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Financial Rock Bottom

Financial Rock Bottom

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Just Another Fool of the System

I’m going to be fully transparent and honest about my current financial situation. Where to begin?

Let’s start by laying everything out plainly.

My Current Financial Situation

    • $200,000 mortgage

    • $12,000 in credit card debt

    • Three months behind on mortgage payments

    • –$4.35 in my bank account

    • No savings

    • Ten weeks of wages unpaid by my current employer

    • Just had a baby

Now that you understand how reckless and short-sighted I’ve been in 2025 and the years leading up to it, it’s time to figure out how to get my family out of the financial hole I’ve put us in.

How Did We Get Here?

To be completely honest, this is my fault. I trusted the wrong people, managed my money irresponsibly, and lacked the initiative to course-correct when I should have.

At first, I blamed the people who contributed to this situation. Then I heard something that stuck with me: when you place blame on someone else, you give up your own ability to fix the problem. That hit hard—because it was true.

To keep the honesty going, I need to say this plainly: I screwed up. My wife and newborn are napping while I sit here trying to figure out how to clean up the mess I created.

I allowed pride and poor judgment to dictate my decisions, and now I feel so far down the hole that climbing out feels overwhelming.

Hard Lessons Learned

As I was writing this section, my employer messaged me to say it will take at least another week before I’m paid.

Apparently, someone hacked his QuickBooks. Translation: he doesn’t have the money.

I still don’t understand how that’s possible. Revenue has been coming into the company consistently. Overhead is low. Expenses are minimal. Margins are good. No one has been paid—so where did the money go?

Lesson #1:

Never trust another person with your family’s well-being.

I knew this when I was younger. But somewhere along the way—caught in the rat race—I forgot. Corporate America buys your labor wholesale and sells it retail. I’ve helped multiple businesses grow and succeed, and I’m left with nothing but debt to show for it.

Lesson #2:

Get everything in writing.

When you’re the one asking for work, you sometimes accept verbal promises and hope people honor their word.

Spoiler alert: they don’t.

Lesson #3:

Life doesn’t happen to you. Life just happens.

Bad things happen to everyone—even wealthy people. Understanding this helped me stop feeling uniquely unlucky. Good things also happen to everyone, including me. After the rain, the sun does come out.

Lesson #4:

Find the bright side.

Financially, things are rough. But there’s still a lot to be grateful for:

  • I have a baby

  • I have a beautiful wife who loves and trusts me

  • My family is healthy

  • I’m going to be an uncle

  • My cats are healthy and happy

  • I have a village of people supporting me and wishing me well

Perspective matters.

Lets Take Back Control

So, what’s the plan?

That’s the million-dollar question.

I’ve decided to stop waiting for luck and start creating it.

Luck = Preparation + Opportunity

That’s the equation I’m working with in this new chapter of my life.

I’ve started my own business (I’ll share more details in the future). I previously ran a startup that generated over $5 million in its first year. If I could do it for them, I can do it for myself.

I don’t have the same funding this time, so I’ll need to get creative—but I know the path. That means it’s possible.

I know this sounds counterintuitive.
How do you start a business when you’re in debt?
Don’t businesses require capital?
How do you invest time in something that may not pay immediately?
What if it fails?

Those are fair questions. And honestly, I don’t have all the answers yet—except one.

I will be bootstrapping this business. No outside funding. No upfront investment. Just skill, effort, discipline, and execution.

I hope you follow along—not just to watch the outcome, but to learn new skills with me. This isn’t a story about overnight success. It’s about rebuilding from the ground up, taking responsibility, and proving that rock bottom doesn’t have to be the end—it can be the foundation.

A Better Me

A Better Me: More Than Just Another Man

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Why “A Better Me”

Most men today are comfortable, but not content.
We scroll, we consume, we compare—but deep down, we feel something missing. Comfort has replaced challenge. Convenience has replaced craftsmanship. We’ve traded the satisfaction of building something real for the dopamine rush of a notification.

I’ve felt that void too.

I’m creating this blog not because I have all the answers, but because I’m searching for better questions. I want to live with direction, purpose, and discipline—not drift through life reacting to whatever comes my way. I’m tired of trying to keep up on a path that others have built. I want to create the best path for me!

This isn’t a “self-help” space. It’s a self-improvement forge. A place to sharpen ourselves through reflection, action, and accountability.

I’ve always admired The Art of Manliness for how it resurrected timeless virtues—courage, integrity, honor. And I respect Alex Hormozi for his ruthless practicality—execution over excuses, discipline over motivation. I want to combine those worlds: the why of traditional manhood with the how of modern performance.

This is my personal declaration to become A Better Me.
And I believe the journey starts with three pillars: Be Purposeful. Be Prepared. Be Proactive.

 

Be Purposeful — Define What You’re Building

Before we can become better, we must understand what better even means.

A man without purpose is like a ship without a rudder—he might move, but he’s not going anywhere that matters. I’ve had seasons like that. Waking up, doing “the things,” chasing arbitrary goals without knowing why they mattered. You can be busy without being fulfilled. You can make progress in the wrong direction.

Purpose is the foundation of becoming a better man. It’s not a feeling. It’s a direction.

When you have purpose, your decisions gain clarity. You stop chasing every shiny object because you know where you’re going. Your yes means something. So does your no.

