I finished the Smart ( Skills, Acumen, Experience) worksheets. It brought back to the surface the struggle to reconnect to my authentic self that I have been distracting myself from for 20 plus years. Over those 20 years, I have tried to reconnect in several different ways but never fully committed. It feels like my early retirement plan is a road that will get me there. However, am I too tethered to my current paradigm to even allow it to happen ?

🃏 What’s an activity that makes you feel like the real you? The three elements of Funny are pleasure, flow, and joy—those moments when you feel lit up and completely yourself. This weekend, I’d love for you to share:👉 What activity makes you feel the most like you?👉 Where do you lose track of time because you’re so in it? It doesn’t have to be profound—it could be cooking, sketching, dancing, gaming, storytelling, singing in the car, or just laughing with people you love. Share your answer below ⬇️ Let’s make this thread a celebration of the weird, wonderful things that bring us back to ourselves.

Welcome, old friends and new ones, to the Smart Funny Tortured Framework course on Skool. First off, let me say how profoundly happy I am that you’ve taken the time and have the curiosity to explore this offering and, in doing so, learn a great deal about yourself. Thank you from the bottom of my heart 🤍 🤝🏽 First and foremost, this is a community. A place for those of us who know exactly what the combination of words "smart," "funny," and "tortured" means and has meant throughout our lives. This is where we share the questions, observations, and eccentricities that make a gathering vibrant and enriching. ✅ HOUSEKEEPING - If you haven’t yet, comment below with: ✨ Introducing yourself ✨ Where you are from ✨ How you hope to leave this course 🖥️ We will be having group Zoom meetups—two are scheduled for next week. - Call 1: [Tuesday, August 26th • 6:00pm PST] — Orientation + Q&A - Call 2: [Thursday, August 28th • 6:00pm PST] — Smart / Funny / Tortured Q&A - Format: 15‑min teaching, 25‑min Q&A, optional 10‑min breakout. - Access: Links in Calendar. Replays will be posted in 24-48 hours post. 🎁 You are also beta testers, which means your feedback, progress, and observations are invaluable. You will have unrestricted access to me. You may message me privately with questions and feedback. Consider me also your accountability coach, as I will be gently checking on your individual progress. But please know: there is no rush to the final Integration module. Take your time, be thoughtful, and be kind to yourself. ] 😄 Gamification (simple + fun) You’ll earn points for: - Completing lessons (+ marking complete) - Commenting with substance (reflection, insight, or support) - Attending live calls / watching replays - Top member points unlock surprises (early content, invites, 1:1 office hours). 🔴 House agreements Confidentiality. Respect. Depth over performance. Share what’s real; take what serves. Make new friends. I’m grateful you’re here. Let’s begin.

Let’s just acknowledge how far ahead of the pack YOU are. There’s chatter everywhere that we have maybe thirty-six months before the tectonic shift hits—the collapse of the job market as we know it, the reshaping of how we interact with machines and with each other. Whether the exact timeline is right doesn’t matter. What matters is this: disruption is no longer theoretical. It’s already on its way. That’s why engaging in this course—or any space where you take an honest, authentic appraisal of who you are—isn’t optional. It’s survival. And here’s the truth: what will save us from the great crises of our time—the hyperobjects too massive to grasp (climate, collapse, acceleration)—won’t be some global council convening like a scene from a science-fiction movie. It won’t be a miracle breakthrough or a massive government program riding in like cavalry. What will stop the unraveling is you—embracing your gifts fully, offering them without apology, and engaging them both for your financial security and for your role as a high-functioning human in your community. That’s where Smart Funny Tortured comes in. - Smart — the skills, the acumen, the lived experience that cannot be replicated by AI. - Funny — the joy, flow, and pleasure that makes you magnetic, creative, and human. - Tortured — the shame, trauma, and desire you’ve carried, finally alchemized into power. When you step into that authenticity, something contagious happens. The people closest to you see it. They feel your flourishing, your honesty, your joy, your desire. They watch you alchemize shame, metabolize trauma, and turn the heavy weight of your past into a power source. That’s intoxicating. That’s what spreads. And this is the deeper truth: all the existential crises looming overhead—climate, politics, AI acceleration—will not be solved in the abstract. They will be solved by individuals becoming whole, becoming sovereign, and showing up to those around them with clarity, creativity, and love.