The Truth About The 1%

A few years ago, my wife and I spent a week in Spain visiting a friend.

One evening, after too much Rioja and not enough food, we ended up in one of those terrace-at-midnight conversations that get rather philosophical.

The question we were disccusing was “Why do you think some people become successful and others don’t?”

Her husbands theory was that we all start the race in different places, with a different set of obstacles to jump over along the way.

At the time I still believed that everyone was just full of excuses and if they wanted it badly enough, they’d make it happen.

But the older I get, the more I realise that he was right, the path to success isn't paved the same for everyone.

Which is why when I read a post on Threads by Dickie Bush that basically said “It’s not hard to be in the top 1%” I had some feelings.

Now while it isn't entirely false...

If you put your head down, channel your focus and actually follow through on what you said you would, you will likely outperform 99% of people within 6 months.

However it’s nowhere near the whole picture and before you come at me all like "but didn't you write a newsletter 6 weeks ago sharing that the lifestyle letter is now in the top 1% of all newsletters and it only took you 6 months" Yes I did.

But I’ve never pretended it was accidental. Or effort-free.

And I definitely don’t shy away from the fact that I’m building from a place of deep advantage.

So when people talk about how “easy” it is to rise to the top with a bit of focus and discipline here’s what they’re missing:

Consistency isn’t the answer.

I’ve seen people post religiously for a year and get nowhere, not because they’re lazy or inconsistent, but because the thing they’re being consistent with was unclear, unaligned or just not working.

If your messaging is off, If your offer doesn't solve a clear problem, If your business model isn't sustainable or you're if building someone else’s version of success entirely...

Doing it daily won’t save it, it just accelerates and multiplies the problems.

If you want to grow into the top 1%, it is impertive that you look at your business objectively and be willing to change what isn’t working, no matter how long you’ve been doing it.

Context is the missing variable.

The Lifestyle Letter hit the top 1% of newsletters in just a few months, with open rates above 50% and while that may look like "a quick win" on the outside because i'm also new to Threads and therefore new to most of you, it is really the byproduct of experience.

I’ve been building businesses full time my entire adult life, this isn’t my first starting line.

I’ve spent over a decade learning how to write in a way that moves people, create offers that get results and build systems that allow me to execute well.

That means when I launched this, I knew exactly what I was doing.

Without this kind of context? You end up comparing your Year 1 to someone else’s Year 10.

And that’s where the shame spiral starts.

Clarity is what moves the needle.

Before launching the Lifestyle Letter, I took a two year sabbatical to sit with myself long enough to decide what I actually wanted to build next.

So when I came back? I wasn’t trying to find direction. I had direction.

I knew exactly what I wanted to build, why it mattered, who it was for, how I wanted it to feel and what I’m not willing to compromise.

That kind of clarity saves years because i'm not constantly course-correcting, second-guessing or spinning my wheels chasing strategies that don’t fit.

Capacity is what determines your pace.

We throw around phrases like “just show up every day” like they apply equally to everyone.

But if you’re managing chronic illness, caring for small children, navigating a breakup, grieving a parent, working a full time job or trying to keep your head above water financially your progress will look different.

Not because you're less capable, but because how much you can give to your business is directly shaped by what life is demanding of you outside of it.

We don’t talk about that enough in this industry. But I will.

And the truth is that this business?

It’s built on a foundation that most people don’t have access to yet.

I have complete freedom of my schedule. I'm debt free. I have savings. I have predictable income and I have an amazing Wife.

This wasn't always my story, but it is my story now and I won't pretend that doesn't make a difference in the speed I can move, the risks I can take or the way I can show up.

The Bottom Line...

Don’t let the highlight reel fool you.

The people who rise fast? They’ve usually spent a decade preparing.

They’re experienced. They’re practiced. They’re strategic. They’re clear.

They know what works because they’ve done what doesn’t, over and over again.

They’re faster to execute because they’ve run the same process a hundred times.

They’re clearer because they’ve already wrestled with the questions most people are just starting to ask.

They're confident because they've already sold countless things, to countless people with great results.

So if you’re not there yet?

You're not broken. You're not behind. You're just earlier in the story.

And the best thing you can do is stop rushing the chapter you’re in and keep doing the work that actually moves the needle.

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