Purpose gives pain meaning. It turns struggle into strategy.

For me, purpose looks like this:

  • To lead my family with strength and empathy.

  • To build businesses that solve real problems and create opportunity.

  • To live with discipline so that my words and actions align.

But purpose isn’t static—it’s something you refine as you grow. You don’t find your purpose once; you earn it daily through action.

If your life were a story, what kind of man would the main character need to become by the end of the book?

That question hit me hard. Because purpose isn’t about what you get—it’s about who you become.

How to Be Purposeful:

  1. Write your mission. A single sentence that captures who you want to be and what you stand for.

  2. List your values. Integrity, discipline, courage—whatever they are, define them clearly.

  3. Audit your time. Look at how you spend your week. Does it reflect your mission?

Purpose is the compass. Without it, you’re just wandering.

Be Prepared — Build the Foundation

Purpose gives direction. Preparation builds capacity.

It’s easy to dream about who we want to become. It’s harder to prepare ourselves to handle what that version of us will require. Too often, we want the outcome without the structure that supports it. But as every craftsman knows, you can’t build a strong house on a weak foundation.

Preparation is the discipline before the opportunity.

It’s waking up early to read when nobody’s watching. It’s saving money instead of showing off. It’s choosing to train your body because strength isn’t just physical—it’s a signal of self-respect.

When I think about being prepared, I break it into three arenas:

Mental Preparation

We live in the age of distraction. Mental toughness starts with focus. I journal every night—not to document perfection, but to clarify chaos. Reading old-school books on philosophy and leadership gives me anchors in a storm of noise. Stoicism, faith, or any grounded belief system—these aren’t old relics; they’re timeless blueprints. I believe we should understand the thought process of individuals who have accomplished our goals but it’s up to us to decide what lessons and systems we will utilize in our lives.

Physical Preparation

Discipline starts with the body. You can’t lead your family, business, or community from a position of weakness. Physical training teaches consistency, resilience, and delayed gratification—all qualities that spill into every area of life. Fitness isn’t vanity; it’s readiness.

When I skip workouts, I notice it—not just in the mirror, but in my mind. The world rewards the man who can endure.

Financial Preparation

Money isn’t everything, but it’s freedom in numeric form. Being prepared financially means making decisions your future self will thank you for—investing, saving, building skills that compound over time. A man unprepared financially becomes a slave to circumstance.

Preparation doesn’t make life easier. It makes you stronger.

It’s the difference between reacting and responding. Between panic and poise.

You don’t rise to the occasion—you fall to your level of preparation.

When you’re prepared, you walk into every challenge with quiet confidence. You’ve already paid the price in advance.

So build your systems. Sharpen your tools. Practice your craft. Because opportunity doesn’t wait—it tests who’s ready.

Be Proactive — Take Relentless Action

Purpose gives you a destination. Preparation equips you for the journey. But proactivity moves you forward.

Being proactive is about refusing to let life happen to you. It’s about stepping up before you’re asked, taking responsibility before blame is assigned, and building momentum before motivation arrives.

Most people wait for clarity before acting. But clarity often comes after you start.

I’ve learned that the hardest part isn’t the work—it’s the hesitation before it. The overthinking. The “what if it doesn’t work?” loop that kills dreams before they start.

Alex Hormozi says, “You don’t rise to your goals, you fall to your standards.” Being proactive means raising your standards for action. Doing what needs to be done whether you feel like it or not.

There’s a primal satisfaction in movement—in progress earned through effort.

Every day I try to ask myself: What can I do today that my future self will thank me for? Sometimes that means writing when I’d rather scroll. Sometimes it means making a hard phone call or facing a problem I’ve been avoiding.

Proactivity isn’t about speed—it’s about ownership.

How to Be Proactive:

Eliminate excuses. Don’t wait for perfect conditions. They don’t exist.

Set daily standards. A small checklist that keeps you consistent.

Reflect weekly. Ask: Did I act or react this week?

Momentum creates motivation. The more you move, the more you want to move.

When you’re proactive, you stop living as a passenger and start driving your own story.

The Journey Begins

This blog isn’t about perfection—it’s about progress.

It’s about reclaiming the mindset that built great men: responsibility, discipline, courage, curiosity. It’s about becoming useful again—to yourself, your family, and the world around you.

“A Better Me” isn’t a brand; it’s a commitment.

Every post I share will be another step in documenting this pursuit—lessons learned, habits built, and honest reflections from the field. I’ll talk about fitness, mindset, business, and relationships, all through the lens of personal responsibility and masculine growth.

My goal isn’t to preach—it’s to practice publicly. To build a community of men who want more from themselves, not for ego, but for excellence.

If there’s one takeaway from this first post, it’s this:
Becoming a better man starts when you stop outsourcing your life to luck and start taking ownership of it.

So here’s where I stand today:

  • I’m defining my purpose.

  • I’m building my foundation.

  • And I’m taking daily, deliberate action.

Because the man I want to become doesn’t appear out of nowhere—he’s forged by choices like these.

This is day one. Not of perfection, but of progress.

And if you’re reading this and something inside you stirs—a small voice that says, “It’s time”—then maybe this isn’t just my journey.

Maybe it’s ours.

Final thought:
This is day one of a better me — and maybe, a better us.