for the wrong game, you've already lost.

If you're focused on product while they're focused on distribution, you lose.

If you're focused on features while they're focused on network effects, you lose.

If you're focused on price while they're focused on brand, you lose.

Not because you're bad at your game. Because you're playing the wrong one.

The smartest move?

Step back and ask: what game is actually being played here?

Not the obvious one. Not the one everyone says they're playing.

The real one.

The one where balls are being pocketed while you're watching somewhere else.

The one where the game's over before you realize it started.

And if you're the one being played:

Pay attention to what's happening when you're distracted.

Question what looks smooth and confident.

Ask yourself: are they playing pool, or playing me?

Because the game you think you're in might not be the game you're actually losing.

What's one time you realized too late that someone was playing a different game than you?

📹 thepointerbrothers
🔔 Follow me for daily insights  🔔
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シ

He Never Had the Lead. He Never Lost His Composure.

Two guys. Head to head. Pop all the balloons first.

Multiple obstacles. Different tools. Pure competition.

The guy on the right has the lead the entire time.

Faster. Ahead. Winning.

The guy on the left? Behind. The whole way.

But he never panics. Stays focused. Never loses his composure.

And at the very end, he wins.

This is what separates the leaders who last from the ones who burn out.

Not speed. Not being ahead. Not having the early lead.

Composure.

The ability to stay calm when you're behind.

The ability to execute when the pressure's on.

The ability to keep moving forward when everyone else is ahead of you.

Most founders panic when they're not winning.

They see a competitor raise more. They panic and overspend.

They see someone else launch first. They panic and rush their product.

They see slower growth than expected. They panic and pivot too early.

The panic costs them more than being behind ever did.

Here's what that guy on the left understood:
Being behind doesn't mean you're losing.

It just means you're behind. Right now.

And right now doesn't determine the outcome.

Your composure does.

Your ability to stay focused on your process while everyone else is focused on the scoreboard.

Your ability to execute your strategy even when it looks like it's not working yet.

The best leaders I know have been behind more times than they've been ahead.

They've watched competitors get more attention.

They've seen others hit milestones first.

They've had quarters where the numbers didn't look good.

But they never lost their composure.

They didn't panic. They didn't abandon their strategy. They didn't let being behind change how they showed up.

They stayed calm. They stayed focused. They kept executing.

And more often than not, they won.

Not because they were faster.

Because they were steadier.

Composure is a competitive advantage.

When everyone else is reacting, you're responding.

When everyone else is panicking, you're executing.

When everyone else is watching the scoreboard, you're focused on the next balloon.

That's how you win.

Not by being ahead the whole time.

By staying composed when you're not.

So here's the question:

Where are you behind right now?

And are you panicking, or are you staying composed?

Are you abandoning your strategy because someone else is ahead, or are you trusting your process?

Because the lead doesn't matter if you lose your composure.

And composure always has a chance to win.

When's a time you were behind but stayed composed and it paid off?

📹 howridiculous
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シ

I'm pissed no one showed me this sooner.

Last month, a client was burning 11+ hours a week on demo calls.

Same pitch. Same slides. Different prospects.

By call 12? His energy was dead. His close rate was dropping. And he was ready to hire two more sales reps just to keep up.

I told him: "We're not scaling your exhaustion. We're replacing the repetition."

Here's what we did:

Built an automation that turns presentations into AI-narrated videos.

Gamma creates the slides → Synthesia adds an AI avatar → ElevenLabs clones his voice.

Zero filming. Zero editing. Just polished video content that sounds and looks like him.

The result?

→ 11+ hours back in his week
→ Prospects watching on their own time
→ Higher engagement (they pause, rewatch, come to calls already sold)
→ Close rate went up because he's only talking to qualified leads

He's not exhausted. He's not repeating himself. And he's closing more deals.

Here's the thing..

Most software is a minivan.

Built for teams of 47 people. Loaded with features you'll never touch. Requires three tutorials just to do one thing.

Meanwhile, you're a solo founder who needs a deck out by 9 AM.

You don't need all this. You just need to move fast.

Gamma is the single-seater.

No extra seats. No wasted space. No compromise.

Just you, the machine, and the road.

Most people think it's just an AI presentation tool.

And yeah, it makes beautiful decks.

