And just like that, my two-month sabbatical is over. Did you miss me? Of course not! I continued to publish three posts a week and send out one newsletter a week like an addict.

There was only a one-week period where I felt like I truly took things down a notch. Our family went up to Sonoma where we enjoyed swimming in the pool every day. I also took my kids to Train Town twice, which was a whole lot of fun.

However, after our trip was over, it was back to life as usual. I had to give up several business deals to try and recuperate. However, two months later, I don’t feel very rested at all!

If you want to be rich, happy, and free, you must cultivate your X-Factor.

Your X-Factor can be building something on the side that makes money beyond your day job. Your X-Factor can also be developing a top 1% talent in a sport, music, or art that provides you a tremendous amount of joy.

Without an X-Factor, life may not be as fulfilling. Let me share why everyone should develop an X-Factor even if they have the best job on earth. Because goodness knows, living to work will eventually lead to tremendous regret.

Let’s look at how the rich get richer. After all, half the battle is staying rich for multiple generations.

Making money is like playing a competitive sport. You train hard all your life for those moments on the battlefield where you win all the spoils or go home empty-handed. You console yourself after a loss for having tried your best, but eventually, you realize the game is rigged.

For the past 12 years, I’ve played USTA league tennis. It’s a great way to stay in shape, meet new folks, and keep the competitive juices firing. Everyone needs to balance mental activity with physical activity if they want to stay healthy.

For the past six years, minus one year off due to the birth of my son and one year off due to the pandemic, I’ve played at the 5.0 level. It’s a treacherous level filled with ex-college players and even ex-pros. Few have a beer gut and everyone has at least one weapon, be it a cannon serve or a heavy topspin forehand.

There is an unhealthy desire for prestige and money that is ruining people’s lives.

The desire for prestige and money is why we: 1) spend an outrageous sum of money on education, 2) kill ourselves at jobs we don’t like, 3) put up with colleagues and bosses we despise, 4) never pursue our dreams, 5) neglect our children, and 6) eventually fill our hearts with regret.

If we can figure out how to rid ourselves of the desire for prestige and money, we will become much happier in the process!

After all, consistently feeling happy and having a sense of purpose may be what life is all about.

One Man’s Desire For Prestige And Money

Years ago, I was attending Finovate, a financial innovation conference, I met a fintech entrepreneur named John. He told me his revolutionary idea was to simplify the documentation gathering process for people looking to refinance or get a new mortgage. As anybody who’s ever taken out a mortgage can attest, it’s a real pain in the ass.

I was intrigued since I’ve done about 10 refinances on four properties since 2003. I planned to refinance one last time when I met him. But when John showed me his product, it still required the user to upload all of the docs the bank wanted onto his website. Further, there are always additional document requests from the bank to upload on his platform after that. What’s the point?

Creating an unnecessary barrier between consumer and lender didn’t seem like a good business idea. At least John was trying to solve a problem. I thanked him for his time and wished him well.

Then just the other month I ran into John at another fintech conference. I tend to go once a quarter with a free media pass. Otherwise, I’d go less often because these tickets cost anywhere from $300 – $2,000 each!

Running conferences during the internet boom is akin to being a landlord. It’s one of the best ways to profit.

I asked John how his product was doing, and he said that he’s looking to hire a CEO with more product experience. One guy slipped away thanks to an offer from Google, but another guy was close to joining.