Welcome to another issue of the no-BS newsletter dedicated to demystifying the world of passive income, where we share practical, reliable strategies to build and sustain income streams that work for you.

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In today's issue:

You know what people don’t tell you about success?
It’s messy as hell.

When I first started building my business, there were no fancy coffee shop work sessions, no beach laptops, no “look at my passive income” posts.
There was just me—broke, exhausted, and juggling two jobs just to keep the lights on.

By day, I worked a regular job. By night, I worked the graveyard shift as a security guard.
But here’s the kicker… I chose that night job on purpose—because it gave me time to work on my online business.
Yeah, I’d literally sneak out with my laptop, stealing Wi-Fi from a prepaid mobile hotspot I was paying a hundred bucks a month for.
That’s how bad I wanted it.

To even afford that laptop, I had to sell my desktop PC.
So, in a weird way, I bet the house—or at least my only computer—on myself.

And while I was doing all that, my bills were late, my friends thought I’d lost it, and my girlfriend (now my wife) was… well, let’s just say, skeptical.

People laughed.
They told me I was wasting my time.
That “nobody makes money online.”
That I should just be grateful for a steady paycheck.

But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.
Something deep inside told me there had to be more than trading hours for dollars.

So I kept going—through bad English, bad paychecks, and bad advice.
And when things finally started to turn around, guess what happened?
Those same people who laughed… started asking if I was selling drugs.

True story.
I pulled up one day in my brand new $86,000 car (paid in cash, by the way), and this guy I used to work with says,
“Yo, Igor… are you a drug dealer now?”
I laughed it off, but deep down, I realized what had really changed.
Not me.
Their belief.

The thing is nobody’s going to believe in you at first.
They’re not supposed to.
Your dream isn’t theirs to understand—it’s yours to prove.

So if you’re in that season right now, getting laughed at, doubted, or told to “get real”…
Good.
You’re right where you need to be.

Because the joke’s only funny until the punchline—
And the punchline… is your success.

This new book is your blueprint for creating 7 automated income streams from a single email list. It’s designed to do two things: end your dependency on a single paycheck so you can stop worrying about money, and buy back your time so you can start living life on your own terms.
I’ll ship it to your door for free (just cover S&H) and include my $3,271 AI-Powered Income Kit to get you there faster.

Ever feel like you’re busy all the time but somehow… getting nowhere?
Yeah, been there.
It’s like running on a treadmill with a full briefcase — you’re sweating, you’re moving, but you’re not actually going anywhere.

You wanna know the real kicker?

Most people have no clue what they actually want.
They can tell you what they hate — their job, their debt, their boss, Mondays — but ask them what their dream life looks like, and you’ll get a blank stare followed by:
“Uh… I dunno. Something with freedom?”

That’s the problem.
You can’t hit a target you haven’t defined.

The people who win — in business, in life, in everything — are the ones who get crystal clear on their destination before they start the engine.
They know where they’re headed, what “success” actually means to them, and they strip away everything that doesn’t move them closer to it.

Think about it like this:
If you had eight hours to chop down a tree, would you spend all eight swinging wildly, or would you spend the first six sharpening your axe?
Most people are hacking away, dull-bladed, exhausted, wondering why the damn tree won’t fall.

But the winners?
They stop, think, and sharpen first.

They define the vision.
They figure out what they don’t want.
They study people they admire — not to copy them, but to understand why they admire them.
Then they cut out the waste, get focused, and move with intention.

And when they do that, something magical happens:
They gain time.
They gain headspace.
They gain traction.

Here’s a little challenge for you:
Take 30 minutes and write down exactly what your “perfect day” looks like — not some vague idea of freedom, but down to the hour.
What time do you wake up?
Who are you with?
What kind of work are you doing?
How does it feel?

Then look at your current day and ask:
“What am I doing right now that doesn’t move me toward that life?”

Now comes the hard part:
Cut the fluff.
Because the truth is, most of what fills your day is noise disguised as progress.

Sharpen your axe, my friend.
Because swinging harder won’t get you there faster — thinking sharper will.

In this episode, I’m thrilled to sit down with Austin Netzley, entrepreneur, author, and expert on scaling businesses while reclaiming your time. 

We’re diving into everything from building a self-sustaining business that thrives without you to creating systems that let you step away without everything falling apart. Austin shares hard-earned lessons on overcoming fear, staying focused, and why the simplest path is often the most effective. 

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to take your business to the next level, this conversation is packed with insights you won’t want to miss. So, grab a coffee, hit play, and let’s get into it!

Let me be blunt… this isn’t your feel-good, “rah-rah, you can do it!” kind of book.
This is business war stories meets therapy session for entrepreneurs who’ve stared failure in the face and said, “Not today.”

Ben Horowitz doesn’t sugarcoat a damn thing.
He talks about the sleepless nights, the gut-wrenching decisions, and what it actually feels like to run a company when everything’s falling apart — when your investors are panicking, your team’s losing faith, and you’re one payroll away from collapse.

If you’ve ever looked at “success stories” online and thought, “Man, my journey doesn’t look like that at all,” this book will feel like a deep exhale.
Because Horowitz reminds you that hard things are normal — and that real leaders aren’t the ones who avoid problems, but the ones who push through them anyway.

This is a must-read for anyone building something from scratch — especially when it feels like the whole world’s betting against you.

Why you should read it:
Because when things get hard (and they will), you’ll realize you’re not broken — you’re just in the middle of the process that every great entrepreneur survives.

Pro tip: Keep this book close. It’s the kind you’ll want to open again and again when things get messy — because it’ll remind you that messy is part of the masterpiece.

People come to see me,

Then ghost me like a bad Tinder date.

I live in your analytics,

But haunt your conversions.

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