We started out young, lookin’ for some identity
Made a thousand mistakes, but never did we lack chemistry
-Kendrick Lamar

Concrete Rose

The Rose That Grew From Concrete is a poem about defying expectations and overcoming adversity written by Tupac Shakur. Over the millennia roses have been admired as symbols of passion, desire, and love. A concrete rose is a special kind of rose, one that can grow in non-ideal conditions like the neglected soil beneath a slab of concrete. By doing so, it defies the odds with its ability to not only just survive, but thrive in an environment not setup for its success. Adversity is a fundamental human experience that we all share. Not knowing how to navigate it effectively is a precursor to a life of lost potential and a concrete rose that wilts or even worse, never grows. Inside of each and every one of us a concrete rose desires to be expressed and no matter where you are on your journey, there’s still time for it to be nurtured and flourish.

I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, also know as the Rose City. Long admired for its beautiful rose gardens, ample amounts of greenery, like the huge Douglas Fir Christmas trees littered across the landscape, and the vast mountain ranges off in the distance like the Cascades that paint the horizon. These attributes could whet even the most non-outdoorsy person’s visual appetite, but not mine.

For as long as I can remember I’ve always been drawn to things more concrete-like. Central business districts, tall buildings, brutalist designs, diverse architectures, and the hustle & bustle of urban downtown areas in the places that I’ve lived and traveled have always inspired me. As I approach the beginning of the midway point to the 2nd decade of my adult life (35), I’ve realized I’ve spent the majority of it living in areas that are concrete jungles. The last five of those years spent living in downtown Los Angeles, a fact that raises the eyebrows of my native Angeleno friends. “Why would you want to live there?” is a common question after telling them my affinity for DTLA. “Why wouldn’t I?” is always my sarcastic reply. I live downtown because it fuels me. It helps me, define me. My concrete rose grows here. Recently I was thinking on where this preference originated from. In my search for the answer, I had to start at a place where I found an early identity and taste for all things metropolitan, Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, Oregon.

I was in love with you, didn’t know what it was with you
Kiss you in back of the class just to get a buzz with you
-Kendrick Lamar

No Child Left Behind

A high school that is polytechnic is one that focuses on teaching its students technical trades. Students are guided down distinct skill paths, ensuring that by time of graduation, they have employable skills. Benson Polytechnic High School has curriculum on computer science, construction, health sciences, digital media, radio broadcasting and even aviation as well as many other real world tangible trade skills that aim to set it’s graduates up for real world success outside the class room. Growing up I was captivated by two things: airplanes and computers. On top of that I ran track, and Benson is one of few schools in Oregon with a heavily credentialed history of dominating the sport and winning state Track & Field titles. So by 6th grade I knew I wanted to go to Benson and no one or anything could’ve stopped me, or so I thought at the time.

Fast forward two years to the fall of ‘05 something had stopped me. Three months into my freshman year of high school I was on a path towards either flunking or dropping out. From September to December of that year, my grades slowly eroded & chipped away to to C’s and D’s and eventually F’s. I was unmotivated, unengaged, and pretty lifeless when it came to my educational pursuits at the time.

I dreaded waking up every day to go to David Douglas High School, one of Oregon’s largest & highest-enrollment high schools ten miles southeast of downtown Portland. David Douglas wasn’t in the plans for me back in 6th grade, but neither was my Dad losing a home, along with most of my possessions in it, in North Portland during 7th grade. Resulting in me having to move in with my Mom on the southeast side of the city.

Between that drastic change and the two-hour bus ride now required of me everyday to and from, it was hard for me to arrive to school on time let alone keep up. By 8th grade the situation had deteriorated even more. The final blow came in the form of receiving news that my lottery application to attend Benson was denied a few months before my 8th grade graduation. I was devastated. During that 24-month period, I truly felt like I had lost it all, and the thought of losing all my friends in a couple short months with them going to Benson and me going to David Douglas, brought out an emotional numbness in my adolescent self. So by no surprise, I was jaded beyond comprehension and fully checked out that fall when I started my freshman year at David Douglas.

I got relief from my daily mandatory after school detention bids from showing up late to class so much when school let out for winter break. Seeing my dread day in and day out, my mom took this as an opportunity to go up to Benson and plead about letting me transfer in a last ditch effort. Long story short, It worked, but for a reason I hadn’t heard of at the time. Recent changes from the Bush Administration introducing a new education law called No Child Left Behind Act meant Benson had to make exceptions to it’s lottery application process given good enough reason. A loophole that my mom fully exploited that day by telling the school administrators my story. So in the final hours, my concrete rose that was wilting and dying got a lifeline facilitated by the NCLB act. I was no longer going to be left behind due to it. I still remember that jolt of energy I felt when I was told I would be allowed to transfer in to Benson after winter break.

My first day I walked up Benson’s front steps playing “We Can Make It Better” by Kanye West from my iPod. As soon as I passed through the front doors I was welcomed by a warm sense of comfort that lasted throughout the three-and-a-half years I was there. When the last bell rung on that first day I stepped back out the front doors and stood on top the front steps on a cold January afternoon. In the distance I could see the downtown Portland skyline. I knew this is where I belonged both consciously and subconsciously. Within a year my grades had reversed to the point where I was getting straight A’s. And Even though Benson was a one hour commute from where I lived, I was never late, I joined the track team and eventually became the team captain. Throughout my time at Benson I met people and learned skills that are still relevant in my life to this very day.

That skyline represented more than just tall buildings to me, it represented me finding a place where I was supposed to be. At Benson I found mentors and an system that set me on the right path. And with that, looking back, my appreciation for downtown, urban areas was birthed. When I left Portland ten years ago, I had spent the last five living in downtown just a mile or two from where it all started at Benson.

In City of Angels, I talked about how important it is to be able to change environments for the betterment of self. My story of getting to Benson reminds me that for some people underachievement is not just the results of not wanting do good for oneself. It’s usually more nuanced than that. Acknowledging and living through that experience helped me foster empathy for those less fortunate, for ones who didn’t have a mom that kept fighting and for those not lucky enough to get a timely saving grace, like I did with the No Child Left Behind Act.

My baby boo, you either heal niggas or you kill niggas
Both is true, it take some tough skin just to deal with you
Logical, explanation don’t exist, flippin’ pages
Chapter after chapter
-Kendrick Lamar

Concrete Dreams

In his famous poem A Dream Deferred, Langston Hughes asks an existential question about what happens to a dream that never gets actualized. He continues by posing a series of questions, comparing a decaying dream to that of decomposing flesh. Through the use of powerful metaphor, the poem is a examination of what happens when the hope for a better tomorrow cracks and ultimately crumbles away. The best dreams are foundational and solid like concrete. But when such a desire can’t be expressed in a lifetime, what happens to the person who holds it?

Many times in my life I’ve had to dwell with a deferred dream. As I’ve matured I’ve realized it’s a part of life, much like adversity. Even dreams that eventually get accomplished are deferred for a period of time. What this means is that we should accept the fact that the journey, no matter where we are on it, is the state to find comfort in. Because it’s where most of our time will be spent. Thinking back to my mindset during that fall at David Douglas makes me feel ominous. For the only time in my life I can say that I had given up. I’m grateful for everything that I achieved since then and the growth in my mindset over the years. But on one hand, I feel guilty for quitting on myself, overtime I’ve learned to give grace to the young and naïve version of me. On the other hand, I feel bittersweet, appreciative of how far I’ve came, yet I think on what would’ve happened had I not been able to turn things around, and about how many others weren’t as privileged to have a system in place to facilitate their change and foster growth in their rose.

A wise man once told me that there’ll come a time in life when the only dreams you’ll desire, are dreams related to improving your health, fostering solid relationships, and creating wealth. Reflecting on everything that’s happened over the past year, I realize that statement gets more true for me year over year. I see how doubling down on my fitness goals this year resulted in me achieving a long held dream of reaching 200 pounds all while maintaining a low body-fat percentage. I see how reinvesting in old relationships that were in need of TLC led to their improvement, and how building acceptance towards the ending of old ones that had ran their course opened up a sense of freedom. And I see how planting seeds over the years, no matter how small, in the form of making delayed-gratification investment decisions have assisted in bringing forth significant progress towards my financial goals. On top of that I traveled to new places, learned new things, and made new friends. Holistically, 2025 was a good year.

Earlier I mentioned that one common experience that ties us all together is adversity. I’m sure you can look back on your life and think of a time where you went through a tough situation similar to what I experienced during my early teenage years. We may not have went through the exact same thing, but because we’re human, we’ve felt the same emotions. Remember that, and use that like I plan to do to foster more empathy in the new year.

On the eve of 2026, my plans for next year first and foremost are to continue on my journey of actualizing my dreams, making them more concrete. While doing so, I’m reminding myself that it’s okay to not have it all figured out, it’s okay to make mistakes, and it’s even more okay and necessary to continue to dream of a better tomorrow. That is what I wish for me and that is what I wish for you.

Happy New Year.

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Cost me more to be free than a life in the pen’
Makin’ money off cuss words, writin’ again
Learned how to think ahead, so I fight with my pen
Late night down Sunset, liking the sin
-2Pac

Migrare

In the animal kingdom, migration is used as a means of survival. Animals, driven by instincts originating at the DNA level, migrate regularly throughout their lifetimes. This behavior, shaped and reinforced over millions of years by Darwin’s Natural selection theory of evolution, is key to allowing the species to thrive. These animals become comfortable with leaving their habitats in search of better environments, ones where resources are more plentiful, living conditions more favorable, and land more accessible for themselves and their future offspring. A species that chooses not to migrate increases its chances of extinction from starvation and other harsh environmental factors. Repeat that choice long enough and you’ll eventually have a species that ceases to exist. There is no free lunch—all living things must constantly fight for survival, including us. As humans, our mindset around migration should be no different. There comes a time in everyone’s life when a decision must be made: whether to leave for greener pastures and potentially thrive, or stay in environments that may not be conducive to becoming the person one wants to be, and fail to live up to life’s full potential.

The etymology of the word migrate is migrare, Latin for: “to move from one place to another.” Moving can be an uncomfortable thing to do, especially as an adult. It brings about uncertainty, and we can spend our whole lives over-indexing on trying to avoid that. But for the courageous ones who manage to push past the fears and negative self-talk, and somehow, some way make that leap even when afraid, great things usually follow. I’m a living testament to that.

Ten summers ago I made the decision to migrate from my hometown, leaving behind a lot of material things I owned, and most of everyone I had ever known in the city of Portland. The plan was to migrate down the west coast, swapping the City of Roses for the City of Angels, Los Angeles. The calculus that went into me heading south was simple: L.A. had more opportunities, more diversity, and better weather among a couple of other things, but truthfully those three factors motivated me the most. I also remember looking around in Portland and thinking to myself, “I don’t see many people who look like me thriving in this city,” and so really, like an intelligent animal who migrates for survival, I left—filled to the brim with optimism and naiveté. Two qualities I would need in plentiful amounts if I was going to survive the harsh reality of L.A. during my first few years here.

