#011 | Read Online By Matt Doan · August 23, 2025 · 3 min read Make Your Employer Your Investor “It’s 10 AM. I’m at a coffee shop. And I’m done with my workday.” That’s my client, Travis. Director at a multi-billion dollar company. Just two weeks earlier, he was working 12-hour days. Holed up in his home office. Drowning in Teams messages and global pings. A ghost to his family. Burned out and buried. Then, everything changed. He faced the truth. He got strategic. He made his employer his...
8 days ago • 4 min read
#010 | Read Online By Matt Doan · August 16, 2025 · 3 min read The Illusion of Progress You say you want a profound shift in your world. To step beyond the constraints of corporate life. To design your own rhythm. To build a business, brand, and life that finally feels like yours. Yet despite all your intentions, little has changed. You’ve read the books. Listened to the podcasts. Ripped through endless AI chats. You keep gathering inputs, hoping: “Maybe just one more insight… one more...
15 days ago • 3 min read
#009 | Read Online By Matt Doan · August 9, 2025 · 3 min read Futureproof Yourself There’s a shift happening right now It’s quiet for some. Undeniably loud for others. Jobs are flattening. Titles are losing meaning. AI is rewriting the rules before you even learn them. And the people who will thrive in the years ahead? They won’t be the ones with the flashiest credentials. They won’t be the ones frantically trying to keep pace with the latest tech. They’ll be the ones with the most courage....
22 days ago • 4 min read
#008 | Read Online By Matt Doan · August 2, 2025 · 2 min read The Energy Tax It was always Sunday afternoon that hurt the most. That was the time I’d start packing. Laptop, chargers, button-downs, just enough ties to keep the image sharp. Early Monday morning, I’d be back at the airport—bleary-eyed, stomach tight, apologizing to my family again. “I’ll be gone three nights this time. Maybe four.” It became routine. Predictable. A successful consultant living the dream. Except it was eating me...
29 days ago • 4 min read
#007 | Read Online By Matt Doan · July 26, 2025 · 3 min read The Harmonized Life We just got back from an epic family trip across Europe. Probably the most enjoyable vacation I’ve ever had. To start, we flew business class—not because of corporate status or points, but because we built a business that earns it. We swam in the crystal-clear waters off the Croatian coast. Biked through Amsterdam parks, wind in our hair, with the little dude in tow. Rode public trams like locals. Ascended 400...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
#006 | Read Online By Matt Doan · July 19, 2025 · 3 min read It Gets Late Fast You think you have time. But the signs are everywhere. Some loud. Some silent. You don’t recognize the worn face in the mirror. You wake up tired, even on weekends. Great jobs used to be everywhere, but suddenly you’re “too experienced.” Ageism doesn’t shout; it creeps in quietly, until one day you’re no longer the clear choice—you’re the backup plan. You once fantasized about traveling the world with your family...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
#005 | Read Online By Matt Doan · July 12, 2025 · 3 min read The Onlyness Edge “Matt, you’re not technical enough.” That sentence didn’t just sting—it split something open inside me. I was the head of a global strategy team. I could see complex systems from high orbit, translate ambiguity into clarity, navigate board-level decisions with fluency. But apparently, that wasn’t enough. They wanted me to blend in. To become more like everyone else. To chase technical certifications and stack...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
#004 | Read Online By Matt Doan · July 5, 2025 · 3 min read The Happiness Decision 7:30 AM. James sat in his home office, second cup of coffee in hand. His eyes glazed over. He stared blankly at the next slide deck on his screen—a presentation he had to critique and send back to his team. It wasn’t the task itself. It was the endless repetition. The constant urgency. The sinking feeling that none of it truly mattered. The relentless corporate carnival played on: a flood of pings and dings...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
#003 | Read Online By Matt Doan · June 28, 2025 · 3 min read Let Fear Light the Way “You need to leave this marriage.” Those words landed like a thunderclap in my therapist’s office. I remember sitting there, stunned, a thousand thoughts crashing through my mind. Three kids—how could I possibly walk away and miss the majority of their childhood? The weight of that decision felt crushing. I never imagined I’d be the person contemplating this, yet here I was, grappling with a truth I couldn’t...
2 months ago • 4 min read