But it's actually a machine that takes your messy thoughts and turns them into polished output in whatever format you need.

Presentation. Document. Website. Carousel. Whatever.

You stop worrying about fonts and spacing. You focus on your message. It handles the rest.

Legit impressed with the product, so I read into their founder - Grant Lee - and it made perfect sense. And now I'm more impressed.

He spent years drowning in slide decks as a consultant. PowerPoint sucked and nobody was building the alternative.

In 2020, he and 2 co-founders started building from a two-bedroom apartment.

4 years later:

→ 50 million users
→ $50M ARR
→ Profitable since early 2024
→ Built with just 30 people

30 people. Props bro 👊

That's the single-seater energy.

When you're running that lean, you can't afford bloat.

You build exactly what people need because you're close enough to feel it.

↓

Btw want the exact resources we used to build this workflow?

Comment "VIDEO" and I'll send the drive link.

📹 adamsevani
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シ

The Wheel Moves. He Stays Centered.

A guy built a custom one-wheel vehicle.

Monster truck-sized tire. Cockpit in the middle.

The wheel rolls and spins in every direction.

But the cockpit? On a rotational axis.

As long as he stays engaged, he stays oriented. Stable. Facing forward.

The moment he disengages the clutch, he spins with it.

This is what leadership looks like.

The market moves. Your competitors move. Your team moves.

Everything around you is constantly spinning.

Your job isn't to control the wheel.

Your job is to stay centered while it moves.

And that requires staying engaged.

Most leaders try to stop the wheel from spinning.

→ They react to every market shift.
→ They panic at every competitor move.
→ They let every setback throw them off balance.

And they wonder why they're always dizzy.

And that emotion is a waste of energy..

The wheel is going to move. That's what wheels do.

Fighting it doesn't help. Resisting it doesn't stop it.

The only thing you can control is your center.

But you have to stay engaged to stay centered.

The moment you disengage, you spin with everything else.

How you stay engaged and centered:

Presence.

Being here. Right now.

Not in the story about what's spinning around you.

Not in the drama of what might happen or what just happened.

Just here. Centered. Present. Engaged.

I practice this with something simple: smiling.

Not because everything's perfect.

Because I choose to rest in the smile.

As often as I can remember, I smile.

A real one. A grounded one.

The kind that says: whatever is, is.

Without the undesired, distracting emotional drama.

That smile is my engagement. My anchor. My center.

The wheel is always moving.

There will always be something to react to.

But you don't have to go with it.

You can let the wheel spin and stay exactly where you are.

Centered. Present. Smiling. Engaged.

Not because you're ignoring reality.

Because you're not adding unnecessary drama to it.

The best leaders stay centered.

The market crashes. They stay centered.

The competitor launches. They stay centered.

The deal falls through. They stay centered.

Not because nothing bothers them.

Because they've practiced staying present enough that they don't get pulled into the spin.

They stay engaged. They don't disengage and spin with the chaos.

This is a practice.

You notice when you're getting pulled into the spin.

You come back to your breath. You come back to the present moment.

You smile. You rest in that smile. You stay engaged with your center.

The wheel moves. You stay centered. But only if you stay engaged.

What's one practice that helps you stay centered when everything's spinning?

📹 millybampainti
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シ

We are all in a unique position to help someone.

Are you using your skills to help others?

↓

Everyone has a unique blend of skills and experience.

And if you want to really make a difference...

→ You need to stop doubting yourself.

Here's how to create unwavering confidence:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽? 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲.

Like when I was juggling a full-time job while building Brain Apes.

Doubts were there, but my focus on my unique skills and resources led to a successful launch and a mid 6-figure run rate within 2 months.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.

Being anywhere but right here, right now is disempowering.

The only place in time that you can think, act and feel in alignment with ultimate potential is right now.

So I love breathing techniques and smiling to get present, remember that and feel gratitude.

(Shoutout the 4-7-8)

It clears the noise, sharpens focus, and brings out the best in me.

It's not just mindfulness, it’s strategic mind renewal.

𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲.

Balance your goals, manage your expectations:

• Set macro goals for the big picture
• Break them into micro-steps
• Get directionally aligned
• Keep showing up

Small steps lead to giant leaps.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗱-𝗼𝗻.

I did when I left my 9-5.

Playing small does not serve you, nor the world.