It's the city of angels and constant danger
South Central L.A. can't get no stranger
Full of drama like a soap opera
On the curb watchin' the ghetto bird helicopters
-2Pac

The Angels

The words Los Angeles translated to English mean, “The Angels.” A year into my arrival, this city gave me no heavenly vibes; truthfully, it felt like I was living in hell. Every day felt like a grueling battle as I fought to figure out my positioning. I moved here in my early twenties, right after a business partnership went up in flames, burning through $25,000 and reducing a once-valued friendship to ashes. The first year and a half I constantly questioned if I had made a mistake coming here. The juxtaposition between beautiful, bright, sunny L.A. and the dark sentiment of my inner mental state couldn’t have been any more drastic. As I was living through this time period of my life I couldn’t understand it, but looking back I now see that what I was going through was nothing more than the discomfort of change. It would take time for me to get my comfort back, but that was a feature, not a bug. Anxiety, channeled correctly, can be a great motivating force and truth be told, who knows if I would have strained so hard to get to where I’m at now had I been immediately comfortable upon my arrival. My fears, my struggles, my angels, ultimately made me who I am today. Let me tell you about a few of those saving angels that came to me over the years, in the form of people and fortunate situations.

My first angel appeared as a hiring manager who took a shot on me when things had come down to the wire in 2016. The situation was dire: literally get the job that day, or be forced to move back to Portland. Luckily for me, I did enough to impress my my soon-to-be manager in the interview and she believed in me, extending my Los Angeles stay. Thank you Tuanni (hit her with all your wine questions).

I received another angel in 2017 when I got a $25k scholarship to attend Hack Reactor. Remember that failed business I mentioned earlier? I used a song I had produced in that situation and flipped it for the scholarship submission. The scholarship competition involved recording a video teaching a skill that you held, and I chose to record a video teaching viewers how to sample music, turning it into a song. That right there is what I call the yin and the yang of life, a lot of situations can be circular and given enough time, everything works out eventually.

Another angel came to me when I got my first break in tech, getting a role at AuditBoard, a small startup at the time with only about 30 employees, located in Cerritos (I gladly commuted two hours daily). It was my first official software engineering role and even came with equity. Six years later AuditBoard would get acquired for $3 Billion by Hg.

Two years later, an angel arrived, showing up for me in the aftermath of dealing with the cathartic life-change that comes with ending a 12-year relationship during the pandemic. This angel helped me get my mindset right which led to me eventually getting back on my feet even if my legs were extremely wobbly at first. This angel was my mother.

A year after that, this city gave me another angel in the form of joining a fintech company I was passionate about called Dave (inspired by the story of David vs. Goliath) Dave started off the idea of a small neobank being able to provide financial resources to the underbanked and do so in a humane way. An ethos I felt good aligning myself with. I joined when it was still technically a startup and again got equity. Less than a year later Dave would go public with an initial public offering, valuing the company at a $3 Billion market cap.

As I wrap up my tenth summer, I now see why they call it the city of angels—this city has been good to me, and looking back I can’t fathom how my life would’ve played out had I stayed comfortable, stayed content, stayed in Portland. Had I given into the pain and left during those early years when things got unbearable to the point of stealing my appetite, I wouldn’t have gotten to truly enjoy this beautiful city in all the ways I’ve been blessed to be able to over these last few years. For that I’m grateful and I’m also very appreciative of all the friends I’ve made over the years, all the angels who’ve come to me and showed me grace and goodwill, and really anyone else who I had the privilege of going through this rollercoaster of a journey with.

It wouldn't be L.A. without Mexicans
Black Love, Brown Pride in the sets again
Pete Wilson tryin' to see us all broke
I'm on some bullshit out for everything they owe
-2Pac

Sin Miedo

The ability to migrate is a prerequisite for the dream of an improved life. Not allowing a person to do so greatly reduces their opportunities for bettering themselves. Recall that any animal that needs to change environments for survival but can’t will eventually die off—this is a fundamental law of nature. In America, the stakes of immigration are very high, and in 2025, couldn’t be any higher, reaching a boiling point this summer in my backyard, Downtown Los Angeles. I’ll be the first to admit: I don’t have all the answers when it comes to the inherent zero-sum game played around the world called politics. What I will say is this: Without fear, people should be able to seek out better for themselves and their families—this I fundamentally believe. And children should not be split up from their families, no matter how they got here, for the sake of enforcing rules. We need immigration reform and a better system that encourages and allows people to make the right choices. I’m hopeful that the trailblazers on the front lines fighting that fight will get the job done in the future.

Los Angeles is a city built on the backs of people who’ve migrated here from all over the world—from cities in America (like myself) and from other cities and places outside of it. The history of their contributions cannot, and I personally believe, will not be erased. America is one of the greatest countries in the world. I say this not to downplay its dark parts, but as a call to action for it to consistently improve. A burden that should always be placed on it because of its greatness. With more power comes more responsibility. The history of this country cannot be rewritten and must be acknowledged and respected in order to not make similar mistakes. As we write to the history books each and every day, it’s important to know it’s up to us to get the job done. I think we should all find our own unique ways to give back and contribute toward it being the place we’d like it to be in the future. Get out and vote, get involved, let your voice be heard in a way that’s true to you, create, inspire, be fearless.

Sin Miedo translates to: “without fear,” a solid ethos to hold when fighting for change, whether that be leaving everything and everyone you’ve ever known in your hometown for better opportunities, or fighting for change against a system you find unjust—do it without fear.

I hope that going forward you take an analytical eye to each and every environment you find yourself in. The places you exist in and the people you choose to spend time with in said places have an enormous potential to influence your life, both consciously and subconsciously. When leaving your comfort zone and reaching for something new, whether that involves migrating or just doing something for the first time, do it with the spirit of sin miedo. Life’s too short for anything otherwise. I hope to see you around L.A.

To Live & Die In L.A.

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all images shot by Jose Zepeda of Balance Studios

I just didn't quit
That's the only distinguishing quality
From me and probably whoever else is goin' through this
Went through this, or is gonna go through this
Is that I ain't quit.
-Nipsey Hussle

The Marathon Of Life

We don’t choose the where, why, or how we get brought into this world. Life chooses us through our parents’ actions. Once the umbilical cord is cut, a long journey towards self-reliance begins. It starts with simple tasks, such as learning to walk, developing the ability to communicate, using the restroom, and feeding and dressing ourselves. A couple of decades later, continued development involves more complex tasks, like learning how to regulate our emotions, figuring out what we want to do with our lives, and just as our parents did, finding someone suitable to love who we can eventually procreate with. From there, the cycle begins anew. From a bird’s-eye view this pattern of life can be visualized in a shape that is circular like the outline of a track. Every year of our lived experience is another lap around said track, and the collection of years that come together to hold the entirety of each & everyone of our lives can be metaphorically seen as a Marathon, known today as a challenging 26.2 mile race.

The word “marathon” originates from 19th-century Greece, Athens to be exact. The dictionary defines a marathon as, “a long-lasting or difficult task or operation of a specified kind.” I’ve never ran a marathon (yet) but from anecdotal conversations, I’m confident that they’re hard AF—and thats exactly how they should be. Because a Marathon isn’t just a race when you think about it, it’s a mentality, a concept that can be extended and applied to all things life: how we live, pursue our dreams, love those close to us, and most importantly, handle the inevitable ups and downs of the human experience.

The first time I visited Greece I made it a point to hit the city of Athens. I still remember the immediate connection I felt to the city—its ambiance, the smells, the delicious cheap food, and of course the beautiful women. But what captivated me most about Athens was its rich history. In high school I read the classic greek stories like Homer’s Iliad, Sophocles’ Oedipus, which birthed my appreciation for Greek tragedy. I learned early about hamartia and immediately recognized its parallels as a cautionary lesson for real life (case in point: Ye F.K.A Kanye West).

My first visit to Athens was life-changing. Walking through Plato’s Academy-the birthplace of stoicism while drinking Greek coffee was a major vibe. In the years leading up to this trip I had gone down the rabbit-hole on stoic teachings on the recommendation from a friend. I found myself resonating with the writings of Marcus Aurelius, Plato, and Socrates to only name a few, as I read and learned more about stoicism. On a tour of the Parthenon with the bros, our guide broke a lot of stories down for us, telling us about The Siege of the Acropolis, the history behind the Temple of Athena Nike (we we’re all from Portland), and the story of Pheidippides & Marathon - a foundational piece of inspiration for this writing. I felt honored to learn and stand in a place with so much profound history, dating back to a time when everything and everyone I’ve ever known didn’t exist. As I took in all the the epic stories that day I couldn’t help but notice how the mythicism of Athens had such a huge impact on my life, a kid who grew up halfway across the world from it.

Find Your Pace

In a professional track and field race, organizers strategically include a runner with no intention of winning. This runner, known as a pacemaker, has one goal: to ensure a competitive pace. The good ones do their job very well. For example, in an 800m race (two laps around the track), a pacemaker might be instructed to bring the group through the first lap in 50 seconds for (a solid high-school boys’ 400-meter time). Shortly after crossing the 400-meter mark at say, 500 to 600 meters you’ll see the pace-setter gracefully exist off the track and the real race begins among the true competitors. Why is this done? There a several reasons, but I’ll focus down on one key point: it’s extremely difficult to find your true pace while focusing on other competitors, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of going out too fast for the first lap in attempts to keep up with someone, only to be later passed by another runner who stuck to their pace better throughout the race. Aside from the 100-meter sprint, most races aren’t just about sprinting at the max 100% of the time, thats a quick ticket to getting smoked in longer races that require strategy like the 400-meter, 800-meter, and the marathon. Sticking to your pace without the assistance of a pacemaker is not easy especially when you mix in nerves, adrenaline and a group of other competitors who want to win just as bad as you. Knowing how to adequately pace yourself for the duration of a race is what sets apart the losers from the winners, and this is true not only for track events, but real life as well.

Thinking a bit more abstract outside the track, finding your pace in your Marathon of life may be one of the most important things you do. Earlier I said life can be thought of as a marathon, and if you subscribe to this, the pace you run it at will determine a lot of how things unfold for you. It’s important to call out that your pace will be dynamic. Sometimes it may slow down considerably and other times it’ll speed up when you’re feeling good. As long as you’re being authentic with your intentions, all while listening to your body and being true to yourself, you’ll never have to worry about completely gassing out and quitting, and most importantly you’ll stay healthy. Another thing to remember is to not get discouraged on your progress—it’s often hard to gauge true progress especially when you’re in the midst of it—always keep a belief that you’ll arrive at the end-destination of your desires eventually.

Almost 20 years ago If you had asked me what I wanted to do as an adult I would’ve answered quickly: an olympic runner. Since then a lot has changed for me personally and I never became an olympic runner, although I did become a 3 event (110m & 300m hurdles + the triple jump) city champion. But I don’t feel like I failed in life because I didn’t make it to the podium at the Olympics. Track & field taught me life lessons, like discipline, that still keep me on pace on my life’s marathon today. Without it, I surely wouldn’t be where I am right now in life. Track saved my life and I’ll proudly say that till my last day. No matter what you want to go after in this life remember that as long as we’re alive, the potential to achieve it in some shape or fashion is still there. Every goal achieved will unlock new ones to achieve. And when one path has become obstructed, try to be open to altering course, both paths have the potential to bring you to the true end-goal, acceptance and happiness.

