Everyone Wants Freedom. Very Few Understand the Cost.

[5 minute read]

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Let me start with this:

Most of you do want it.
The life. The freedom. The time with your kids. The morning surf. The global adventures. The deal flow. The million-dollar exits.

You want to walk into Monday mornings energized by purpose — not trapped in another Zoom about "quarterly synergy alignment." (I know, I just got heartburn too reading that)

You want to stop asking for time off.
You want your calendar to be something you own, not something you dread.

And you’re not wrong to want all of this. In fact, I think you were born to want this.
But here’s the hard truth I’ve learned from coaching thousands of high-performers through this transformation:

Let me explain.

🔍 The Pattern I Can’t Unsee

Over the past few months, thousands of you have taken our Asset Class Selection Quiz — the first step in designing your personalized path to financial freedom. (4012 to be exact, which is why our team is still actively working this. My bad)

We asked:

• How much cash flow do you want per month?
• What’s your timeline to leave your job?
• How much time per week can you dedicate?

And here’s what 80% of you said:

👀

Let me level with you as your coach and not your cheerleader:

That’s not a plan.
That’s a fantasy.
That’s like saying, “I want to run a marathon… but I’m only willing to jog 5 minutes a week.”

There’s a fundamental misunderstanding here — and that misunderstanding is costing people everything.

Which brings me to what I believe may be the single most important concept you need to understand if you want to build a life of true "time freedom."

There are two switches every freedom-seeker must flip:

🎛 Switch #1: Intensity

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Too many of you are trying to start with consistency — before you’ve even earned the right to play that game.

Tattoo this message into your skin (I believe this is actually a brian luebben original):

"You Can Not Passively Build Passive Income".

(at least, "financial freedom" inducing passive income)

In the early stages, you need to become a maniac.

And I say that with love.
I say that as someone who lived it.
I say that as someone who has watched this intensity separate the talkers from the doers.

Let me give you an example.

💥 The Maniac Effect

We’ve had over 400 members come through our Action Academy Community.
You know who wins?

The ones who show up like their life depends on it.
Because it does.

The ones who:

• Show up to every call
• Blow up the asset chats and mentors with questions
• Underwrite 10 deals in a week
• DM every broker in their city
• Get feedback, apply it, and do it again

These people don’t dabble.
They attack.
And they win.

Alongside full time jobs, full time families, and full time marriages.

Ask yourself this - would you invest $1,000 for a guarenteed $40,000 return? Duh - right?

Yet you won't invest one-two years of hard work for 40 years of your life back outside of corporate?

I’ll never forget Kaitlyn Mckay — she was 9 months pregnant when she joined.
She showed up to every live session with a notebook in one hand and a kid in the other.

Every call she had three kids running around her. But that didn't stop her.
She made calls. She analyzed deals. She sent in LOIs.

Now?

She’s managing millions in real estate and cash flow — with $10k / month passive income...

six figures active income working as our community director now....

and I will make her a net worth millionaire from the equity I gave her in my company.

Alone. Outside of her real estate.

I can list hundreds of stories like this that I've encountered.

So don’t tell me you don’t have time.

You make time.

Just acknowledge you haven’t flipped the intensity switch yet.

Because here's the truth:

• Your work hours aren't going away. They will increase over time.
• Your parent duties aren't going away. They increase over time.
• You will never be "less busy" than you are today - unless you make this change

There is no investment, group, or course that will allow you to shortcut this phase.

Even Action Academy wont. What we do?

We nurture you through it. We all embrace the suck, together - as a unit. As a family.

💡 But Here’s the Good News…

Intensity is a season, not a sentence.

Let that sink in.

The hustle season is earned, necessary, and temporary.

When I started Action Academy, I did everything:

• Booked podcast guests
• Recorded episodes
• Edited audio
• Wrote the emails
• Posted to socials
• Followed up with leads
• Closed sales
• Onboarded new members
• Delivered coaching
• Tracked KPIs
• Built backend systems
• Ran events

I burned the ships.

For two and a half years, there was no backup plan.
No safety net.
No “balance.”

But now?

I’m building an entire media division.

• Full-time podcast manager
• YouTube team
• Social editors
• Copywriters
• Media buyers
• LinkedIn/Twitter writers

Because I earned the right to flip the second switch:

🎛 Switch #2: Consistency

This is the switch that builds empires.

Where intensity required you,
Consistency requires systems.

This is where:

• People replace tasks
• SOPs replace chaos
• Teams replace your calendar
• Margin replaces burnout

Consistency is what lets you stay free.

It's how Dave Ramsey has stayed on the air for decades.
It’s how Gary V builds content daily without lifting a finger.
It’s how I’ll run this business with 3-4 day workweeks and global freedom.

But here’s what most people get wrong:

You don’t outsource your path to freedom.
You own it.
You lead it.
And you flip that first switch like your life depends on it —
until the flywheel spins on its own.

You know its time to flip the second switch when your investments are picking up speed, your business is nearing that $1M / year mark, and you are now aware of the processes required to scale your businesses.

Now that you have some profit - you begin redploying that back into people and systems to slowly delegate away everything off your plate that isn't what you love doing and within your zone of genius.

Business owners burn out here not because of work, but because they are doing the wrong work.

You need to analyze monthly every system and situation and see what can be removed from your plate, then you pivot.

I outsourced these emails for about a month, you guys hated them, and now I'm back to writing two per week (:

This is how you figure out what YOU should work on alone. I now enjoy this also!

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🧠 “But What If I Burn Out?”

That’s the wrong question.
The question is: how long can I sprint before I systemize?

Look — if you’re making $400K+/year and can throw $200K at a business or asset class, maybe you can shortcut a bit.

But most people reading this are in the $20K–$100K savings range.

That means you’re not in a shortcut phase.
You’re in the Rocky Cut Scene phase.

The cold mornings.
The late nights.
The sweaty reps.
The painful growth curve.
The deals that fall through.
The underwritings that go nowhere.
The 17th email to a broker who still won’t respond.

This is where you forge the version of you that actually deserves the dream life.

And I’ll tell you this:

That mountain climb doesn’t last forever.
But you have to start climbing.

🎯 Where Are You Right Now?

Be honest.

If you’re still on the sidelines — hoping, dabbling, casually browsing businesses on BizBuySell — I love you, but…

You're not in the game.
And until you flip that first switch, you're not even close.

The clock doesn’t start until you go all in.

But once you do?

The people.
The capital.
The deals.
The support.
The traction.

It comes faster than you think — because you stop playing defense and start moving with intention.

⚡️ Your Move

If you’re ready to flip that first switch —
Surround yourself with others in the climb —
And shortcut your learning curve.....

We are hosting a FREE WEBINAR Tomorrow night (Wednesday - May 14th) at 7 PM EST on how to replace a $100,000 salary through small business acquisition.

Limited to 100 attendees so I can answer your questions - Click the button below to get added to the invite!

P.S. This week’s podcast goes deep on this topic. If this newsletter hit, go listen to the full episode now. And forward this to someone who needs to hear the truth — not another sugar-coated shortcut. Subscribe to our show by clicking this link.