It's scary, but your potential is on the other side of fear.

Remember, great risks often lead to even greater rewards.

𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆.

Each challenge is a chance to practice presence.

Embrace your struggles as opportunities to grow stronger.

My journey is a testament to this transformative mindset.

Everything you want is on the other side of failure.

Fail fast, learn faster.

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘁.

They have the power to change lives.

My mission? To help you leverage them.

I've done it, and so can you.

Stop doubting, start doing.

𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗻, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁.

Through action, presence, and strategic goal setting.

Let's build that confidence together.

シ

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🔔 Follow Jordan Murphy 🧠🦍 for more.
💬What’s your top skill?

TRUST YOUR TEAM

I've burned teams to the ground, accidentally setting them up for failure.

Hiring the right people is key, but once they’re in?

It’s even more crucial to empower and trust them.

But micromanagement?

That’s a recipe for stagnation.

Trust and autonomy, on the other hand, fuel creativity and performance.

When your team feels valued and in control of their roles, they grow.. and so does the business.

That builds a culture that thrives on engagement, innovation, and retention.

Here’s how to build an empowered, self-driven culture:

1. Hire with Intention
Seek not just skills but alignment with your values and mission.

2. Trust Your People
Give them ownership over their work, and avoid over-managing.

3. Encourage Autonomy
Empower decision-making and provide the tools they need to succeed.

4. Invest in Leadership
Develop leaders who know how to nurture and elevate their teams.

5. Foster Open Communication
Create a space where ideas and feedback flow freely.

6. Celebrate Wins
Recognize achievements, big or small, to motivate and retain top talent.

7. Promote Balance
Help your team balance work with life, it pays back in loyalty and performance.

8. Equip Teams with Resources for Growth
Provide access to training, mentorship, and development programs to support continuous learning.

9. Encourage Creative Problem-Solving
Let employees tackle challenges their way, giving them room to bring fresh ideas and solutions to the table.

10. Check In Regularly
Make time for honest, two-way feedback, showing your team you’re invested in their growth and open to improving your own leadership.

Building trust isn’t about blind, hands-off management.

It’s about being intentional in how you empower and support each team member.

Please slow down and be there with your team.

Don't have a media team yet?
Wanna work with me and mine?

Let's build the brand your reputation deserves.

📅 Grab a free strategy call with me
Click: Book an appointment (atop this post)

シ

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🔔 Follow Jordan Murphy 🧠🦍 for more.
💬 Which (1-10) is the most important to you?

Share it below!

You're not losing, you're learning.

(If you're an ROI thinker.)

Here are 10 key shifts to adopt this mindset:

↓

1. Embrace failure as a powerful tool.
Failure isn't a setback; it's a step forward.

• Iterate and refine your approach
• Extract all value from every situation
• Develop clarity through systematic question flows

↳ Failure is the ultimate teacher.

2. Bet on yourself.
As an ROI thinker, I bet on my abilities.

• My first high-ticket coaching sale was $9k
• Reinvested in my business with a key hire
• Freed up my time to focus on strengths

↳ This bet transformed my business.

3. Reinvest strategically.
ROI thinkers know where to put their money.

• Invest in resources that unlock more time
• Look for investments with compounding returns
• Focus on building exceptional products and services

↳ Strategic reinvestment fuels growth.

4. Hypothesize and test.
Approach challenges with a scientific mindset.

• Test, learn, and iterate
• Develop hypotheses based on data
• Build action plans around these hypotheses

↳ This methodical approach ensures progress.

5. See the silver lining.
Every setback is a hidden opportunity.

• Reframe failures to find their value
• Use setbacks as learning experiences
• Maintain a positive, growth-oriented mindset

↳ Optimism fuels innovation.

6. Place calculated bets.
ROI thinkers take calculated risks.

• Make informed decisions based on data
• Assess the potential upside of every investment
• Embrace the possibility of failure as part of the journey

↳ Calculated risks lead to high rewards.

7. Think beyond the dollar ROI.
ROI isn't just about money.

• Focus on long-term benefits
• Evaluate the holistic return on any investment
• Consider the impact on time, skills, and resources

↳ Broaden your perspective on returns.

8. Lean into your skills.
Trust in your abilities to generate income.

• Use your skills to create opportunities
• Continuously develop and refine your talents
• Leverage your strengths to maximize returns

↳ Skills are the foundation of ROI thinking.