Tryna’ stay alive, living how I say in my rhymes
My cousin used to tell me, "Take this shit a day at a time"
Told me Friday, died Sunday, Wednesday in the ground
I still smile, 'cause somehow, I know he seeing me now
-T.I

Amor Fati: Love of Fate

In January of 2018 ,during the euphoria of the crypto bull market that began in 2017, I attended a crypto meetup in downtown Los Angeles. It wasn’t my first meetup; I had attended a few in the months prior as Bitcoin’s price surged to $17,000 for the first time. There was a lot of excitement around that milestone and it started to feel like Bitcoin and crypto as a whole had gained legitimacy in the investment community. The meetup took place in a nondescript building in the South Park district of DTLA, a few blocks away from Dignity Health California Medical Center. The event kicked off and to my surprise I saw face that I didn’t expect to be there, it was Nipsey Hussle. I still remember the sounds of his tucked chains clanking as we took in the panel talk portion of the meetup. Amid all the excitement I didn’t get a chance to go up and actually talk with him afterwards, but knowing that he was interested in the same “magic internet money” community that I was helped reinforce, to me at least, that what was piquing my interest at the time held weight amongst people who were visionaries. I left the meetup that night feeling pretty excited about the future. On my drive home afterwards I drove right past Dignity Health hospital before hopping on the 10. I thought nothing of it at the time, but soon, that hospital would serve as reminder for myself.

2009 was the year when I first heard of Nipsey Hussle. Over the following years I’d grow to deeply appreciate his music. One theme that resonated with me was his conceptualization of a marathon as a life journey toward fulfilling one’s purpose. An idea that heavily inspired the writing of these words. As I talked about in the beginning, I too like to look at life and how I progress towards my purpose as a Marathon as well, and think it’s a powerful framing that we all should use at times. One difference between a literal marathon and a life marathon is that, for life marathons, they all have different lengths-but undoubtedly each life marathon is unique and important in it’s own respect. For Nip, that would be the one and only time that our two marathon’s intersected. Tragically, just fourteen-months from the time that I last saw him at that meetup, he would be senselessly gunned down. I would later find out in bitter irony that the hospital he died at was Dignity Health, the same hospital I drove past that night of the meetup. I still occasionally drive past it till this day, and every time I drive past it now, it’s a reminder of the ancient greek principle of memento mori: “remember you must die.” Nipsey went out on his own accord, since his death, the energy that he put into his music has spread across the world and inspired millions. He ran his marathon of life very well if you ask me.

Close your eyes and picture everyone you’ve ever met and known, all your friends, loved ones, and family—100 years from now it’s almost guaranteed you and everyone you thought of won’t be around to read these words anymore. Instead of looking at this as some depressive or sad fact, I think it’s more valuable to consider it as a call to action. We only get one shot at life and every day that passes is an immutable thing. Time runs linearly, once a moment has passed theres no way to get it back. Use that as fuel to challenge yourself to always act in the best of ways, to always think the best of yourself & others when possible, and to always run your life marathon with an acceptance of both the good and the bad.

I went through every emotion with tryna pursue what I'm doing
You know what I mean?
And I think that what, what's gon' separate whoever's gon' try to go for something is that, you ain't gon' quit
That, you know, you really gon' take the stance of I'm gon' die behind what I'm gettin' at right here.
-Nipsey Hussle

Run Your Laps

I call myself a creator because I’m happiest when I’m creating. Whether with words, musical elements, or physical objects in my life. The medium doesn’t matter. I have to create. The lens that I see life through is: everything is art, both my triumphs & my failures. In a world soon to be dominated by artificial intelligence the biggest moat we have as humans is the fact that we have souls. At the end of the day, it’ll always be up to us to define what’s sublime. When one marathon ends, another begins. When Nipsey Hussle’s life was tragically cut short, the energy he poured into his life and art multiplied exponentially, fulfilling his destiny in a sense. At the end of the day us humans are just phenomena of energy, and it’s a scientific fact that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred. Energy transfer is real, the best marathon runners understand this, they’re masters at finding sources of positive energy to keep themselves going, even when things get tough. They know the importance of avoiding things that drain energy and they have the discernment to properly distinguish between the two. So the next time you’re feeling discouraged on your life’s marathon and thinking about quitting, remember that it’s ok to slow down your pace for a time being in order to get yourself right. But it’s never ok to quit, when we quit, we shortchange ourselves and the billions who came before us, the ones who passed the baton to us in one way or another. We owe it to them to keep going, and we owe it to our descendants in the future as well.

I wish you well on your marathon of life.

I feel these emotions, but still I keep going
A pen to a poet
I been through the motions
I’m feeling heroic
But life is a dice game
And I dare you to blow it
-Nipsey Hussle

Instagram: @jahoshuma
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99 Problems

The first quarter of the year ends today March 31st. With that 25% of 2025 is over and for the remainder of the year I want more problems. I’m at a stage in my life where the only games I want to play are the ones related to wealth creation—solving problems prolifically is a requirement to that. The best problems present as paradoxes; at first glance they may seem unsolvable, but in reality, they aren’t impossible to overcome when approached correctly. It’s easy to tell yourself that you’ll face the problems in your life, but in practice, it’s actually a very hard thing to do consistently. But that’s just a problem too, and like any other problem, can be identified, analyzed, and eventually game-planned against to be effectively solved.

We’re currently living through a period of big change in terms of information technology. Almost every month there’s a new breakthrough advancement in Artificial Intelligence—a tech that’s already impacting millions of people’s lives and will continue to do so over the years to come. At a macro level growth is inevitable; no matter what we do, it won’t stop. On an individual level, growth can only come from action. Put another way: we must solve our problems to get what we want out of life. No one should care more than you when it comes to desiring a better future for yourself. And nobody can force you to take the actions necessary to turn that desire into a reality. The road to self-actualization is an individual sport, like Track & Field.

If you look at some of the greatest minds in history you’ll find a common trait in them being world-class in their ability to not let problems get in the way of progress. You being here reading this means you’re likely in pursuit of that trait. I’m forsure in pursuit of it. Truthfully, the real move going forward is figuring out how to capitalize on all this macro change to facilitate the ideal realities that we envision for ourselves. “Problems” is about that. Below we’ll discuss four different areas of life where problems arise and how to best handle them on the journey toward self-excellence. We’ll reframe problems into what they actually are: growth opportunities. Intertwined, I’ll introduce tenets of a practical framework that I use to solve my problems—developed over years of trial & error, based off ideals I’ve learned from my different walks of life with a focus on: Computer Science, Finance, Psychology, Music, and Sports.

I don’t know what you take me as

Or understand the intelligence that JAY-Z has

I’m from rags to riches, niggas I ain’t dumb

I got ninety-nine problems, but a bitch ain’t one - hit me!

-JAY-Z

Mo Money, Mo Problems
(Money)

As an adult you make anywhere from 70 to 300 conscious decisions everyday on average. Can you guess how many of those are about or related to money? It probably varies from person to person, but I’d guess it’s somewhere around 20-40%, and thats being conservative. Money makes the world go round’, we covered that in my writing: Money. It’s the lifeblood of society. Some believe it being so important creates unnecessary problems, but without it a barrage of other issues would pop up in its absence. We all need money. And if we have to handle more problems in order to get more money, then so be it, “bring on the problems.”

They say mo money, mo problems
Bring on the problems…
Bring on the problems…

-Drake

This brings us to the first, out of four, problem solving framework tenets…

There were times in my life where I had a long-standing issue that I wanted to fix but put it off for a variety of reasons. In the past what would have to happen is the pain from the problem would have to get so great to the point where I couldn’t ignore it anymore and was forced to take action. I refuse to live like that now and have found that being proactive on addressing the issues in my life pays at a much higher annual percentage rate when it comes to growth.

Tip: Use a daily reminder to prompt yourself to take the next step towards fixing a long-standing issue. I use the Reminders app on the iPhone to set reminders and tell it to repeat daily. Seeing the call-to-action at the same time everyday is enough motivation to get me moving in the right direction. Most recently I did this to start working on my flexibility issues.

In his book, “The Psychology of Money,” Morgan Housel claims the highest form of wealth is having the ability to wake up and decide what you want to do each and everyday. I agree with him. We get one shot at life, and we should spend that in pursuit of things that are important to us. If you’re working in a career or doing a job that doesn’t connect with you spiritually or doesn’t feel like your life’s mission, that’s a problem. The amount of money required to accomplish Housel’s statement will depend on your personal situation, but keep in mind it’s not actually about making a lot of money just so you can piss off your life doing meaningless things. If you’re already on a path that feels correct to you but just haven’t reached the mountain-top yet, then stay locked-in. Feel free to skip the below section since it doesn’t pertain to you.

When it comes to solving the problem of increasing one’s income, the two best practical options are:

1. Learning a high-value skill that can be combined with other skills that’ll allow you to provide higher levels of value. In most marketplaces, more value = more income.

2. Investing in assets that passively earn you money (bonus points if they’re tax advantaged). The money won’t come overnight but it will 100% come, eventually. There’s literally a machine called the U.S stock market where you put money in and let it sit for years and it’ll give you more money back than you put in. The historical returns of the S&P 500 prove this.

Regarding the first point, it’ll be up to you to decide on what skill or skills best suit your lifestyle. Choose something you have a natural interest in. Thanks to the internet, most skills can be monetized, and social media can be used as a powerful distribution channel when leveraged in the right way. In all actuality, the sky really is the limit. To give you some ideas, below are a few areas that I think are great paths to invest in going into future with the upcoming A.I revolution in mind:

• Digital creator

• Technology: Engineer/Product Manager/A.I Tool Expert

• Sales

Each one of these share a few key characteristics:

• They don’t require you to go back to school, as long as you’re willing to put in the work and can self-learn effectively, you’ll eventually get to the point where you can start earning money without any additional accreditation.

• They prioritize physical autonomy, allowing you to work from anywhere and or find a remote job (if you’re goal is to get employed)

• They act as launchpads. Each one has the potential to give you the ability to synergistically apply it in ways thats strategic, allowing you to grow into other areas as your interests and life evolve.

I challenge you to spend the next 30 days thinking about a skill that you’d like to build upon with the intention to eventually monetize it. Additionally, I want you to invest $100 in a company that has a product that you believe in or use regularly. A second option is to invest $100 into crypto—if you’re unsure what to invest in crypto-wise, read: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. You owe it to yourself to believe that you can learn the skills needed to improve your situation. This life is full of abundance, even if it’s not always easy to see. I’ve been on both sides of the table, and that’s why I can confidently tell you that it’s possible. I’ve worked with people who filled blank text files on a computer with computer code—writing that’s essentially just plain English assembled into logical pieces that, when executed together, form a program—A program that eventually sold for billions of dollars. I know because I had a hand in writing it. With A.I rapidly advancing, it’s never been easier to acquire the necessary skills needed to generate multiple streams of income. It’s ok to start off small and do things that don’t scale. Keep working, it’ll all make sense(cents) eventually.

