The biggest lie of all those get-rich-quick “gurus” is that they’re selling a vision that doesn’t exist.
The whole idea of "getting rich quick" is anchored in the myth that you can “arrive” at wealth and then you’ve got it made. But no one is a finished product—we’re all a continuous work in progress.
And the game is long. Life is long. Don’t tally the score too early just because some Gen Z kid on the internet bought a Lamborghini.
You don’t hack your way to a meaningful life. You build it.
And you don’t build it by extracting value. You build it by creating value for others, earning trust, and being rewarded for the value you generate over a long period of time.
Ignore the lie of the lightning-in-a-bottle, one-time win.
Every so-called “overnight success” was forged in thousands of hours and iterations in the dark before they ever “made it.”
The hard truth I’m trying to get you to see is that there usually isn’t a single moment of “making it.” For 99.9% of people, “making it” is a conscious, daily decision to improve your craft and do meaningful work.
If you don’t like the life you have while you’re working, you won’t magically like the life you have in retirement either. Deep satisfaction comes from purpose—and purpose comes from “find[ing] your uniqueness and exploiting it in service of others.” —Larry Winget
I don’t believe we live in an attention economy.
I believe we are rapidly moving toward a trust economy.
And you can’t build trust on virality.
You build trust the same way you build all meaningful things—
one thoughtful brick at a time.
Last week, I sat down with Chris Cruz of the Anatomy of a Brand podcast to discuss my thoughts on building a brand that has lasting value. Listen below:
