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Today’s Topics

• One Chance Away from Greatness 🥇

• A Hostage Situation ⛓️

  5 Mins Read Time

One Chance Away from Greatness 🥇
By Jo

How many of us are just one chance away from greatness?

Some people don’t even realize it, but it’s true. For me, I’ve always been ready to step into the things I want out of life — willing to learn, fight, and wait for the right opportunity. That’s a different type of hunger. It requires focus on a level most people don’t understand, because you know how many moving parts need to align in order for success to happen the right way.

Do things ever unfold perfectly? Absolutely not. But here’s the truth: greatness doesn’t show up as a gift.

You’ve got to pay your dues to earn it, otherwise it won’t last or it’ll lose its value. Everything I’ve ever received without fully grasping the weight of it? I either lost it or remained stagnant until I grew into the understanding of what I had.

Think about sports. If you’ve ever faced an opponent who was locked in — laser-focused, outworking you every step of the way — you know what that feels like.

That energy, that hunger, that intensity… that’s the type of movement you want to embody in your own life. Even then, it’s still not enough. Because at the end of the day, it all comes down to one thing: being ready for that one shot.

Opportunities don’t knock every day. They don’t come wrapped up neat and pretty. But when they do show up, you can’t let them pass by.

The Golden Rule: When that moment comes, don’t lose it. Don’t hesitate. Don’t wait for the “right time.” Because for all you know — this might be the only chance you get to change everything.

A Hostage Situation ⛓️

By Marcus

Hey, this will be more of a thought piece this week. I’m hoping it inspires you to create a few new ideas around what work/life balance means for you.

If you could leave your job today—without losing income—would you?

Do you ever feel that, in a strange way, you’re being held hostage by your job? Not in the traditional sense of a “hostage” situation, but in the sense that you’re stuck due to external factors.

The core factor is that, well, you need your job. Your job pays the bills (or barely does). You need to eat and have a place to live. Really, your job is covering the core essentials you need to survive safely in this world.

Now, the idea of actually liking your job… well, that’s another story.

Liking Your Job Is a Luxury

I think most of us are grateful for the jobs we have. That gratitude doesn’t always spill over into actually liking the job.

With enough working years under your belt, I’m sure you’ve had jobs you liked, hated, or felt indifferent about. I’ve had co-workers who complained every day about how much they hated their job—but that’s where the action ended. They were complaining before I worked there and are probably still complaining to this day.

The complaints I’ve found, serve more as a coping mechanism than anything else.

The cost of maintaining our lifestyles can turn into a distorted kind of prison. You’re not behind bars, but the lack of enjoyment, stress, and demanding nature of some jobs breeds a feeling of entrapment.

Distorted Reality

One of the dark sides of easy access to credit is that it lets us live the lives we want instead of the lives we can afford.

What would your life look like without access to credit?

I understand that credit is essential (the bigger question is why is that?) for most of us to afford necessities like homes and vehicles. But now we’re charging everything from gifts to food orders on credit.

There’s a hidden cost to having things you can’t afford. For those with control, it’s not an issue, but we know access to credit is a slippery slope.

What’s wrong with a small, basic home and a basic car? When did having the essentials, stop being enough to have happiness?

There’s much more to this, but the growing desire to have more—and the ability to access it through credit—doesn’t help. It adds to the debt and stress tied to your employment and overall need for income.

Tired? Get Tactical

Most of us need jobs. And it’s perfectly fine to dislike certain aspects of your job. However, when the job starts to have an overall negative impact on your life, there should be alternatives.

Maybe you can create a lifestyle where you have the option to step away completely, or transition to a job that doesn’t pay as much but gives you a sense of fulfillment.

Part of the hostage situation work presents comes from a lack of options or resources.

That’s what we need to create more of… options.

To overcome this for most families and communities will take a generational effort, which I’ll dedicate a full article to soon. You could be the one person willing to make the sacrifice that sets your family up for success long after you’re gone.

For now, if you’re in this situation, what actions can you take to start bridging the gap between “living to work” and “working as a means to fulfill your purpose”?

Take some time to brainstorm. Think through solutions. Bounce some out of the box ideas around.

To get you started, List three options you can create in the next 90 days that would give you more of a choice.

You’ll probably find a solution when you’re willing to consider the impossible.

Fall is on the way…