Rap critics that say he's Money, Cash, Hoes

I'm from the hood stupid, what type of facts are those?

If you grew up with holes in your zapatos

You'd celebrate the minute you was havin' dough

-JAY-Z

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly
(Health)

When it comes to technology brands its hard to find one more iconic than Apple. From humble beginnings in a garage in the Los Altos area of Silicon Valley, Apple has risen to become a juggernaut in the world of technology and business. For the majority of Apple’s nearly half-a-century existence, one man sat at the helm when it came to making the companies top-level decisions—Steve Jobs. Jobs’ genius was in his ability to predict the future and use every tool at his disposal to make reality line-up with what he envisioned. In the process of this, when it came to handling problems, it didn’t get much better than Jobs. His track-record speaks to that.

Earlier I implied that we should all want more problems in our lives if we want to bring forth desired growth, but I’d like to add a caveat to that statement. There is one category of problems that I don’t want, and I don’t wish on anyone, and those are problems related to health.

In the world of business, there weren’t many problems that Jobs couldn’t solve, and because of that his creation Apple quickly became a house-hold name. In the year 2025 it doesn’t get much more ubiquitous than an iPhone in terms of tech products in the developed world. By all accounts, Jobs life was on an amazing trajectory up until October of 2003, when he was diagnosed with a rare, highly fatal form of pancreatic cancer. In a popular graduation speech he gave at Stanford back in ‘05 he reflected back on how dire his doctor thought the situation was:

In 2004 Jobs underwent a Whipple procedure that was successful, giving him more time to live. Unfortunately, less than seven years later from the time he gave his highly inspirational speech to a stadium of Stanford graduates, Jobs’ cancer came back, this time spreading to his liver, In January of 2011 Jobs stepped down from his role as CEO at Apple for the final time to focus on his health. By then the cancer had turned terminal, Jobs succumbed to his illness shortly after in early October of 2011. Steve Jobs had access to the best doctors in the world, he was a billionaire and I’m sure if it was possible, he would of left no dollar spared in searching for a cure for his health problems. The unfortunate truth is at that time, there was nothing else that could’ve been done to save him. I have no desire to try to spin health problems into something positive, they aren’t and are best avoided.

Ten years ago I had a healthy dose of health-anxiety. What started off as a routine yearly physical with a doctor who wanted to be very thorough, tripped off a spiral of negative thoughts inside of me that birthed a mild-case of hypochondria. In hindsight I can look back on my naiveness with humor and laugh, but in the now the feelings were anything but funny. I can now go and get regular check-ups and tests with not an ounce of fear. I actually enjoy going to the doctor now. Thinking back a key catalyst that solved this problem was an experience with anesthesia. I had a lot of unease around being “turned off like a tv,” thats how being put under was described to me at the time. I remember being pretty nervous on my way to the hospital that day, and I stayed nervous all the way up until a few minutes before I would take my propofol fueled nap. I can’t really recall exactly what it was but I remember just getting to the point of acceptance about the whole situation. Everything. As soon as I did all the fear evaporated. When I accepted the situation it felt like shackles had been removed from me, and truth be told I no longer could care enough to have any fears. I still remember watching the anesthesiologists thumb press down on the syringe filled with propofol, feeling a tingle in my face and then nothing. It was true, my tv really did get turned off. Luckily for me, a short while later it turned back on and I was on my way. That was it though, after that day I stopped having fear towards my health & death in general, some would call this exposure therapy.

The great thing about health is it doesn’t take a lot of fancy stuff be on the right track in terms of prevention of issues. In programming there’s a principle called K.I.S.S which stands for: Keep It Simple Stupid, when it comes to solving health problems this is the best path to follow. Health problems can be tricky and aren’t always in our control in terms of avoiding. The best approach here is to control the controllable, eat right, stay active and hit the gym 3-5 times per week, hit the sauna, and don’t forget cardio and mobility work. Get 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Take your vitamins and try to juice 1x a week bare minimum. These are just a few of the things that I do to maintain a baseline of good health.

And only thing that's gon' happen is I'ma get to clappin'

And he and his boys gonna be yappin' to the Captain

And there I go, trapped in the Kit-Kat again

Back through the system with the riff-raff again

-JAY-Z

Divide & Conquer Algorithms
(Relationships)

In Computer Science an algorithm is a series of steps to be followed that can predictably & verifiably solve a problem. At the core of all technology that we use everyday is an algorithm described in computer code on how to solve a particular problem. A Divide & Conquer style of algorithm is one where a top-level problem is repeatedly broken down, over and over, each time into a smaller subset problem until it can’t anymore, we call that un-dividable problem: the base case. From there each broken down problem is solved individually, because each one is small, solving it is easy. And here’s where the strength of this strategy shines: Given that the smaller problems came from a larger problem above it, solving all the small problems, that are way easier to solve, ultimately bubbles up and solves the larger problem that we started with. Some of the greatest algorithms that we depend on everyday to live our lives are based off this style of algorithm. Every time you search for something in Google, use GPS, or fire up Instagram to get your fix, divide & conquer algorithms are in the background doing work. This paradigm is so powerful that it can even be used socially, to help us deal with our relationship problems.

It’s well known as an adult it can be hard to meet the right people. Not only romantic, but platonic friends as well. As much as I value my alone time, I understand and accept my need for social relationships. We all need communion and a sense of belonging. The relationships that we foster and grow have the potential to control the trajectory of our lives both for the good and bad. Whether your desire is to find a romantic relationship or you’re looking for friends with whom you can develop deep authentic connections with, or maybe you’d like to just learn how to better navigate the sensitive & tricky dichotomy of interpersonal relationships in general. If we apply the divide & conquer paradigm to dealing with problems that arise out of our social interactions we can save ourselves a lot of time and energy. At the core what I’m suggesting in simplified words is to always stay curious in your social problems. Staying curious is how you’ll “break big problems down” into smaller ones. From there a smaller problem can be easier to reason about and ultimately reconcile. For example, applying it to the act of finding a partner, we arrive at a base-case of ourselves and the realization is: if you aren’t attracting the right type of person into your life then it might be because theres some aspect of you that still needs to be worked on before you’re ready for that type of connection. As talked about in Tribe, relationships should be entered into with a desire to give, not just receive. And they shouldn’t be looked at as a check-list item that needs to be done to live some interpretation of a “fulfilled life.”

When it comes to our relationships, it’s common to have problems and truthfully having problems in interpersonal relationships should be the status-quo. Let me point out that when I say problems I don’t mean arguments or constant toxic behavior. But we humans are complex, and to expect that when two or a group of us get together there won’t be any problems is willfully ignorant or extremely naive at best.

You have to accept that you’ll never truly know everything in any given situation. We all have different experiences which fuel our perspective. At best what we can do is stay curious of other perspectives and allow that to always fuel us to take the next logical step. Feel like someone misinterpreted you? Clear it up right away, don’t give things the time to fester and grow. The next logical step is often the most simple step you can take towards solving the issue at hand. It’s easy to brush it off as not important, especially if you can’t envision the full resolution, but don’t do that. Just like in the divide & conquer algorithm, the final solution may not become apparent until all of the smaller, derivative problems are solved. Only then will you have the perspective to solve the top-level problem.

D.A tried to give a nigga shaft again

Half a mil’ for bail cause I’m African

Tryna’ play the boy like he’s saccharine

But ain’t nothin’ sweet ‘bout how I hold my gun

I got 99 problems, bein’ a bitch ain’t one - hit me!

-JAY-Z

The Pain-Pleasure Principle
(Self)

human beings will do more to avoid pain than they will to gain pleasure.

The pain-pleasure principle came to me in my life when I was in enormous amounts of pain. Not a physical pain, although at times it felt like it was, but a more nascent, emotional type of pain, the one that feels like it just sits on you and burns—slowly. Pain can be an incredible energy source and becoming acquainted with it is ticket to adulthood for sure. But really, pain is even more than just that. Pain may be one of the best motivators when it comes to solving the problems in your life.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a theory on motivation pioneered by Abraham Maslow. It’s usually depicted visually as a pyramid, starting from the bottom there are five categories of needs important for human survival.

Go without any one of these or be lacking in any particular category and you’re sure to feel some form of latent pain. It’s natural. In that vein though, what is the pain attempting to communicate to us? A desire for growth, I’m sure you can see where I’m going next. The pain that you feel is really just the surface-level of a problem thats needing to be solved. A lot of people fear pain and, like the pain-pleasure principle do everything in their control to avoid it. Not knowing that by doing so, they’re actually causing even more pain for themselves. If you can reframe pain to be something that you actually seek instead of avoid, you’ll be on your way to unlocking a lot of your problem solving potential.

Throughout all 4 years of high school I was a student athlete, my sport was Track & Field, and my events were the hurdles and the triple jump, often classified as two of the most physically demanding. During summer competition (we competed year round) we’d have to run the 400-meter hurdles, which is basically a one lap all-out sprint around the track with 10 hurdles placed in your path. The hurdles is the type of event where you learn to embrace pain both physically and mentally or eventually you quit. Each time you line up to run a 400 meter hurdle race you’re accepting the facts: you’re going to feel pain and you may fall. A statement that came true for me my sophomore year running in front of a crowd of thousands at a popular track meet at the University of Oregon. Coming off the curve my trail leg snagged a hurdle and put me onto the track so quick that I hadn’t even processed what was happening before I heard the crowd gasps in unison. I tumbled for a split-second and looked up to see my competitors leaving me in the dust, the possibility of winning the race was over for me at that point, but I still had to finish. I did what any solid hurdler would do, I got back up and finished the race to claps & encouragement of the crowd. Those 20 seconds of embarrassment seared into my psyche that day and taught me: In life things are going to go wrong and you’re going to look bad at times, who cares, get up every time and finish the task at hand and become better for next time.

If you made it this far I’m proud of you, I can also tell you’re ready to put in the work to solve more problems and continue to grow in the areas of your life that are important to you. I challenge you to identify 3 problems in any one of the categories we talked about today and for the rest of the year, actively work towards solving them. That’s where your growth for the rest of 2025 and beyond is. I started this writing by saying I want more problems(the good kind) and I’ll end with saying: I want more problems for you as well. Bring on the problems.

Images provided courtesy of Jose Zepeda.
Images are available for high-quality print in 16x24 $100, inquire if interested.

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.

-Mike Tyson

The Man In The Arena

Life is like boxing; both demand sacrifices. The ability to accept wins and losses. And the desire to thrive under hardship. Life, like boxing, should be approached as an infinite game. In pursuing greatness, life will continually challenge you to put it all on the line—to push past the familiar and into the unknown in order to unlock new possibilities for yourself. Every fighter who has ever risen through the ranks to become a world champion has had to do this daily for a large part of their lives. Outside of the ring, anyone who’s ever done anything admirable has also had to accept and possess this growth mindset.

