The Old Gods Are Dead - Change Your Lifestyle and BUILD
- Isaac Lester
- Aug 25
- 14 min read
Notice: There's been a lot on my mind, so this installment is a "little" beefy. You can read the TL:DR Thread on X here, or you can watch the YouTube video here. If you want a wrap-up of all my weekly doing's, along with sneak peaks at what's to come, subscribe for more ramblings. 'Preciate you noticing this notice, and I hope you find something valuable to take away!
Per Aspera, Ad Astra
- (Captain)Isaac Lester, Bobert Le'Unbending, & Robert The Regal
Why "The Old Rules" Don't Work Anymore
I recently reconnected with an old buddy I hadn't spoken to in depth for about two years.
Without getting into specifics, he laid out how the economy and rising cost of living were crushing him, and it wasn't pretty. My buddy isn't just some random guy complaining about luxury expenses either. He's a disciplined, capable guy who'd done everything "right" according to the traditional playbook, and he's still having difficulty keeping pace with the fight.
That conversation shook me because it crystallized something I've been having some difficulty pinning down and articulating:
We're living through a historical inflection point, and the old rules of financial survival simply don't apply anymore.
"May you live in interesting times." - Some Ancient Asshole
But don't worry, The Government cares about you and will take care of you if anything bad happens to the economy. For the rest of us living firmly in this strange, "interesting" reality, we have to reckon with some harsh truths. Look yourself in the mirror, and tell yourself "you gotta change your lifestyle and build something that will carry us to freedom."
The Reality Check: Four Non-Negotiable "Truths"
There are left and right lateral limits for how you can operate effectively in the modern world if you want to stop working before you expire. To the left lies insanity, to the right lies delusion. We need to walk the narrow path between them.
If you wake up every day, autopilot through your routines, work your shift, then stare at screens until 2am just to live for the weekend, believing things will magically improve someday, you are operating in insanity.
If you think it's as simple as dropping a one-liner into Chat GPT to generate a business plan and website that'll make you millions in 30 days, you are lost in delusion.
The old gods are dead, and The Government that killed and replaced them is now failing itself. There are whispers that the economy is next.
Time to embrace the suck and build something new.
That brings us up on No.1:
I. Saving Won't Save You | Change Your Lifestyle and BUILD
I would never advise anyone to stop saving. All of us absolutely need some form of emergency cushion in the event life hits you sideways. But here's the hard truth: with AI reshaping the entire economy in the next 2-3 years, inflation eating away at purchasing power, and wages staying flat, the math has fundamentally changed. We're moving into an economy where everyone will need to increase their earning power, not just stretch their existing dollars further.
This is not financial advice, and I am not a finance expert. Pay your bills. Put food on the table. Gas the car.
But then invest in yourself in ways that will allow you to generate more income streams, because the baseline cost of everything is rising faster than traditional savings can keep up.
The way forward isn't just protecting what you have; it's expanding what you can earn and more importantly, how you can earn it. Prices are rising and will only accelerate from here as jobs are replaced and even more people are forced to look to alternative income streams.
Even if you don't care about building anything for the long term, that iPhone 53s7 supermax pro edition ultra with the hi-def 7k megapixel camera is probably going to be expensive, just like the Snu Snu robots with Chat GPT brains and self-cleaning functions.
Let's not forget, the new phone will be old tech in 2 weeks and her software upgrades will likely be on a subscription plan.
Also, eggs are expensive as hell.
Saving will not save you, but building will deliver you to real freedom. We move on to No.2:
II: You Have More Value Than You Think
You might be sitting there thinking, "But I don't have anything special to offer." I'm talking to my friend here. I'm talking to myself. And I'm talking directly to you, Dear Reader.
Even if you don't see value in the mountains you've climbed to get where you are, you've existed on this planet for years as you, from your perspective. Your perspective is unique, and somewhere out there is someone who would be overjoyed to learn how you got to where you are today.
Your unique experience IS your value. The lessons you've learned can become conversations that change someone else's life when they hear your story.
There are YouTube channels devoted to pet vlogs and people literally sell pet rocks. You can do anything. You can literally do anything.
Whether your life has been smooth sailing or filled with struggle, you're positioned for what's coming. Surviving the next wave and thriving because you built something lasting and genuine will be a challenge for some and overwhelming for others. But whoever rides this wave will benefit from dividends that compound long beyond their final days.
Right now, if you're working a job or grinding a side hustle to stack a few bands for your master plan, don't let that stop you from working on a business plan. You could launch a YouTube channel with a 5-minute talking head video from your phone right now. After an hour of tutorials, you could have a working Shopify store tomorrow. By the end of the week, you could be turning profit on a Substack newsletter.
We have to think and move differently, yo'.
You need monies for the mission, and the best way to get even more monies for the even bigger mission, whatever that may be, is to provide something of real value to your people, whoever they are.
