Words I like: “People obsessed with their morning routines make less money than people obsessed with making money.” Minute Read: Stop Worshipping Routines A client once told me the business coach from a self help and productivity course he bought had him doing a full morning routine before work. Grounded walking. Meditation. Gratitude journal. Daily list. Ice plunge. The whole "productivity" package. By the time he finished, three hours were gone and he barely had energy left to do the actual thing that would grow his business. So I told him to do something radical. Cut the 3-hour routine. Replace it with 3 hours of work. A week later he messaged me back and said it changed everything. He was getting more done. Which makes sense. If you work more, more gets done. That’s the whole lesson. A lot of people copy the habits of successful people at the top of the mountain and assume those habits created the success. That’s backwards. People usually work, sacrifice, and do whatever it takes to get rich. Then, after they’ve already made it, they fill their time with relaxed lifestyle choices and start telling themselves that the "routine" was the reason. That’s like saying Warren Buffett got rich because he drinks Coke. No. He got rich because of the actions that created the result. That’s the filter: What actions actually create the outcome I want? Anything that does not directly help that outcome is either: 1. a tool, or 2. a distraction. And the difference is simple: If it takes 5 minutes and measurably increases your output, cool. Keep it. If it takes 3 hours and makes you feel productive while stealing time from the thing that matters, cut it. Don’t do things for the sake of doing them. Do things because they produce a RESULT. That’s also why you have to be careful with fake cause-and-effect. Successful people may have routines, scars, habits, drinks, preferences, or stories. That does not mean those things made them successful. Look at what they did on the way up, not what they do now.

Words I like: Work begins once motivation stops. Minute Read: Motivation is a Killer A lot of people say they want big results. More money. Better body. Bigger business. More freedom. Then they see what it actually costs and back off. I’ve had that happen to me multiple times. I’d meet someone way further ahead than me and realize they weren’t just a little more disciplined. They were working five to ten times harder than I was. And not under perfect conditions either. Tired. Distracted. Burned out. Hurt. Still moving. That’s when I started seeing work differently. Most people think work is the part when you’re excited. New plan. New business idea. New gym phase. New goal. That’s not work. That’s the honeymoon. Real work starts when the excitement wears off. When you feel neutral. Then stressed. Then tired. Then annoyed. Then tempted to stop. That point right there is what separates everyone. Because that’s the test. It’s easy to say you have work ethic when you feel good. The real test is whether you can work when you’re tired. When you’re distracted. When the task is boring. When it’s not fun. When you’re not getting applause yet. That’s why so many people quit too early. They feel discomfort and assume they picked the wrong thing. No. They just hit the part where work begins. Same thing with values. Values only count when they’re tested. Work ethic only counts when working sucks. And this is where people get confused about high performers. They see the result, but not the trade. They see the stage, not the flights. They see the money, not the missed sleep. They see the physique, not the meals you ate when nobody was watching. Then they say, “I want that.” Maybe. But do you want the trade that comes with it? Because if you don’t, that’s fine. Just don’t lie to yourself and pretend you want the outcome while rejecting the cost. The move is simple: when you hit the wall, don’t read it as failure. Read it as the start of the rep that counts. That’s the champion wall.

Words I Like: Finding balance in life often leads to mediocrity in both areas. Minute Read: Every Yes Has A Cost Two years ago, I kept telling myself I wanted “more time.” More money. More freedom.But my calendar was full of stuff that had nothing to do with any of that. Random plans. Random scrolling. Random errands. Random conversations that went nowhere. Then it clicked: I wasn’t “busy.” I was just making tradeoffs without admitting it. I was choosing comfort now and paying for it later. So I started treating decisions like math instead of feelings. Before I said yes to anything, I asked one question: “Does this make it more likely or less likely I hit my goal?” If it made it less likely, I didn’t negotiate with myself. I just said no. And here’s the part most people miss: there is no option where you avoid pain. You either pay the pain of discipline up front, or you pay the pain of regret on the back end. That’s what tradeoffs are. If you want the “right” tradeoffs, run this quick filter on anything you’re about to do: 1. Write your #1 goal in one sentence (money, fitness, skill, relationship, whatever). 2. For any choice, score it -2 to +2: 3. If it’s negative, swap it with a positive that scratches the same itch. This is the real secret: “balance” isn’t the goal. Progress is. You can have balance later. First you earn options. Takeaway: Tradeoffs don’t go away. You just get to choose which pain you pay. If you keep choosing comfort, you’re choosing a future you don’t want. For the next 7 days: every morning, write your #1 goal at the top of your notes app. Every time you’re about to spend time or money, score the decision -2 to +2. If it’s negative, replace it immediately with a +1 or +2 action. Keep the scoreboard. Choose on purpose. - Diego PS: If you want what nobody has, you can’t keep living like everybody.

Words I like: Social Media isn't for your friends. It's for you to chase your dreams, share it, and get opportunities to keep on going. Minute Read: SPCL Influence Many active users on instagram make random content hoping to gain influence. But they don’t actually know what they’re doing. And that’s fine. But if you want to use social media to move you forward in life via a business or becoming a creator, you need to be intentional. And so, ideally you’d like to get more out for what you put in (leverage), here’s how I think about it. Influence = the likelihood someone follows your directions The elements that increase influence = SPCL Status = you control things the prospect finds valuable. Ex = you have a good physique and you can demonstrate it. Power = they followed your directions in the past and had a good thing happen. Ex = you say don't eat chicken and rice, eat this instead for a diet you stick to. They do it. Then it works. So the next time you give a directive they are more likely to follow it. Credibility = you have proof. Ex = you’re at a healthy weight (in numbers), or have visual proof, around whatever thing you're telling them to do. Likeness = do you look and act like them. This doesn't have to be physical, but physically looking similar will increase influence. This is why advertising campaigns benefit from multiple different avatars. Note: some of these can be accomplished at the same time. Ex: me scaling a side hustle to a full blown business provides both status and credibility. I scaled the monthly revenue to $16k/mo which gives me credibility. I got lots of money for it which gives status. Alternatively, I could just have money which would not give me credibility for scaling a company (ex = trust fund kid inherits money). Or, I could have sold a company but got paid almost nothing because I had diluted my shares (aka told other people to do the work and gave them a a cut) which would not give me status (ex = founder who takes on tons of debt and leaves empty handed but knows how to scale).

“It’s not your fault but it’s still your problem.” — Leila Hormozi Minute Read: Stop Making Excuses Excuses are tricky because they can be valid. And that’s exactly why they’re so deadly. Because a valid excuse feels like a moral win. Like you deserve a pass. But reality doesn’t give refunds. Even if it’s not your fault, it’s still your problem. You still have to do something about it. Or you can wait… and keep not living the life you want until you die. And then what? People will say, “Yeah, he had an excuse.” Cool. That’s not a legacy. That’s a receipt for mediocrity. That’s what excuses really are: A permission slip to stay the same while still wanting respect. And here’s the punchline: nobody actually believes your excuses except you. People might nod to be polite. The people who love you might comfort you. Your mom might still think you’re special. But YOU won’t respect YOU enough to take care of what needs to be done. Because you’ll always know you could’ve done more. You could’ve done better. That’s the part that keeps you up. So here’s the standard that fixes it: “I will do what is required.” Not “I’ll do my best.” Because your best right now might be weak. Required is objective. Required is non-negotiable. And the good news is your best can get better… as long as you keep showing up and doing what’s required. Happy Friday, hope we all crush our goals this weekend.