In the boxing world it’s commonly said, “you can’t play boxing,” (meaning you can’t play around about taking it serious) and we shouldn’t play about outcomes in life either. The Sweet Science comes with highs and lows, and like life, derives a lot of it’s meaning from acts of discipline & tenacity. When trying to facilitate change, everyday can feel like a fight. Your beliefs, fears, and emotional scripts (ingrained reactions to situations) are constantly tested by the world around you. Those who can download, analyze, and adapt to this barrage of information the fastest, stand to benefit the most. And to the victor go the spoils.

In biology, all organisms, without effort, naturally trend towards entropy—towards disorder, and, ultimately, death. This tells us that if we stop fighting this natural force and give up our will to strive for something greater, decay is inevitable. This is when life feels monotonous and we effectively become accustomed to operating off autopilot and going with the flow of things. To snap out of this state, we usually have to get hit with something we didn’t see coming—it could be a left-hook. Only then, after registering the pain, do we reflect and determine if the path we’re on is truly the right one.

When the great Muhammad Ali coined the phrase, “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” he wasn’t just talking about how one should fight inside the ring. Handling life’s challenges with the fluidity of a butterfly will pay compounding dividends. On the flip side, knowing when and how to “sting like a bee” when it’s necessary, will allow you to enforce healthy boundaries as you navigate life. That’s the essence of this writing’s message. What follows is four anecdotes about boxing and their connection to how we should approach life.

#1 - Eyes On The Prize

In boxing, your vision is the first and most significant line of defense against getting hit. It is also very important for your offense because it drives your ability to inflect damage on your opponent. You can’t hit what you can’t see, and trying to slip(dodge) an incoming punch that you cant see is like playing Russian roulette with your body. In life, your vision is everything. And I’m not just talking about what your eyes can see. Problems that can’t be seen can’t be fixed. And not being spiritually connected to your intuition, that’s been developed over thousands of years and passed down to you by evolution, is probably one of the worst states you can be in. You’re intuition allows you to decipher micro-expressions.

It’s said that around 90% of our communication is nonverbal. Not having the awareness to identify the unsaid within yourself and others around you is just setting yourself up for opposing forces to capitalize, usually at the worst moments.

Often times, people won’t give you honest feedback, especially if it can be seen as harsh. But on the road to self-mastery, thats the exact information thats critical to growth, don’t shy away from it. This is where cultivating the ability to be ruthlessly grounded in reality towards yourself is beneficial. The tricky part about that though is you have to also have compassion towards yourself on where you’re currently at and extend grace to yourself as you navigate on the path to where you eventually want to be. I attempted to sum this challenging dichotomy up in a tweet:

If I can get you to close your eyes, I can do whatever I want to you. Worst, you won’t even know what hit you. Like a prize fighter in the championship rounds, always fight to keep your awareness sharp, I think the cool kids call this “keeping your third-eye open” or “stay woke,” or maybe even “keep your head on a swivel” whatever you fancy, commit to constant improvement in this area and you’ll be solid.

#2 - Energy Transfer

Life and boxing are all about energy transfer. In fighting, a fighter must learn to channel negative emotions like anger, fear, and mental fatigue into positive alternatives such as confidence, focus, and unwavering determination. Physically, they must master the paradoxical nature of throwing punches correctly while battling extreme muscle fatigue and pain. The act of throwing a punch requires proper energy transfer, starting at the back foot on the ground, moving through the hips, and extending to the tip of the glove that (hopefully) makes contact with the opponent. Attempting to punch without incorporating the whole body is called “arm punching.” Its best described as a paradox: the harder you try to force a punch, the weaker it becomes. It also telegraphs your intentions to your opponent, giving them the opportunity to brace or set you up for a counter. The punches that inflict the most damage are smooth, quick, and sneaky, combining both power and speed.

Before I even knew it was a concept in life, I had already experienced the effects of energy transfer. It happened during one of the first times I entered into an altered state, facilitated by a well-known medicinal herb. The friend I was with at the time began to feel paranoid. In my attempt to calm them down, I, too, became paranoid. It was as if their emotional state slowly took hold of mine, influenced by the energy they were putting out. We ended up skipping the movie we planned to see and instead sat in the parking lot, convinced our hearts were gonna beat out of our chests until the effects wore off. At this point in my life, it goes without saying—emotions can be contagious. Whether positive or negative. When it comes to negative emotions, I’ve found the best way to deal with them is to transmute them, we’ll talk more about that in a bit.

These days, there’s a lot of talk around about emotions—about which ones are appropriate to express and which ones aren’t. Truth be told, I’m not here to get into that debate. What I do want to point out is that boxing, like life, is an emotional endeavor. Emotions shouldn’t be locked away; they should be expressed with discernment. We’re all emotional beings. With the right tools you can control your emotions instead of letting them control you. Boxing is one way to do that—and you don’t even need to hit anyone. I’ve found simply the act of hitting a heavy bag can transmute emotions like anger, anxiety, frustration into something more positive: a healthy heart, a content mind, and, as a bonus, a chiseled body if you stay at it long enough. Thats just one way to transmute energy within yourself, find one that works for you. Blocked emotions that don’t get released, get trapped in the body and cause chronic illness.

#3 - Everything Circular

The boxing circle is a fundamental footwork paradigm in boxing thats calls for fighting your opponent in a circular pattern instead of in straight lines back and forth. Like many fighting styles, boxing starts with the feet and all boxing matches starts off with fighters battling for foot dominance. Being just slightly out of position during an exchange can be a costly mistake. The circle technique emphasizes fighting and defending at angles, stepping to the side when attacking, or maneuvering out of a punching exchange.

We should fight our battles in life in the same way, there’s usually multiple ways to solve a problem and we should consider attacking with solutions from as many different angles as possible that ensures we solve the problem and move on victorious, whatever that may mean for you.

A circle’s shape is a metaphor to the cyclic nature of all things life and boxing. Isaac Newton’s third Law states that:

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

-Isaac Newton

Whether you believe in Yin and Yang or the law of Karma, life events follow a cyclical pattern. Tables turn, situations flip over time—the only true constant in life is change. Embracing this fundamental truth can grant you empathic wisdom.

We all like to think we’re unique, but in reality, when it comes to emotions, we are all wired with the same set of emotional expressions. We’re connected in the sense that we can all relate to one another emotionally. At some point, we’ve all felt what another human is currently feeling or has felt, even if only for a moment. It’s why we listen to music, watch movies, and engage with popular culture—we seek connection through shared emotions.

If you’re feeling bad right now, know that eventually, hopefully soon, you’ll feel good again. And if you’re in a state of euphoria, it’s only natural that, at some point in time you’ll come back down to earth. A quote by the legendary Maya Angelou expands on this:

We are all human; therefore, nothing human can be alien to us.

- Maya Angelou

Taking both the good and bad into account, anything another human does can’t be alien to us since we’re all human. It’s very easy to quickly claim, “I’d never do something like that” or “I wish I could do something like that” for both good and bad actions, the truth is that we can and we may (given the situation). It’s natural to judge, but trying to understand is how we really learn, swapping out your emotional lens for another when trying to analyze a situation allows us to see potential gaps in our own lives. I’m not calling for people to be let off the hook when it comes to bad actions—accountability is apart of the circle of life as well. But in a complex world filled with humans carrying unlimited permutations of experiences, baggage, and trauma, understanding should be the ultimate goal when looking at human behavior. We shouldn’t think in straight lines, but instead take principles from the circle technique from boxing and examine situations from multiple angles. Only then can we truly empathize and ultimately understand the human experience—an experience we each have only one chance to live.

#4 - The Serenity Prayer

Lastly, Boxing is like life in that, to be successful, you have to embrace the principles of the Serenity Prayer.

Whatever higher power you believe in, when you step into the ring with another highly trained human being ready to deliver blows that could, at best, knock you out and, at worst, kill you—you’d better have some serenity about the situation.

Serenity is all about acceptance. In life, acceptance precedes growth, because you can’t manifest true behavior change if you’re still stuck in the past. The future you envision requires a new version of yourself, and accepting and laying to rest the past is the first step in the process of bringing it to life.

Serenity is release. It’s the acknowledgment that things may not go the way you want them to go, but you’ll be okay regardless. The Carthaginian general Hannibal embodied this ethos.

I will either find a way or make one.
-Hannibal

Life achievement is all about putting in the work, putting forth your best effort all while continuing to push as hard as you can. And when the period of preparation is over and the time to fight arrives, being ready to prove yourself. Win or lose, life will go on. Skin In The Game.

In 2023 Ryan Garcia’s boxing record stood at 23-0 going into his bout with Tank Davis. An undefeated Davis would be Garcia’s toughest opponent up until that point, both undefeated, at the end of the scheduled twelve-round fight, one of them would no longer be undefeated. That night, fate’s coin toss landed in Davis’ favor, and Garcia left the arena with a new record of 23-1.

A year later, Garcia would fight again, this time Devin Haney, another undefeated fighter with a similar skill set. This fight was highly polarizing with both Garcia’s and Haney’s supporters believing their fighter could easily win the fight. That night, fate’s coin toss landed in Garcia’s favor. With many, myself included, watching being stunned on his dominant performance against the generational talent of Haney. (see footnote)

Thats the beauty of it—of life, of boxing. Sometimes we win, and other times we lose. As long as we’re alive, no matter the outcome of any particular fight, we’ll always have the possibility to grow, to improve—to try again for a better future that we’ve envisioned for ourselves. My hope for you is that you embrace the ideals of the serenity prayer and learn the life skills that facilitate you winning more than losing. In the words of J. Cole,

Fuck the horoscopes, know the ropes like a wrestler.

-J. Cole

Which I take as meaning, care less about the script the world has written for you. Design your life in a way that best suits you, strive to do right by others, and always stay locked in to the present moment all while mastering the rules of the game—just like a wrestler bouncing off the ropes to Swanton Bomb or Muhammed Ali rope-a-doping a soon to be knocked out opponent.

Instagram: @Jahoshuma

Twitter: @Jahoshuma

footnote: It’s came out that Garcia later tested positive for a banned substance the night of the Haney fight. The amount was small but was over the limit causing the fight to be considered a NC (no-contest). It still tells the story of winning & losing which is why I included it.

In the wake of a highly contested U.S. presidential election with an outcome that couldn’t be any more polarizing, it’s important to remember that “money makes the world go ‘round.” This may sound trite or overly simplistic. In life if you follow the money, a lot of things start to make more sense—and eventually, more cents. Some people think money is the root of all evil, but this view is misguided. Growing up, I would hear this perspective a lot at church, yet found it strange that the pastor would pull up every couple of years in a new big-body Mercedes-Benz—a dichotomy that made me curious. If money truly were the root of all evil, then humanity as a whole might as well be a distributed reincarnation of Lucifer. Money is a tool; it should be used as a conduit to bring you closer to the life you want. Money is freedom. We all need it and the majority of us go to work every week in pursuit of it. We shouldn’t vilify this need, instead we should accept this fact. Only then can we start to approach conversations and situations around money from the right perspective.

In, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (T.R.W.N.B.T) I mentioned that, regardless of this years election results, the United States will not suddenly transform into a utopia, or dystopia—depending on the perspective that guided your ballot on November 5. I say this to remind you that if last week didn’t go as you’d hoped, it’s not the end of the world. On the other side, if it did go your way, you shouldn’t get irrationally optimistic. Politics can be very black or white even though reality’s true color is on the grey spectrum. One thing that can be said however, is that if you deal in, own, or plan to earn money throughout the next four years, you’re in for a good time if you can make the right decisions. Holders of U.S stocks & equities and cryptocurrencies will likely see benefits accrued to them that seem video-game like. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be hopping on the sticks (urban dictionary link for my boomer readers) and I hope you do as well.

Less than seven days after Donald J. Trump was elected the 47th U.S. president, financial markets are showing strong reactions. 401(k)s are soaring, the S&P 500 had one of it’s best weeks of 2024, and with an incoming administration that’s promised to be more welcoming to crypto and technology, it’s 100% clear, the market is responding extremely positive to the GOP winning the House, Senate, and coveted Oval Office. As I’m writing this Bitcoin has just broken through another all time high (ATH) of $80,000. I advised picking some up in T.R.W.N.B.T, and if you did, you’re up right now. If you didn’t, don’t trip—I still believe you have time to build a solid position. Solana (SOL) and Ethereum (ETH) have rallied as well; in fact, the entire crypto market is up right now. The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies is currently $2.74 Trillion USD (according to CoinMarketCap) with many analysts projecting this will reach $10 trillion sometime in late 2025, the time to build that position that’ll be extremely profitable is running out, at least for this cycle. For liability reasons, I have to say that this is not financial advice, but I do want to briefly explain in a few sentences why I’m comfortable allocating a significant portion of my liquid net worth towards stocks and crypto. It’s no secret that the U.S government has a spending problem. At the time of this writing, the U.S National Debt is currently sitting at $35 Trillion dollars (source)

Keep in mind that interest is charged on this amount. What does that mean for the everyday tax-paying American like you & me? It means that our money—U.S dollars—are routinely debased through the U.S Federal Reserve printing (creating) dollars out of thin air. This action combined with the phenomenon of inflation, leads to an environment where our dollars lose real value year after year. So how do smart tax-paying Americans like us combat this? Through investments—namely, stocks and (my personal favorite) cryptocurrency. Check the chart below of Bitcoins (BTC) returns since inception.

Your next question may be, why is crypto performing so well? The short answer is, BTC & other reputable crypto projects serve as a hedge (bet) against the currency debasement that our government must engage in to manage and service our staggering, ever-growing debt. Put even more simply, Bitcoin is digital gold. It’s finite—only 21 million Bitcoins will ever exist, a constraint written and enforced by distributed computer code. Computers are extremely good at doing what they’re told without exhaustion, at least until AGI becomes ubiquitous.

All signs point towards a major bull market in 2025. There’s a simple saying that investors & traders use that describes how one should act in these upcoming fortunate conditions:

When the music is playing, you gotta dance

In other words, when the party is going on, you gotta participate. No one wants to be a wallflower watching everyone else get lit from the sidelines. At least not in a financial sense. I can confidently say that the record player responsible for spinning music during this upcoming bull market is slowly starting to spin.

Maturing for me was giving up on trying to force people to do things that they didn’t want to do. So I’ll only tell you a little bit of what I’m going to do and allow you to do as thou wilt. I’ll be looking to capitalize off strong positions in ETH & SOL, I’ve additionally spent many months in the trenches researching low market cap (low-cap) projects & Memecoins. A few worth checking out that I feel comfortable recommending:

• AlienBase (Decentralized Exchange on Base)

• $Moodeng (Can’t fade an adorable hippo)

• Dogecoin (The meta here is: Elon has shown interest in this coin in the past & there are rumors Trump will appoint Elon to head D.O.G.E, the department of government efficiency) - Whether you hate or love him, you shouldn’t allow that to get in the way of you earning some money$. The play here is clear as day.

Do your research on these and if you need help learning how to purchase and take custody on these, feel free to reach out.

I’m my best when I have a tribe. By that, I mean a group of like-minded individuals with similar goals and aspirations. Like the pistons in a car engine, the group’s movement ensures that none of its members can stray too far out of line, and by that I mean off track from their goals and desires.

Over the years, I’ve realized It’s natural for me to be somewhat of a lone-wolf. I enjoy my alone time, but I also appreciate the positive experiences that can happen within friend groups. What Robert Green refers to as “The Madness of Groups” isn’t all negative. Groupthink can be a double-edge sword, resulting in both positive and negative outcomes—it’s up to you to have the discernment on when to embrace it and when to reject it.

In this lifetime it’s important to not only find your tribe but also to know when it’s time to leave one. Your tribe shouldn’t be this immutable thing that cannot grow and mutate over the years. In fact, to find and cultivate the right tribes, it’s necessary that they do.

There is one crucial problem with tribe finding though. As we get older, finding and keeping a tribe becomes progressively more difficult. Especially as life change—such as career advancement, moving to new cities, getting married, and having kids—come into play. The best way to counteract this is to accept the reality that nothing lasts forever (this is actually a positive thing) and to always follow your interests and passions. If you do that, the universe will handle the rest when it comes to who needs to be in your life at any particular point in time.

Go do something great and your network will instantly emerge.

Naval Ravikant

I agree with Naval. Whenever I fully submitted to that voice in my head pushing me towards my heart’s desire and went confidently down the path I needed to take, a tribe naturally converged around me. Whenever things felt forced, I noticed the relationships lacked authenticity and ultimately fizzled out. I believe in serendipity; I don’t believe natural, long-lasting relationships are built through force. Some of my best friends came into my life by happenstance.

I spent the last few days in Salt Lake City, Utah, at Permissionless 3. I went solo-dolo as I usually like to do when going to conferences. And, unsurprisingly, I met a small group that welcomed me into their tribe—a solid group of individuals who all shared a similar passion that I have for the future of finance: cryptocurrency & blockchain technology. Conversations flowed effortlessly and a sense of familiarity came to life almost instantly. A tribe, once established has the potential to change your life. This change can be either positive or negative depending on the tribe. If you notice that it is negative, you always have the option to leave and find another tribe that suits your needs and better encourages you to become the person that you want to be. When used correctly, naturing the various tribes you build in life, will change your life.

If you’re at a place in your life where you’ve just moved, attending an event by yourself, or maybe even just looking to change or expand your tribe, remember to stay open. Remember that the best tribes are reciprocal—don’t just try to join expecting to get something out of it without ensuring you’re providing similar value in return. Don’t force anything. And in the words of one of my favorite fictional TV characters:

Don’t beg, it’s disgusting

Sully - “Top Boy”

Good luck with your tribe finding.

sometimes you just gotta put on Future, lock-in, and get some work done.

AI will make it possible for one person to build a billion dollar company very soon.

Sam Altman (C.E.O of OpenAI)

Three Laws Of Robotics

“I, Robot” is a science-fiction film released in 2004 that presents a future reality set in 2035, where humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence have become integrated into our daily lives. This dynamic initially starts of ideally, with the robots governed by the “Three Laws Of Robotics,” which state:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Things take a dystopian turn when a death triggers an investigation in which Detective Spooner (Will Smith) suspects that a robot is responsible. What follows is predictable; when you give a thing super-intelligence plus the ability to rationalize, it begins to fight for its survival, ultimately usurping the Three Laws. Not before Spooner, fueled by his humanistic survival-of-the fittest mentality, brings humans and humanoids (the good ones) together to fight for humanity (my bad on the spoilers if you haven’t seen it, still worth a watch tho). The storyline goes on to explore the intricate relationship between technology and humanity, especially as the lines get blurred with artificial intelligence added to the mix. If all we are is a collection of our memories and experiences, who are we to determine who has a soul and who doesn’t? Questions I’m not excited to argue about, but these debates are coming to our society, I can tell you that. Overall, “I, Robot” is an interesting movie that can have different interpretations and spark philosophical thought and debate.

Twenty years ago, when I first watched it, I remember being relived to the fact that I wouldn’t experience a world with any similarities as the one depicted in the film. I related to and empathized with Detective Spooner’s distrust of the robots. But like many people who have bet against human advancement via technology, I was wrong. It’s now 2024, and humanoid robots are right around the corner. As the artificial intelligence arms race heats up, a proliferation of applications, tools, and integrations are upon us and they will fundamentally change our lives once they’re accepted into the zeitgeist and go fully mainstream.

I Know Kung Fu

If you could learn one skill at the snap of a finger right now, what would it be? If you could do this indiscriminately, with no limit, would it change the way you approached learning, and more importantly, life? Considering the current landscape and the rate of change, I don’t believe it’s a reach to think that we’ll likely have this type of functionality at our fingertips within the next couple of decades. If you’ve seen the movie The Matrix, then you know exactly what I’m talking about. Being able to learn anything, instantaneously, will bring unfathomable change to our world, and I’m all for it (minus the long needle data-probe thing they pushed into Neo’s brain used to enter the matrix).

If you think this sounds too far-fetched, I hope you go check out Elon Musk’s Neuralink. A company that has successfully implanted a device into a quadriplegic man’s brain, giving him the ability to control a computer with just his thoughts. Computer Scientists focused on A.I are busy coming up with high performance algorithms that’ll power the next generation of generative large-language-models (LLM) that’ll be used to empower us humans and make our lives better (hopefully). Recently, I’ve spent some time working on re-architecting my own workflow—both professionally and creatively—to incorporate the use of artificial intelligence. I can’t say that I’ve bought into the idea to the point where I’d be willing to implant a Neuralink device into my cortex, but I do know that this is the future. Like all things tech related, once they’ve been introduced, they usually won’t regress back into non-existence. Below I’ll list a few of the tools I’m using to ensure I’m ready to team up with Detective Spooner and put up a fight when the robots come to take all of our jobs.

Generative A.I Tools

• Anthropic’s Claude - I’ve been using this tool to help summarize technical docs, essays, newsletters, white-papers, basically any text that I want a summary on for future reference. Additionally, Claude can even create powerful visualizations that help with learning. It’s free to use but a paid version costing $20 a month will give you access to more powerful models (Opus 3) - Which in the grand scheme of things, is nothing, if it saves you a couple hours of work a week, IDK about you, but I easily spend more than that on eating out per week. No brainer purchase

• Playground.ai - This tool is crazy, literally. After using this for less than 10 minutes, it’s clear as day that the graphic design skillset requirement will likely be democratized down to 0 in a few short years. I’m using Playground to create logos & promotional content related to my business. It’s really dope to be able to just type in a prompt, and iterate on a design via plain english. This tool is free to test with but if you want to do any serious prototyping, you’ll need to pick up the paid subscription coming in at $15 a month. The graphic below I made with this prompt:
  
  ”Make the title read: ‘The Future Will Be Generative’
  Add a subtext that reads: ‘by Jahosh’

  Use Futura Font for the text

  In the background add the face of a humanoid robot like I, Robot with a low opacity”

  

• Cursor.ai - This tool is primarily for software engineers, but worth checking out if you subscribe to the No Code movement (people with no programming knowledge, coding via A.I prompting). I’m currently using Cursor.ai to spin up front-end React code interfaces of prototypes quickly. This is somewhat esoteric at this point in the race, but if you’re an engineer or someone interested in learning how to code, do tap-in. This is where the industry is heading. Some useful people to follow on Twitter/X

  • Rohan Paul - https://x.com/rohanpaul_ai

  • Mckay Wrigley - https://x.com/mckaywrigley

  • Sully - https://x.com/SullyOmarr

• Honorable mention: ChatGPT - By now you’ve likely heard of ChatGPT and I mentioned it last due to most people I’m following saying it’s models are getting surpassed by the likes of Anthropic’s Claude. Thats not to say that it’s still not a solid tool though. I currently use both ChatGPT + Claude and will continue to do so for the time being. If I’m being honest, I like ChatGPT’s user interface more than I do Claude’s but what we’re really after when typing prompts into these generative models is the right output. ChatGPT doesn’t have the ability to read PDFs and a few other features that Claude has, but I’m sure that’ll likely change in the months to come.