The ideas in your mind can become physical realities if you put in the effort. No.3 even tells us:
III: It's Not As Saturated As You Think
The numbers will blow your mind.
YouTube has 2.5 billion monthly active users and 122 million daily users, including 62% of users based in the United States who report using YouTube every single day.
There are approximately 69 million content creators on the platform, making it vibrant and competitive. But here's the kicker: only about 2 million creators have actually monetized their channels through the YouTube Partner Program.
That means out of 69 million creators, less than 3% are making money.
The creator economy is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030. The opportunity isn't shrinking, it's exploding.
This is why I started.
I spent years in tutorial limbo until I finally stopped consuming and started creating. When I got serious, I launched two newsletters: The MINDSET and Morning Thunder Podcast focused on personal growth, plus a faith-based one called Blessed & Encouraged that I helped my mother run.
We had subscribers and turned a profit in under a week. Yeah, it was twenty bucks, but profit is profit... and 20 bucks is 20 bucks.
All it took was 15 minutes watching YouTube tutorials and 30 minutes of typing. I made business cards, started posting on social media, and dove in full force. Within months we were generating hundreds of dollars from under 40 people across both platforms.
Here's the thing: I have no official qualifications beyond personal experience to speak about personal growth, and my mother was no church pastor. No one told us we couldn't do it, *and no one stopped us once we started.*
Starting a business was that simple. I grabbed my notes, picked a platform, and started producing content that people were willing to support with monthly subscriptions, yearly packages, or incredibly generous random donations.
Nobody is gatekeeping your access to the internet or your ability to build financial independence online. Everyday people are out there burning midnight oil and working relentlessly to build something real. They're doing it right now, and you can too.
The barrier to entry has never been lower. So the question is: are you going to take action and campaign for your future, or keep consuming endless content while making excuses about why you can't build something?
As we who now want to build move on, we approach No.4:
IV: Plan for the Long Game
Walk into any grocery store, fast food restaurant, or retail chain and you'll see them: 70 and 80-year-olds scanning barcodes, taking orders, greeting customers. Not because they love the work, but because social security doesn't cover rent, groceries, and medications. Their "golden years" became survival years because they had no plan, or their plan got obliterated by circumstances beyond their control, or comprehension.
That could be you in 30 years. With AI, that could be you in 3 years.
How long are you planning to work your current job? What does your life look like in 10 years, and what concrete steps are you taking today to get there? More importantly, what's your backup plan when something goes wrong?
We can't be out here chasing trends and get-rich-quick schemes. A million dollars today would be gone within 5 years at current inflation rates. We need something that generates wealth, not just preserves it.
This is about building something that compounds over decades, not months. If you have no plan, block out time every single day to create one. If each of us approached our future with the same intensity we bring to our habits and addictions, we'd all be unstoppable.
You can be the voice that tells your story, the hand that publishes it, or the force that manifests your dreams into reality.
The clock is ticking whether you acknowledge it or not.
Why This Matters to Me
I realized these "truths" nearly two years ago when I started paying attention to the global financial system. Then came the anxiety along with that brutal realization that I was grossly unprepared for what was coming over the horizon. Cold sweats from discovering I had negative money in my account and collection companies probably considering bounty hunters.
I couldn't breathe. Everything I'd been told was a lie, and that lie had become the fabric of everyday life. I was hopelessly unprepared, so I decided to arm myself with knowledge and action.
When you're blindsided by ambush in the open, you assess the situation, secure your weapon, and prepare to counter. I had housing and just enough income to survive month to month. No drink, no cigarettes. I was furious at myself for falling behind, for adopting destructive habits.
But rage can be an incredible anesthetic.
When you're blindsided by ambush in the open, you draw swords and fight back.
I had my laptop and internet connection. That was enough to start building something real.
I romanticize the idea of gladiators presenting arms before calmly but firmly stating to a ravenous crowd: morituri te salutamus, "we who are about to die salute you." Maybe not the best analogy, but we're going to roll with it.
From here, we tread forward into darkness to forge light from the shadow that fights to consume us.
The Environment Modification Strategy
The first step is to audit your entire life, starting with the digital, and conduct a purge of what creates drag on your forward movement.
Step 1: Ruthless Social Media Purge
I went through every single follow list on my social media accounts and asked one question: "Does this account add positive value to my life?" If we hadn't spoken in several years, or if the account was just noise: gone.
Then I replaced that noise with content creators I actually admire. Overnight, my feed went from mindless dopamine hits to passive learning and content ideas.
Dan Koe exposed me to the One Person Business Model. Codie Sanchez taught me business acquisition, and I got the masterclass on All The Things from Alex Hormozi. The Futur taught me branding, and I feel spiritually connected to Gary V, the Underdog Business Masters at ALUX, and the YouTube Gurus on The Think Media team.
Overnight, my feed went from mindless dopamine hits to passive learning, content ideas, and relentless drive to build something that produces maximum value from my experience and creativity.