9. Build exceptional products.
Quality attracts investment.

• Focus on creating high-value offerings
• Deliver exceptional results consistently
• Ensure your products solve real problems

↳ High-quality products drive ROI.

10. Systematize clarity.
Clear processes lead to better outcomes.

• Use structured question flows for clarity
• Streamline your decision-making process
• Develop systematic approaches to problem-solving

↳ Systems enhance efficiency and results.

↓

You're not losing, you're learning:

➠ Adopt the ROI mindset
➠ Make smart bets on your resourcefulness
➠ Transform setbacks into setups for success

↓

Business is fun when you play it like a game.

But losing sucks.

If you’re sick of losing.

I’ve got the done-for-you solution to grow your brand and grow your business.

But spots are limited.

Book a strategy call and let’s jam.

シ

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💬 Which key shift (1-10) hits for you?

They Both Asked If the Other Was Okay First

A guy flying down the sidewalk in a drift cart.

A car pulls out of a garage. No warning.

Smash. Direct hit.

He gets up quick. She gets out of the car.

And they both immediately ask if the other is okay.

No blame. No anger. No "what were you thinking?"

Just genuine concern for each other.

They both asked if the other was okay first.

This is what great culture looks like.

Not in the polished moments. Not in the all-hands meetings.

In the crashes.

When something goes wrong. When there's impact. When blame would be easy.

That's when you see what's real.

Most teams don't operate like this.

Something breaks. Someone made a mistake. There's a collision.

And the first instinct is: whose fault is this?

Who do we blame? Who dropped the ball? Who's responsible?

And that instinct kills trust faster than the mistake ever could.

Here's what those two people understood:

The crash already happened.

Blame doesn't undo it. Anger doesn't fix it.

The only thing that matters in that moment is: are you okay?

The best teams I know operate this way.

A launch fails. A client churns. A hire doesn't work out. A strategy falls apart.

And the first question isn't "who screwed up?"

It's "are you okay?"

Not because accountability doesn't matter.

Because people matter more.

And when people know you care about them first, they'll own the mistake second.

But when blame comes first?

People hide mistakes. They cover their tracks. They point fingers before anyone can point at them.

And your culture becomes about not getting caught instead of actually solving problems.

Here's the difference:

Blame-first cultures ask: Whose fault is this?

Care-first cultures ask: Are you okay? What do you need? How do we fix this together?

One creates fear. One creates trust.

And trust is what lets you move fast.

Because when people know that mistakes won't be met with blame, they take smart risks.

They try new things. They move quickly. They innovate.

They know that if they crash, the first question will be "are you okay?" not "why did you do that?"

That's psychological safety. That's how you build something real.

So here's the question:

When something goes wrong on your team, what's the first question you ask?

Is it "whose fault is this?" or "are you okay?"

Because how you respond in the crash reveals everything about your culture.

The collision's going to happen.

Things will go wrong. Mistakes will be made. There will be impact.

The question is: do your people feel safe enough to get up, dust themselves off, and keep going?

Or are they bracing for blame?

Build the kind of culture where the first question is always: are you okay?

The accountability can come later.

The care has to come first.

What's one time someone checked on you first instead of blaming you, and how did that change things?

📹 barragegarage
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シ

His Mind Created a Reality That Doesn't Exist

A guy hides his right arm.

Places a fake arm next to his left arm where his right arm should be.

Someone hits the fake arm with a hammer.

He screams. Jumps up. Feels pain.

From an arm that isn't his.

His brain created a reality that doesn't exist.

And his body responded like it was real.

Here's what most people don't understand:
You can't trust your brain.

Your brain isn't showing you reality. It's showing you a story.

A story built from past experiences, old patterns, assumptions you've been running on autopilot for years.

And that story feels real.

Just like that pain felt real.

Just like your limiting beliefs feel real.

But it's not.

You are not your mind. You are not your thoughts.

Your thoughts are a record of the past.

They're patterns. Loops. Stories you've told yourself so many times they became your identity.

But they're not you.

You are the awareness observing those thoughts.

You are the present moment consciousness that can choose to believe them or not.

That's where your power is.

Your personal reality is created by your personality.

Not your circumstances. Not your resources. Not your market.