AGI

The claim of artificial general intelligence (AGI) is that it will be a system that outperforms humans at all types of economically valuable work. When AGI comes to fruition, it’ll be a coin toss as to whether this results in a utopian or dystopian future. Universal Basic Income (UBI) will likely need to be at play here to help balance things out, and if we want to really turn things upside down, humans will likely have to split and create a new subspecies. That is, one where humans and technology merge together to become a new type of human—one that is superhuman via the benefits of specially crafted implants that process computer code, distilled down to millions of zeros and ones, processed at the speed light. If I’m alive when this happens, best believe I’m taking the red pill—kung fu will be the first skill that I learn. If the thought of AGI alarms you, rest assured we’ve got a few more decades before we’re forced to deal with the reality of the Matrix becoming real. Though, if I’m going off my first prediction twenty years ago, I might be wrong about this one too.

Aside from that, what we have now at our disposal are tools, powered by A.I., that generate and produce outputs of value when prompted correctly. These generative tools posses the ability to make us smarter and increase our productivity, saving us time to spend it elsewhere as we see fit. And if you ask me, that’s extremely powerful in a world where time is immutable. So, in the meantime, lets do our best to improve our lives utilizing generative A.I. tools. Because we know the future will certainly be different—the future will be generative, the future will be robotic (hopefully only the good kind). If the cards fall in humanity’s favor (all praise to detective Spooner 🙏🏾), I hope to see you on the other side. 🫡

You will not be able to stay home, brother

You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out

You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and

Skip out for beer during commercials

Because the revolution will not be televised

Gil Scott-Heron

I Feel Like Paul Revere

Revolutionary change doesn’t happen frequently. When it does occur, it usually isn’t televised—at least not at first. This means if you want to position yourself appropriately to participate in big upcoming societal changes, you should get comfortable getting information from fringe sources, not just mainstream media. Over fifty years ago, Gil Scott-Heron passionately proclaimed, “The revolution will not be televised,” and roughly fifty-three years later, his words still hold truth. Certain types of change can be difficult for us humans to recognize and ultimately accept. Psychologically, our survival mechanisms program us to resist these types of change. If we study the parable of the boiling frog, we can see how easy it is to fall into the trap of reacting to change only after its become too late—a delay that can come at a great cost, to the detriment of the financial, relational, and spiritual aspects of ourselves. When deciding whether or not to embark on a new journey, we should first figure out how much potential this new path has to change our lives for the better. If we decide to proceed, pursuing the end goal with a good heart coupled with genuine desire can lay the foundation for serendipity to bloom. When it comes to fundamentally altering the trajectory of your life, you only need to be right once. In the pursuit of changing your life, I don’t believe there is such thing as failure, but the reality is things can go not according to plans. As with most decisions in life, the duality of risk must be accepted in order to have any lasting success. With that said, failure shouldn’t be feared if the odds are good enough. And when you think about it, after the lesson has been learned, past failures don’t really mean much more of anything. I ask that you keep this in mind as you continue to read the following paragraphs.

From an early age, I was curious about the concept of money. As a kid, this curiosity expressed itself through questions like, “Why do some people have a lot of money, while others who look like us don’t?” This eventually matured into, “How can I learn the unspoken rules, play the game at the highest levels, and make sure I and everyone I care about are properly taken care of?” After I learned and accepted the realities of the world. Years of educating myself on theories of finance would follow, both corporate and personal. Leading to me eventually getting a degree in finance. From there, a short stint working in accounting motivated me to do an on-the-money, (pun intended) career switch into financial technology (FinTech), where I finally felt like I was on the right track. Throughout my life, I’ve used books as gateways to new knowledge and different perspectives, especially on the topics I’m most interested in. A few standouts over the years on the topic of finance:

• Debt - The first 5000 years

• Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital

• The Psychology of Money

• Cryptoassets: The Innovators Guide To Bitcoin and Beyond

• The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide To Wealth and Happiness

Books like the ones above fundamentally shaped the way I went about making decisions around earning and spending money. Check them out if you get the chance, I stand by them.

The environment we live in today is filled with varying levels of good and bad information. When it comes to opportunities, some of the best ones arise from situations of knowledge asymmetry—that is, knowing something before it becomes mainstream. This is the highly profitable type of asymmetry I’m mostly interested in when investing in people, places, or things. Currently, the average American may not realize that we’re in the early stages of revolutionary change on our financial system, particularly in how we exchange monetary value digitally. Add to this the real possibility of artificial general intelligence (AGI) approaching soon and it’s clear things are about to exponentially explode.

Reflecting on the words of Mr. Heron, information about such a revolution won’t be immediately found on TV. Right now, this revolution is unfolding within the digital arenas that hold the seams, for our sometimes capricious online social lives, in place. On the surface, it’s not easy to fully intuit—only by a select few, which after reading this essay could be you. Participation won’t be easy as well but will be possible with curiosity and, most importantly, a strong desire to get ahead and succeed. The potential benefits? Completely life-changing. This revolution could facilitate one of the largest wealth transfers in history—and I feel like Paul Revere. If thats interesting to you, you’re in the right place. In the paragraphs that follow, I’ll provide a high-level overview of the situation and, most importantly, information on how you can get involved and start positioning yourself to capture some of the upside, because there will be plenty for those smart enough to capitalize.

The Bail Out

The birth of a revolution is a multi-part process that normally involves one or a series of catalyst events. Those of us fortunate enough to be born in the millennial generation (1981-1996) likely have some type of understanding of The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) that took place between the years of 2007 and 2009. If you don’t, go watch The Big Short for an entertaining overview. I won’t lay out all the details here, but in short, a few of the largest banks in America bit off more than they could chew when it came to speculating on risky mortgage-backed securities. When these bets blew up, metaphorically, these banks were caught with their pants down. By 2008 most of their financial positions were in the red and the writing was on the wall, kicking off a chain of events that almost collapsed our financial system at the time. Millions of Americans lost their homes in foreclosure. Over 8 million people lost their jobs. And oddly enough, only a couple out of the many, Wall Street honchos responsible got exposed as charlatans as a result of all the fallout. Many people, myself included, believe that the leaders at these banks weren’t fully held accountable for their insatiable appetite for profit by any means necessary. As more details emerged, it became clear that without financial assistance from the U.S Government, these distressed banks would likely have gone bankrupt. Had that happened, bank runs across the country would have surely followed from all the fear and paranoia. If that had occurred, an economic downturn not seen since the times of the Great Depression would have been almost inevitable. The term “Too Big To Fail” became infamous around this time. Some even believe the banks knew what was going on all along, as in deep down they knew the government would cover their positions had their original parlay-like bets not played out beneficially. The saying “money makes the world go round” may be a cliché, but in this scenario, it’s very true. If we were to personify America, these banks would be its heart. Responsible for pumping trillions of dollars throughout the U.S & global financial systems we rely and build our lives on daily. If this had failed, you can imagine the chaos that would have ensued, and if you can’t, go watch The Purge. So it was true, these banks were too big to fail, and a bail out had to happen, whether the U.S Government was happy to facilitate it or not. What didn’t sit right with me, as well as millions of other Americans, was the fact that the people responsible for getting us into the situation were likely going to escape mostly unscathed. Like Richard Fuld, who was CEO of Lehman Brothers at the time—he walked away with millions and did not face criminal charges for any contributions he made towards the crisis. In the aftermath, only minor regulations were enacted, such as requiring banks in the future to hold more cash on their balance sheets to offset the risks of the popularized fractional reserve banking system that so many banks use today. Realizing that the people responsible for creating the crisis, many of whom received compensation packages in the nine-figure range, had to rely on the government to bail them out of a situation they created seemed strange and further compounded my growing belief at the time that the system was rigged.

That wasn’t even the worst of it though—it gets better. After it came to light that the U.S government essentially got finessed into bailing the banks out, the American people soon learned that their dollars would be involved as well. Uncle Sam (who I’m sure you know quite well by now) was brought in to help cover a portion of the bailout. After this, it was clear that some type of change was needed. But before that would happen, the Fed did what it does best and got the money printer primed and ready. It’s said between 2008 and 2014 over $3.5 trillion U.S dollars were printed by the Quantitive Easing (QE) Program created for the bail out(source,source). QE, in laymen’s terms, is simply U.S dollars being created out of nothing and being injected into the financial system. Note that the dollar is a fiat currency, meaning it’s not backed by gold or any other precious material. It’s also important to point out that historically, fiat currencies have not performed well over time; many eventually failed, bringing empires down with them. Study the demise of the Roman Empire’s denarius (which was debased with fake silver) as an example.

Another way to look at what the Fed did, and continues to do to this day, is to imagine you’re playing monopoly as the banker. Not only do you use the money you have, but you also use money from the bank’s stash at will. By having direct access to unlimited, free monopoly bucks, you devalue the buying power of all of the other players, as someone (you) is in the game with an unfair and unnatural amount of buying power flooding the market. In this scenario, a rising tide does not lift all boats in a positive way. As an aside, this, along with some other factors, is why its a common recommendation to never let your greenbacks just sit in a regular checking or savings account provided by the popular big banks. They won’t pay you jack in interest to offset the natural rate of inflation. That means year over year, you’re losing money when your dollars sit in these low-interest-rate accounts. No bueno—over here we preach the gospel of making our money work for us not against. If you’re in this situation right now, stop what you’re doing and open up a High Yield Savings Account (HYSA) stat. (link)

As the money printer began churning out dollars, activists from around the country began discussing on social media brainstorming what a better financial future for the American people might look like. During this time, the seeds that would give birth to the Occupy Wall Street movement, which arrived in September 2011, were planted. Simultaneously, another group was working on a solution, fueled by a cypherpunk ethos. The goal was to empower the people. As the crisis reached its crescendo in the fourth quarter of 2008, they were ready to enter the ring to fight for change as well. On October 31, 2008, the bitcoin whitepaper released online. Shortly after, the Bitcoin blockchain officially launched on January 3, 2009. Initially not many people knew or cared about Bitcoin, and it stayed that way for almost a decade after its release. In the beginning it was mostly internet nerds and users of the message board bitcointalks.org. Bitcoin’s creator was credited to an anonymous moniker, Satoshi Nakamoto. Whether it was a singular person or a group who wrote the open-source code that powers the bitcoin network is still a mystery to the general public, even in present day. Satoshi has remained completely anonymous. At this point, I’m unsure if we’ll ever find out. Whoever they are, it’s safe to say they, like many others, took noticed the ills of the financial system at that time and decided to offer people an alternative. The original goal of Bitcoin was to be a peer-to-peer (P2P) money system, free from the control of any financial or governmental institution. The first few sentences of the whitepaper read:

A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.

