Standards, Clarity and Fun

Welcome to the Inner Edge, where I explore insights on wealth, fulfillment, growth, and mastery.

So upon popular demand, here are some more business + spiritual lessons.

Here’s what’s been working for me as I build, grow, and try to make this whole thing actually great.

Let’s dive in.

1) Standards

People look to you to see how they should be.

If you’re on time, others will be on time.
If you’re empowering, others will be empowering.
If you’re lazy, others will be lazy.

You are the leader here. It’s your job to set the standards. You should be the person with the highest standards on the team.

That’s why it’s so important to work on yourself first before leading others.

And to build a thriving business with people, you need to be confident in yourself. That’s where it starts.

I believe all insecurities, no matter how small, will reflect in your outer success.

Here’s a quick story for you:

When I was first bringing on contractors to the team, I was pretty ego-driven (nothing wrong with starting here).

Anyways, I had my first few calls. Nobody great. I brushed them off.

Then, I had a call with someone who knew more than me about that specific role. That should’ve been a good thing, right?

But no.

Immediately, this triggered an insecurity.

Do you know why?

It’s because I was leading through my ego.

My entire goal with my business was to just prove to my friends that I was successful.

And this reflected in my business. The moment I had a call with someone who knew more than me, my ego took a hit.

I’d be scared that they’d figure out I was an imposter.

Do you know what happened?

I was unable to bring on some amazing people to the team because of my own insecurities.

I limited myself.

If I had instead approached from a place of calmness, I would have been okay with them knowing more than I did. Wasn’t that the goal?!

And maybe they would have seen my potential for leadership and joined the team.

So, as time went on, I worked through those insecurities and ego.

Here are a few things that have helped me work through (I’m still working on btw):

1) I realized I spent way too much time replaying scenarios in my head. I’ve trained myself to act faster. For example, when I see someone underperform, I don’t wait weeks to address it anymore. I give feedback immediately.

2) I stopped seeing successful people as “above” me. I started reaching out to entrepreneurs, mentors, and even competitors.

3) I used to do everything myself. Now if someone can do it at least 80% as good as me, I usually delegate it (and focus on things that move the needle).

4) I try to be pretty balanced in all areas of life. Sometimes this gets hard when I’m so focused on growth and building, but I try my best to keep up the other areas (family, friendships, fitness, spirituality). 

There’s still more to be done, but all this led to a much more clear state of mind.

Another by-product: I was able to meet some very inspiring people.

Some of who are on this newsletter 🙂 

This brings me to clarity.

2) Clarity

Clarity is kind.

I never realized this. I would always beat things around the bush.

To me, it felt more nice. I didn’t want to be a prick to others, even when they were at fault.

But I realized that this had nothing to do with being nice. It had a lot more to do with pleasing people.

To lead, you need to be clear. You need to know what you want and go for it.

Here’s how it applies in business:

Every week, we had the same team member drop the ball.

They told me they would have their project in on time, and it never happened.

The cycle kept repeating.

Up until then, I tried to be as nice as possible.

Maybe they actually didn’t have time? Maybe they were going through something hard?

Then one day, it happened again.

That’s when I knew something had to change. If they really didn’t have time or were going through something, it was time to take action.

This time, I was direct.

I told them exactly what they were doing wrong, why it was affecting us, and what would happen if it continued.

This would have felt harsh to me before.

But here’s the thing: this came from clarity, not ego.

It had nothing to do with ego. In fact, it’s the opposite.

It’s your ego that wants to put up a front and appear like the “nice guy.”

When you come from a place of calm clarity, people understand deep down.

It was like I had to lead them to the place they wanted to be.

And that’s what being a leader in business is.

You will face times when people aren’t doing their job, or they’re being lazy. But it’s your job as a leader to come from a calm/collected place and correct them.

That’s how you build a great team.

3) Fun

All the points above seem so serious.

But don’t worry, it’s not all serious.

In fact, most of building a business is super fun.

When it comes to people, be fun. When it comes to standards, be serious.

Let me explain.

Whenever we jump on team calls, we’re super fun.

We’re joking around, teasing each other (mostly me teasing my brother oops), and having a lot of fun along the way.

But when it comes to standards, we’re serious.

If I find someone is not doing their job properly, I become serious. And I’m really working on doing this more.

This is what has gotten us further in the business than mostly anything else.

Because you can’t be fun when things are going downhill. You need to straighten things out. And here’s where your inner work comes in again.

If you yourself are a slacker, it’s hard to be serious when others are slacking.

That’s why it’s important to be both fun and serious.

I’ll give you a quick example.

Here’s how me and my brother work.

We’re super fun and joking most of the time (probably a little too much tbh).

But if either of us is falling behind, we call each other out.

And we do it in full seriousness. And when we’re serious, we don’t joke around anymore.

If you’re unable to be serious with your co-founder or team, that’s a red flag.

You need to prioritize standards—they’re what drive the engine.

But you also need to prioritize fun—it’s what keeps the wheels turning.

If I were starting over and building a business from scratch, here’s what I’d ask myself right from the start:

1. Are my team members operating at the highest standards, or am I letting mediocrity slide?

2. Am I being clear and direct in my communication, or am I avoiding hard conversations?

3. Am I leading from a place of calmness and purpose, or is my ego getting in the way?

Ask yourself these, and you’ll know exactly where to level up.

Feel free to reply directly to this email. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for reading!