Your personality. The way you think, act, and feel.

And here's the part that changes everything: 
You can change your personality.

Not someday. Right now. This moment.

The constant present effort of being the person you aspire to be is how you become that person.

Moment by moment. Thought by thought. Action by action.

Most leaders are trapped in a personality they built in the past.

They're running patterns from five years ago.

Making decisions based on fears that aren't relevant anymore.

Operating from a version of themselves that no longer serves where they're trying to go.

And wonder why they're stuck.

I’ve learned firsthand:

The moment you become aware that you're not your thoughts, you unlock everything.

If you're not your thoughts, you can choose new ones.

If you're not your past patterns, you can create new ones.

If your personality creates your reality, you can build a new one.

And when you do that, your reality changes.

Because you changed.

Your mindset limits the life, business, and outcomes you can create.

If you believe you're not capable, you won't try.

If you believe you've hit your ceiling, you'll stop reaching.

But those beliefs aren't real. They're as real as that fake arm.

The pain you feel from them? That's real.

But the source? It's constructed.

This is about awareness and imagination.

Awareness: recognizing when your mind is creating a false reality.

Imagination: seeing the version of yourself that exists beyond those limits.

The more you connect with this, the more you unlock your infinite potential.

Because you stop believing the illusions holding you back.

What reality is your mind creating right now that doesn't actually exist?

📹 gettishow
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シ

He Was So Focused on Perfect, He Lost Everything Else

A guy laying tile. Big piece. Precision matters.

He lines up the edge. Keeps it tight. Lays it down slowly.

So focused on getting it perfect.

Loses his balance. Front flips over the tile. Lands on his head.

He was so focused on perfect, he lost everything else.

This is every founder who's ever perfected themselves into failure.

Obsessing over the product while the market moves on.

Perfecting features while customers churn.

Optimizing the pitch deck while running out of runway.

Getting the tile perfect while falling on your head.

I see this constantly:

The founder who won't launch until it's "ready."

Six months of polish. Every edge perfect. Every detail dialed in.

Meanwhile, their competitor shipped three months ago with a worse product and already has traction.

Perfect tile. Landed on their head.

Or the leader who:

Perfects the org chart while culture collapses.

Optimizes processes while top performers quit.

Refines the strategy while execution stalls.

So focused on the details, they didn't notice they were falling.

Reality about perfectionism:

It's not about standards. It's about fear.

Fear of shipping before it's ready.
Fear of being judged for something imperfect.
Fear of the market rejecting what you built.

So you keep perfecting. Keep optimizing. Keep adjusting the edge.

And you don't notice you're losing your balance until you're already upside down.

The best founders I know ship imperfect things.

Not because they don't care about quality.

Because they know that balance matters more than perfection.

They know that a good product in the market beats a perfect product in development.

They know that momentum matters more than polish.

They keep their balance while they lay the tile.

Because here's what that guy learned:

The tile doesn't matter if you're on your head.
The edge doesn't matter if you can't stand up.
The precision doesn't matter if you lose everything else trying to achieve it.

Fundamentals first. Always.

So here's the question:

What are you perfecting right now while losing your balance?

What detail are you obsessing over while the fundamentals slip?

What tile are you laying so carefully that you don't notice you're about to fall?

Because perfect doesn't matter if you're on your head.

Ship it. Adjust it. Improve it.

But don't fall over trying to make it perfect.

The market doesn't reward perfect. It rewards present.

And you can't be present if you're face-down on the floor hahah

What's one thing you perfected that didn't matter because you lost sight of what did?

📹 lejulio228
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シ

He Knew the Path Before He Got Fancy

A guy on a dirt bike rolls in fast. On a wheelie.

Pulls a U-ey. Still in the wheelie.

Goes off-road into a drainage ditch beside a steep staircase.

Stuntin on the seat. Still in the wheelie. Going uphill. On a narrow track.

Climbs to the top. Non-stop wheelie.

See, he knew the path before he got fancy.

This is the difference between reckless and impressive.

Most people try to get fancy before they know the path.

They add complexity before they've mastered the basics.

They innovate before they've nailed the fundamentals.

And they crash.

That guy on the bike? He didn't just wing it.

He knew the drainage ditch. He knew the climb. He knew the narrow track.

