Read the (prettier) online version here. 2 out of 3 millennials have nothing saved for retirement.¹ Yet everyone feels they need $1.8 million to retire comfortably.² If your reaction to this data is to think you’d better stop buying lunch out, you’re still playing a rigged game: A game in which the rules change without notice A game in which your options are severely limited A game in which your winnings decrease in value over time In this post I’m going to show you how to play a better game:...
8 days ago • 16 min read
Click here to read the (prettier) web version In March 2023 I was a broke music teacher. But since then I’ve earned more money than I thought I ever would… while compromising less: Less hours Less travel Less unfulfilling work Actually, I do no unfulfilling work. (It’s 4:54am on a Saturday right now. I want to get up and get to my desk 7 days a week.) I’ve come to understand that this is possible for everyone—including you, whoever you are and whatever your background. In fact, I’ve taught...
15 days ago • 10 min read
Click here to read the (prettier) online version. 4 weeks ago, my uncle started feeling unwell. 3 weeks ago, he saw the doctor, who diagnosed him with terminal liver cancer. 2 weeks ago, he had tests. 1 week ago, he was told chemotherapy might extend his life by weeks—if he was lucky. He opted out of treatment, preferring to spend his remaining time without the additional suffering caused by chemotherapy. So on Wednesday, I flew with my parents from Bristol to Edinburgh to see my uncle and...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Read the (prettier) web version here. Successful businesses solve problems for people. That might seem obvious, but for 250 years a lot of businesses didn’t have to think about helping their customers. Their goal was to charge as much as they could while providing as little value as they could. But since the internet went mainstream, things have been changing. Research from Deloitte found that “Unilever’s ‘sustainable living’ brands (i.e., brands focused on reducing Unilever’s environmental...
about 1 month ago • 8 min read
Click here to read the (prettier) web version. 76% of people earning $50,000 or less live paycheck to paycheck.¹ For 20 years I earned way below that figure. Actually, I didn’t even have a “paycheck”—I was a gigging musician with no idea what money was coming in when. So why did I stick at it so long? Well, I believed that financial success was reserved for people who were willing to sacrifice their wellbeing… Or their integrity… Or both. And I was unwilling to make that trade. If I’d known...
about 2 months ago • 32 min read
Your email provider may cut this message off before the end. Click here to read the (prettier) web version. 42% of solo business owners earn over $50,000 per year.¹ ² ³ The rest of them are in the “side hustle” phase, boosting their job income and maybe preparing to transition to a life of their own design full-time. These solopreneurs contribute a total of $1.3 trillion to the U.S. economy annually—with zero employees. Clearly, attempting to make money online is no longer an unsafe bet. So...
about 2 months ago • 33 min read
Click here to read the (prettier) web version. One of society’s greatest lies is that employment is stable. And one of society’s greatest blind spots is that the same technologies which are disrupting the workforce can enable you to create your own stability (from your couch). Technology has been disrupting workforces since the plow was invented in 3000 B.C. In the 1980s, the drum machine was invented. Until then, music producers had been paying human drummers $50 an hour (which could add up...
2 months ago • 13 min read
Click here to read the (prettier) web version. (Your email provider may cut this post off before the end.) I put everything into my teenage dream, which failed miserably. I wanted to play drums with my musical heroes. I don’t know how many thousands of hours I put into practising my skills, but I got very good. Still, my career growth never truly reflected my skill level. I performed and recorded with a few bigger artists (Roni Size, Kelis, Culprate), but I never managed to break through to...
2 months ago • 18 min read
Last week I wrote a newsletter that generated $2500. This week I reposted all my old newsletters on my new website. It was fun to see how my writing has improved over 18 months. But there were some real bangers that went out earlier in my journey, which most of you weren’t around for. So here’s my “best of”, formatted in the cleanest reading experience I’ve ever designed. Enjoy. And as always, if you have thoughts or questions I’d love to hear about them in a DM on X or Instagram. 1. How to...
3 months ago • 3 min read