He wrote & it's too raw and interesting not to share: Hey— 32-hours of travel and 14 re-watches of Moana later, and we finally made it back to Sydney— another harrowing trip across the world to visit my family in the books. Keeping two kids and two adults contained in three tiny airplane seats took a heroic effort. Let's just say I got side-eyed by a lot of passengers for my decision to let our toddler crawl barefoot back-and-forth to the bathroom. As amazing as it was to spend time with family, it feels good to be back home. But I’ve been having a problem ever since. It's a problem I've faced off and on as a creator ever since I started, especially after taking a break. 𝗜𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻. On a scale of self-doubt to self-confidence, I'm somewhere beyond self-doubt and deep into self-destruction. My recent texts to Nat pretty much sum it up: "𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗵, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮 𝗿𝘂𝘁. 𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜'𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱. 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁." I went on to dump all my feelings on her. It feels like I've put out nothing in months. No social content, no podcasts, very few YouTube videos. And I'm uninspired by the current video I'm working on, which is now three days past deadline. The worst part: it doesn't even feel like it matches the direction I want to take the channel, so finishing the last few hours of editing feels like torture. But that’s just the starter. The main course is about to be served: the spiral. It starts with frustration. Then a few others join the party: anxiety, envy, self-pity... And regret. I've been thinking about the past decade since starting my YouTube channel and all the things I wish I'd done differently. There were so many opportunities I missed and decisions I should (or shouldn’t) have made. I should have focused more on making better videos. I shouldn't have hired so many people. Back then I was one of YouTube’s “Creators on the Rise” (I’ve got a screenshot on an old hard drive to prove it). Now it feels like I’m just a washed-up creator, repeating the same old lines into a different camera.

So what is the one skill that will actually make you wealthy? Communication and persuasion. Ask any self-made millionaire and they will admit a harsh truth. Being great at one skill beats being average at a dozen. In fact, 120 ultra successful people were asked which single skill had the biggest impact on your success. Every one of them gave the same answer. Sales and persuasion. Why? 🆘 Because if you cannot convince others, you cannot close clients. You cannot inspire your team. You cannot attract investors. Nothing happens until a sale is made. Communication is the ultimate wealth building skill. 😄 Warren Buffett flat out says that improving your ability to communicate in writing and speaking can increase your value by 50% instantly. 😄 Richard Branson, billionaire founder of Virgin, calls communication the most important skill any leader can possess. It makes the world go round by allowing you to share ideas and inspire action. ➡️ And research backs this up. 85% of your success comes from your people skills. Your communication, your negotiating, your leading. Only 15% comes from technical knowledge. You could be a genius coder or a brilliant inventor. But if you cannot convey your vision or persuade others to join you, your impact and your income will be limited. So what one skill should you learn? Start with a skill that multiplies all others. Communication. This means mastering how to sell, how to speak, how to write, and how to listen. Every entrepreneur needs to sell. Whether it is selling your product, your business plan, or simply selling yourself and your ideas. 😄 Even billionaire Mark Cuban stresses that knowing how to sell was key to his success. 😄 And finance guru Robert Kiyosaki said the number one skill of an entrepreneur is the ability to sell. Not just products, but yourself and your vision. The bottom line is your net worth is tied directly to your communication skills. If you hone the art of persuasion, doors open. Clients say yes. Investors sign on. Employees rally behind your mission. It is the force multiplier for your wealth.

Inspired by a modern great... If you're building something big, remind yourself that: You have permission to out-earn your upbringing.❤️ Maybe... Sometimes you feel guilty. Guilty for wanting more. Guilty for achieving more. Guilty for having bigger dreams than the people you grew up with. You look at your parents. Your friends. Your circumstances. And something whispers: "Who do you think you are?" That guilt creeps in and quietly stops you from going bigger. Here's the neuroscience: Your brain is wired for belonging. In ancient times, being cast out from your tribe meant death. So your nervous system learned to keep you "safe" by keeping you similar. When you start out-earning, out-growing, out-dreaming your original environment, your brain reads it as danger. Not opportunity. Danger. This is called your "upper limit." Your subconscious has a thermostat set to what feels "normal" based on your upbringing. When you exceed it, your brain pulls you back down. Self-sabotage. Procrastination. Guilt. All protection mechanisms.🆘 But here's the truth: You expanding doesn't shrink anyone else. You succeeding gives others permission to believe it's possible for them too.🔥 You're not betraying your roots by growing. You're becoming the example your roots never had. So yes. You have permission to out-earn your upbringing. Now go build. Happy Monday!

This is how you can really train Claude on your brain and your business. Credit: Ruben Hassid

"Hustle was never meant to be a permanent state. It was a survival tool that has now expired." - Dr. Mariel Buqué This quote hit home... We've been sold hustle as an identity. As proof of worth. As the price of admission for anyone who wants to build something meaningful. But what if the very thing driving you is also draining you? Dr. Buqué, a psychologist and trauma expert, explains that for many of us, especially high achievers, children of immigrants, anyone who's had to prove their place—hustle wasn't a choice. It was protection. - Hustle kept us safe when we didn't feel "enough." - Hustle gave us control when life felt chaotic. - Hustle was the armour we put on so no one could see the soft spots underneath. And it worked. It got us here. But here's the catch: What once protected you now just weighs you down when there's no battle left to fight. If you're feeling: - Exhausted but unable to stop - Successful but empty - Driven but disconnected from why ...it might not be that you're doing something wrong. It might be that your survival tool has expired, and your nervous system is still running on emergency mode. The neuroscience? (My fav!) When we operate from survival hustle, we're stuck in sympathetic dominance (fight or flight). The brain perceives not hustling as a threat. So we keep running... even when no one's chasing us. The way out isn't more discipline. It's safety. It's letting your system know: You can rest now. You've already survived. Now it's time to build from wholeness, not from lack. I shared a little bit more of my story / about this topic HERE. So here's my question for you today: What would you build if you stopped building to prove you belong and started building from a place of already belonging? Are you already doing that? Drop a comment if this landed. 👇