He'd done the path enough times to know exactly where he was going.

And only then did he add the fancy stuff.

The standing on the seat. The sustained wheelie. The style.

Because he could. Because the path was already mastered.

Most founders do this backward.

They try to differentiate before they understand the market.

They try to innovate before they've nailed the core product.

They try to scale before they've proven the fundamentals.

And they wonder why it falls apart.

Progression is the key:

You can't get fancy until you know the path.

You can't add style until you've mastered the substance.

You can't stand on the seat until you've proven you can hold the wheelie.

Fundamentals first. Always.

The best companies I know followed this sequence:

They mastered the basics. They understood their market. They nailed their core offering.

They did the boring work of getting really, really good at the fundamentals.

And then, once the path was clear, they got fancy.

They innovated. They differentiated. They added the style that made them stand out.

But the style was built on a foundation of mastery.

Not the other way around.

Because here's what happens when you get fancy too early:

You lose the wheelie.

You crash in the ditch.

You don't make it up the hill.

The fancy stuff only works when the fundamentals are locked in.

So here's the question:

Are you trying to get fancy before you know the path?

Are you adding complexity before you've mastered the basics?

Are you standing on the seat before you've proven you can hold the wheelie?

Because the path comes first.

Master it. Know it. Own it.

Then get fancy.

What's one fundamental you mastered before you added the fancy stuff?

📹 juan_felizzola_wb
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シ

Same Swing. 6x the Leverage.

A guy on the tee box. About to drive the golf ball.

But his club is 6x longer than normal.

He swings. Easy. Great form. Minimal effort.

Smashes the ball.

Same swing. 6x the leverage.

This is what most execs don't understand about scale.

They think scaling means working 6x harder.

Hiring 6x more people. Spending 6x more hours. Grinding 6x longer.

But that's not scale. That's just more.

Real scale is leverage.

It's finding the tool, the system, the position that multiplies your output without multiplying your input.

Same swing. Different club.
Same effort. Different result.

Most people are swinging a normal club as hard as they can.

Maxing out their effort. Pushing to the limit. Burning out trying to hit it further.

And they wonder why they're exhausted and the ball's not going much further.

Because they're optimizing effort instead of optimizing leverage.

The best founders I know aren't working harder than everyone else.

They're working with better leverage.

They found the 6x club.

That looks different for everyone:

For some, it's automation that does in minutes what used to take hours.

For some, it's a business model where one sale creates recurring revenue instead of one-time payment.

For some, it's content that reaches millions instead of dozens.

For some, it's a team structure where decisions happen without them.

For some, it's positioning in a market where customers come to you instead of you chasing them.

But whatever it is, it's leverage.

Same swing. Multiplied result.

Here's the difference:

Working harder = swinging the normal club harder (diminishing returns, burnout)

Working smarter = finding the longer club (multiplied returns, sustainability)

Most people are stuck in the first one because they don't even know the second one exists.

So here's the question:

What's your 6x club?

What tool, system, or position could multiply your output without multiplying your effort?

Where are you grinding with a normal club when a longer one exists?

Because the effort isn't the problem.

The leverage is.

You don't need to swing harder.

You need to find the club that turns the same swing into 6x the result.

That's how you scale without burning out.
That's how you grow without grinding.
That's leverage.

What's one area where you found leverage that multiplied your results?

📹 steve.waltman
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シ

He Thought It Was Flat. It Wasn't.

A guy walking. Hands in his pockets. Confident.

Sees what looks like chalk street art. A brick staircase drawn on the walkway.

Steps right onto it.

His foot plummets. Drops straight down. Gravity pulls him to the bottom.

Gets up immediately. "I'm fine. Just embarrassed. I thought it was chalk."

He thought it was flat. It wasn't.

This is every founder who's ever skipped validation.

The market looks flat. The opportunity looks obvious. The path looks clear.

So you step.

And your foot hits air.

I see this constantly:

The founder who assumes product-market fit without talking to customers.

The exec who hires based on the resume without checking references.

The leader who enters a market because it looks good from a distance.

They thought it was flat. It wasn't.

Here's the thing about assumptions:

They look real until you test them.

That chalk art looked convincing. From where he was standing, it made sense.

But he didn't check. He just stepped.

And the moment his weight committed, reality corrected him.