Over 14 years later, Bitcoin has steadily grown to become more well known in popular culture. In the years following 2009, thousands of other cryptocurrencies were created, with a select few, such as Ethereum and Solana, finding product-market fit similar to Bitcoin. I’ll do deep dives into each of these in future posts so stay tuned for that. At the time, it wasn’t immediately clear that the anonymous release of Bitcoin under the shadows of Halloween in 2008 would be the catalyst to kick off a new asset class called cryptocurrency. Bitcoin came with properties that allowed for it to exist and operate outside the controls of any one government, it was decentralized and, at it's core aspiringly democratic. Properties that many say are fundamental to any system of value that can stand the test of time. When things hit rock-bottom often enough, new ideas and solutions are birthed that attempt to rise to the call of being better than their predecessors. This is true not only for revolutions but everything in life. A decade later, it appears crypto has found it’s footing and is ready to go fully mainstream. Today, a growing group of people know or have heard about what crypto is but aren’t actively participating in the community or have that much of an interest to do so—except for when prices hit new all-time highs. Not knowing that when that happens, it’s the worst time to invest. The mainstream media paints crypto as being filled with scams and degenerate gamblers who party too much and spend thousands on online digital pictures called NFTs. But I’m here to tell you that it’s way more than that. Real financial innovation is going on if you willing to look past all the surface-level noise. Behind the scenes, a new system is being built—one that in the future will become as ubiquitous as the internet.

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

The bailout happened over a decade ago, yet we’re still feeling its effects today. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the last five years have been challenging, both psychologically and financially. A global pandemic that killed millions, the lockdowns that followed, lives and families destroyed, resulting in relationships fundamentally changed forever. If I’m keeping it real, things just haven’t felt right since we lost Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant, especially in Los Angeles—but thats a topic for another time. Without a doubt, life as we knew it pre-pandemic looks very different from life post-pandemic. On the financial side, we’ve had to deal with historically high levels of inflation, peaking at around 9% in the summer of 2022(source). This paired with a constantly rising Consumer Price Index (CPI), which was roughly 22% higher in June of 2024 than it was in January 2020. It’s safe to say, shit done got more expensive, and no matter where you fall on the wage spectrum, you’re most likely feeling it in one way or another.

Going back just a few decades the idea of the America dream seemed like a rite of passage. Today, it’s more like a meme—something you say tongue-in-cheek, likely to be met with eye rolls and growing levels of apathy if you’re preaching its realistic attainability to the average person. Millennials and Gen Z alike are grasping at anything to keep them afloat, and unfortunately, not much time is left to possibly get ahead, at least in a traditional sense. So what options do we have? The two that are most obvious to me are artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. Stick with me—I’m not saying that you need to become a full-fledged AI engineer or cryptocurrency trading expert. What I’m saying is that these two new and rapidly growing industries are going to spur radical change in all areas of our lives. At this early stage, developing just a moderate level of understanding and making a few smart investments in viable projects will bring enormous benefits to your life.

Three months out from another presidential election, it’s clear people are looking for change. No matter what side of the coin you’re on, I think it’s important to remember that after the election day, America isn’t going to turn into a utopia overnight filled with all the promises that either politician is pushing right now. Meaning if we want true change, we’re most likely going to have to rely our ourselves for the majority of it. There's never been a better time to position yourself to capitalize on where technology will likely take us as a civilization over the next couple of decades.

There’s a saying that I really like:

Hard times create strong men.
Strong men create good times.
Good times create weak men.
Weak men create hard times.

If we’re in hard times, then what we really need right now is strong men and women who step up to the challenge of bettering themselves, thereby indirectly bettering those around them and progressively improving the state of our country. If that sounds overly simplistic, it’s because it is. Oftentimes, the most complicated problems can be solved with a simple solution. Spending years working on financial systems responsible for moving millions of dollars per month has taught me that. One key requirement for bettering yourself, however, is ensuring you have the financial means to do so. It’s a common trope that money doesn’t change you; it just makes you more of who you already were deep down inside. I somewhat agree with that, but the truth is, you can’t begin to facilitate lasting change in your life when you’re worried about where your next meal is going to come from. It’s very hard to get a bird’s-eye view of any situation when you’re stuck in the trenches. In this increasingly digital world, I think it’s important to consider what life may be like 5-10 years from now and start to position ourselves accordingly.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, the cat is out the bag, and it’s not going back. If you haven’t played around with ChatGPT by now, you’re behind the curve. The AI arms race is in full swing, and trillions of dollars will be spent by companies in pursuit developing the best large language models (LLM). Companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta are swinging for the fences. How can you position yourself to make sure you’re up to speed? Find ways to utilize ChatGPT in your daily workflows, don’t just type in a question—try talking to it. Tell it your problems. For example…

It’ll provide a detailed workout plan with rep counts and diet recommendations, including macro breakdowns. That is just the tip of the iceberg for what AI can currently do and the crazy part is, the capabilities are growing at an exponential rate. A practical understanding of AI will become necessary to stay competitive in the future. Keep an eye on tools such as Sora and Google’s generative AI suite of tools.

One truth about the passage of time is that things never stay the same—change is the only constant. A hundred years ago, the period from 1920 to 1929 was defined as “the Roaring Twenties.” This slice of American history was known for birthing great economic prosperity as well as large advancements in fashion and music like the Harlem Renaissance. One hundred years later, It’s clear that the Roaring Twenties we’re living through today are going to be quite a bit different. As the economic landscape grows increasingly difficult, I think the time is now to look beyond traditional financial systems for a way to revive the elusive American Dream. Enter cryptocurrency—a digital wild west where fortunes are made and financial freedom is no longer just a pipe dream. In a world where banks and governments have struggled to keep inflation in check, crypto offers a decentralized escape hatch, a way to sidestep the old guard and take control of a new version of your financial destiny. Independence, lower fees, fast transaction times and a hedge against the dollar’s decline are some of it’s promises. Crypto isn’t just a currency; it’s a movement. For those who feel left behind by the rising cost of everything from gas to groceries, digital assets represent a shot at reclaiming the sense of opportunity that once defined America. In this revolutionary new world, the American Dream isn’t dead—it’s just been reimagined on the blockchain.

Che Guevara With Bling On

One of my favorite Jay-Z songs is “Public Service Announcement.” - In it, there’s a bar that always catches my ear:

“I’m like Che Guevara with bling on, I’m complex.”

Che Guevara was a prominent figure who rose to power and played an important role in the Cuban revolution, between 1953-1959. Like a lot of revolutionaries, he died relatively young while fighting for what he believed in. Since his death, his face has gone on to become a symbol of rebellion and resistance against authority. If there’s one thing Jay-Z is great at, it’s writing a line that, on the surface appears simple, but when examined more closely, is really linguistically layered. The story behind this line comes from Jay’s 2003 MTV Unplugged performance where he wore a Che Guevara shirt with a platinum chain around his neck. A journalist who was covering the event, Elizabeth Méndez Berry, wrote about it afterwards stating,

When he rocks his Guevara shirt and a do-rag, squint and you see a revolutionary. But open your eyes to the platinum chain around his neck: Jay-Z is a hustler.

Although Jay’s life didn’t end violently at a young age as did Guevara’s. When I think of both men, I see two revolutionaries, each in their own respective ways. Che for social & political reasons, Jay for revolutionizing hiphop by bringing it to the mainstream and succeeding in a system where not many people who look like him achieved success. The idiom “the first guy through the door is most likely to get shot” describes the inherent risk taken by pioneers of new movements. Luckily for us, it is often the second and third cohorts of people behind them who reap the most benefits. I bring up the stories of these two men to highlight the fact that, although we may not go down in history books as Guevara & Jay, we can still play pivotal roles in advancing the change we want to see in the world. The change that I want to see is a world where more people are empowered financially, resulting in them being able to better themselves if they so chose to do so. We live in a time where you can practically learn anything on the internet; the only challenge is filtering out the good from the bad information. Why not spend a couple hours each week to ensure your financial viability for potentially generations to come?

In closing I’ll explain why I think now is the best time to get some crypto exposure. Let me caveat this with, I’m not suggesting you should go take a loan out on your mortgage or engage in other extremely risky financial activities to invest in crypto. I usually advise friends to start with an investment of between 2-5% of your net worth, especially if you’re young under 45 years of age. Begin by investing in blue-chip cryptocurrencies, such as, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana. Hold off on purchasing any NFTs as these require a lot of ecosystem dependent knowledge to really make prudent decisions, and the liquidity of NFTs isn’t as high as that of regular tokens.

Below is a google trend graph representing frequency of global search history on the term “crypto.” This graph depicts the clear hype-cycles that crypto has gone through, starting with a small one in 2017 and an much larger increase in mid-2021. One thing to note is that every cycle is exponentially bigger than the previous one, and after the hype has died down, the new status-quo maintains a higher baseline than before. Many are saying we’ll see a similar explosion after the election going into 2025.

If you’ve made it here, I appreciate your attention. I hope I’ve done a good job of piquing your interest in the opportunities available in crypto space. If you’re completely new, below I’ll list a few things you should do to start your journey and get your feet wet. It’s important to remember that one of crypto’s prominent ethos is self-reliance. If there is one piece of advice I can give you on your journey, it would be to always ask questions, avoid getting too emotional, and I would be wrong if I didn’t mention a common saying thrown around this space: Do Your Own Research (D.Y.O.R)

Steps

1. Sign up for a Coinbase Account using my referral link here

2. Sign up for X/Twitter and follow these accounts (Information in crypto moves fast, ‘crypto twitter’ is the term used to describe the information community of prominent voices in the space)

   • https://x.com/beaniemaxi

   • https://x.com/RaoulGMI

   • https://x.com/CryptoHayes

3. Utilize Coinbase Earn to take short quizes that pay you in crypto. Earn up to $118 here

4. Subscribe to this newsletter below (I’ll be releasing a steady stream of my insights on crypto developments and my overall investment thesis on an ongoing basis)

5. Bonus: follow me on twitter where I’ll routinely share my thoughts on crypto and life - https://x.com/jahoshuma

6. Extra extra bonus: purchase any amount of (Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana) on Coinbase & join the revolution. (first person who completes this and sends me proof, I’ll send $50 in BTC)

Lastly, It’s important to remember that with crypto investing, you get out what you put into it. This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme and I truly believe in order to make smart decisions, you need to have a baseline understanding of the financial and technological challenges that cryptocurrency aims to solve. For liability reasons, I must caveat this entire essay with saying nothing I said here is financial advice, before making any serious decisions, (D.Y.O.R).

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