The cost of not validating:

You don't just lose time. You lose momentum.
You don't just waste money. You lose credibility.
You don't just make a mistake. You fall in front of everyone watching.

And then you have to get up and explain why you didn't check first.

The best founders I know validate everything.

They don't assume the market wants it. They ask.
They don't assume the hire is great. They check.
They don't assume the partnership will work. They test small first.

They tap the ground before they step.

Not because they're scared. Because they're smart.

Because they know that what looks flat from a distance might have real depth.

Validation isn't about being cautious. It's about being accurate.

Talk to 10 customers before you build the product.

Do a trial project before you commit to the partnership.

Check references before you make the offer.

Test the market before you go all in.

Tap the ground. Make sure it's actually flat.

I’ve learned:

1. Confidence doesn't protect you from gravity.

2. Assumptions don't change reality.

3. And the market doesn't care that you thought it was chalk.

If it's a hole, you're going in.

So here's the question:

What are you about to step into that you haven't validated?

What looks flat from where you're standing that might not be?

What assumption are you making that could cost you the fall?

Tap the ground first.

Ask the questions. Test the assumptions. Validate before you commit.

Because getting up and saying "I thought it was flat" doesn't undo the fall.

What's one assumption you made that turned out to be a real hole?

📹 coldwar. iio
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シ

The Eyes You See Aren't the Eyes That See

An artist covers her eyes with her hands.

Takes a brush in her mouth.

Draws a face on her hands. Eyes included.

Perfect precision. Incredible detail.

Without seeing.

The eyes you see aren't the eyes that see.

This is what most people don't understand about awareness.

You think you see with your eyes.
You think you perceive with your senses.
You think the face you show the world is the one that's looking.

But it's not.

The eyes you see are the constructed ones.

The persona. The image. The version of yourself you've built for others to perceive.

The polished LinkedIn profile. The confident exterior. The "I've got it all figured out" face.

That's not what's actually seeing.
That's what you want others to see.

What's actually seeing is behind all of that.

The awareness. The consciousness. The part of you that observes your own thoughts.

The part that notices when you're stressed, when you're performing, when you're not being real.

That's what sees.

Not your eyes. Not your thoughts. Not the constructed face.

Your awareness.

Most leaders are so identified with the face they've painted that they forget what's actually looking.

They think they ARE their thoughts.
They think they ARE their persona.
They think they ARE the image they've constructed.

And they lose access to what actually sees clearly.

Because here's the truth:

Your thoughts don't see. They interpret.
Your persona doesn't see. It performs.
Your constructed reality doesn't see. It protects.

What sees is the awareness behind all of that.

The part of you that can observe your thoughts without being them.

The part that can notice your patterns without being controlled by them.

The part that can see clearly because it's not attached to the story.

This is why presence matters.

When you're present, you're not identified with the painted face.

You're not lost in the thoughts, the persona, the constructed reality.

You're the awareness that sees all of it.

And from that place, you see clearly.

You see what's real vs. what's constructed.
You see what matters vs. what's noise.
You see the path forward because you're not blinded by the story you've been telling yourself.

The best leaders I know have this quality.

And that awareness gives them clarity no one else has.

So here's the question:

What face have you painted that you think is the one that sees?

What persona are you so identified with that you've forgotten the awareness behind it?

What constructed reality are you living in that's blocking your actual potential?

Because the eyes you see aren't the eyes that see.

The awareness behind all of it? That's what actually sees.

And the more you connect with that, the clearer everything becomes.

What's one way you practice separating from your thoughts and connecting with awareness?

📹 millybampainti
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シ

He Was Stuck Before He Knew What Was Happening

A guy resting in his chair.

Two guys walk up. Slide a long pole under the armrests. Above his lap.

Wedges him in. He's stuck.

They lift the pole. He goes up with the chair. Flipping upside down. Spinning. No control.

They carry him around. He can't do anything about it.

Finally released. They run away.

He gets up looking for retaliation.

He was stuck before he knew what was happening.

This is what bad leadership feels like.

You're sitting there. Doing your job. Trusting the environment.

And before you realize it, you're trapped.

It happens in a meeting.

You're asked to "help out" on a project.

Then you're "the best person for this."

Then it's "already committed to the client with your name on it."

And suddenly you're stuck.

Wedged into work you didn't agree to. Spinning with responsibilities you never signed up for.

At the mercy of leaders who trapped you before you could say no.

It happens with toxic cultures.

You join excited. The job looks great. The team seems solid.

Then you notice the blame. The gaslighting. The lack of psychological safety.

But by then you're in. You've relocated. You've committed. You've told everyone about the new role.

And you're stuck.

Wedged into a situation you didn't see coming.

It happens with bad partnerships.

The deal looks good on paper. You shake hands. You sign.

Then the terms change. The expectations shift. The reality doesn't match what was sold.

And you're stuck.

Because unwinding it is harder than enduring it.

Here's what that video shows:

The trap happens fast.

One moment you're fine. The next moment you're wedged in.

And by the time you realize what's happening, you've already lost control.

The best way to avoid getting stuck?

See the pole before it slides under the armrests.

That means:

Asking the hard questions before you commit.

Watching how leaders treat people when things go wrong.

Recognizing when a culture lacks psychological safety before you're deep in it.

Seeing the trap before you're wedged in.

Because once you're stuck, your options are limited.

You can endure it and lose yourself.
You can fight it and burn bridges.
You can leave and start over.

None of those are great.

The best option is not getting stuck in the first place.

So here's the question:

Where are you stuck right now that you didn't see coming?

And more importantly: what are you going to do about it?

Because being stuck isn't permanent.

But the longer you stay wedged in, the harder it is to get out.

And if you're a leader:

Are you the one sliding the pole?

Are you creating a culture where people feel stuck, spinning, at your mercy?

Because they'll get out eventually.

And when they do, they won't be looking to come back.

What's one time you realized you were stuck before you knew what was happening? How did you get out?

📹 rizwan_ali_14
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シ

Your title doesn’t define your power.

Your skills do. And when leveraged correctly, they can become your personal goldmine.

I’ve seen it happen time and again: talented people thrive when they step into the right roles or build something uniquely theirs.

The secret? Recognizing that your value is independent of the box others put you in.

Here’s how you can harness your skills to thrive, whether you’re climbing the ladder or building your own:

1. Redefine Your Value

🔹 Your skills are your toolkit. The problem isn’t your talent, it’s the context in which it’s used.

🔹 Align what you love doing with where you can make the biggest impact.

🔹 If the world undervalues you, it’s not a reflection of your worth.. it’s a sign to reposition.

2. Find the Right Fit (or Create It).

🔹 The right environment elevates your performance and energy.

🔹 Can’t find it? Build it.

🔹 When I created Brain Apes, I leaned into my expertise and replaced my 9-5 income within months. Why? Because I built a system where I could thrive.

3. Say Yes to Asymmetry.

🔹 Growth isn’t always balanced, it’s strategic.

🔹 For months, I worked 14+ hour days, stacking my future while holding a full-time job.

🔹 That imbalance led to a thriving business, industry recognition, and new partnerships.

4. Develop a Personal Brand.

🔹 Think no one’s watching? They are. And opportunities go to the visible.

🔹 Showcasing your skills online transforms chance encounters into strategic growth.

🔹 A strong personal brand makes you magnetic to the right roles, clients, top talent and partnerships.

5. Invest in Yourself Relentlessly

🔹 Knowledge is leverage. The more you master, the more valuable you become.

🔹 Courses, mentorship, skill-building it all compounds into new opportunities.

6. Own Your Unique Offer

🔹 The most successful leaders and consultants? They know how to articulate their value.

🔹 Your mix of skills, experience, and perspective is unmatched.

🔹 The better you communicate it, the more unstoppable you become.

7. Action > Overthinking

🔹 Fear and stress aren’t stop signs, they’re pointers.

🔹 They point you back to the present moment, where you’re taking intentional action despite uncertainty.

🔹 Clarity comes from action. Start now.

Here’s the truth: the world needs people like you to step up.

Whether you’re leading from within a company or building something of your own, your skills aren’t just valuable - they’re transformative.

And if you’re serious about making your skills work for you, not against you.. we need to talk.

I help founders and executives build powerful personal brands on LinkedIn. If you’re ready to turn your expertise into influence, impact, and income for your business:

1. Go to my profile
2. Book an appointment

No fluff. No gatekeeping.

Just clarity and a roadmap for your next level.

シ

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