@TheIsaacLester, everywhere I'm active by the by :)
Step 2: A Union of Reading and YouTube
From my recruiting days, I learned the power of maximizing dead time. Commuting, working out, doing chores—all of that became learning time.
Today I maintain specific playlists for everything I'm actively learning:
- Blogging 4 Newbs
- Business Fundamentals 4 Newbs
- YouTube Growth 4 Newbs
I have about 40 playlists that together cover every topic and niche I'm currently learning. Being a full-time cruiser on my sailboat Matilda means I have to learn additional skills just to live, but to thrive we all need to pivot when needed.
Whenever I came across a new book title, I added it to a list. Impactful post? Screenshot and add to a folder. Particularly useful video? That link goes into a spreadsheet, connected to a word doc that breaks it down to the molecule.
I built an archive, my personal Library of Alexandria, using Obsidian.
Before every car trip, run, and long admin session, I'd pick a book, podcast, or video from the rotation and open my mind for a download.
You can absorb the essence of a person's work via audiobook in a day, distill those principles into personal notes the next morning, and refine those notes with a YouTube tutorial before testing the concepts that same evening. Take a moment to really think about how powerful and insane that is!
Now think about who you can become if you put that kind of effort into becoming something more.
Step 3: Mindful Consumption
Your brain is not a garbage disposal—stop treating it like one. The content you consume, the music you listen to, even the conversations you have daily are literally rewiring your neural pathways. I was skeptical at first, like any proper pessimistic realist should be, but the difference is undeniable: my days are measurably better when I lean into podcasts, drawing, and kayaking instead of hip-hop, drinking, and doom scrolling.
Look up Mouse Utopia experiments when you get a chance. We've engineered the perfect world of endless convenience and connected every corner of the globe in trade and conversation. As a species, we're more connected than we've ever been in human history.
And it's driven us collectively insane within a single generation.
We're drowning in an ocean of digital noise designed to capture and monetize your attention. In this environment, intentional consumption is more akin to an intense game of long-term mental survival as opposed to just self improvement.
Curate what enters your mind like your sanity depends on it.
Because it does.
Focused consumption frees your mind to focus on growth, so you can make monies for the mission and more monies for the bigger mission. This is how we get to freedom.
Going on Campaign: Your Action Plan
I don't support hustle culture and I don't condone full-blown monk mode either. I categorize the rhythm, flow, and flavor of my life under three modes:
Crusade - TheIsaacLester is a mostly family friendly brand, so we can't talk about Crusade here. Maybe Patreon if there's interest.
Cruise - Going On Cruise is simple. It's a working vacation. Travel, adventure, recharging, tending to myself and my personal projects as I wish.
Campaign - This is where I prove my worth before gods and men. My life has been a series of trials, and whether willingly or begrudgingly, I stand with sword and shield in hand, prepared to fight for and defend my life. Going on Campaign is my version of monk mode, but without the extreme actions that harm mental or physical health.
Going on Campaign means making the conscious decision to lock in for however long it takes to accomplish a multi-step goal. No excuses, no distractions, just focused, balanced execution of sequential tasks with proper rest and recovery, under a healthy battle cadence until mission complete.
I'm currently on Campaign learning to sail while taking a boat manufacturing course, studying diesel engines, and wrapping up my affairs stateside so I can travel full-time. Multiple objectives, single focus. Long list of tasks, I cross them off one by one.
I have no idea what I'm doing half the time, but my track record shows I'm consistently average across the board, and that's all the assurance I need to keep pushing until I eventually improve. Progress is progress. We take baby steps because they lead to Olympic sprints.
The First Objective
If you don't have a method of tracking your ideas, progress, and plans, you are doomed to fail. Note-taking should never have been as underpowered as it was taught, and we all made a mistake when we largely abandoned the art after graduation.
1. Set up your idea capture system - Look into note-taking software like Obsidian, Notion, or OneNote. Pick one, commit to it and start documenting things that are important to the smooth operation of your life and the successful arrival at your goals.
2. Build your learning arsenal - Create playlists on YouTube to segment your learning and focus your efforts: "Business Fundamentals," "Skill Development," "Industry Deep Dives." Load a handful of videos in each.
I just handed you a week's worth of progress toward your personal billions. From here, you should have enough knowledge and awareness of your lack of knowledge to get going. Healthy delusion. Maximum effort. Get going, get it good, and be confident while you work it. I believe in you.
What do you need to know or do to start building your business RIGHT NOW? Not next month, not when you have more time, not when conditions are perfect, now.
The Bottom Line
The world has changed, and we're watching history unfold. Traditional methods won't create generational wealth anymore. The cost of gas and eggs is extreme right now, so maybe it's time for some extreme measures in response.
Every parent I speak to tells me they're worried about raising their children in such interesting times. It may be corny, but I tell them that in a time of dragons, we must learn to slay dragons and teach the skill to our kin.
Go fetch that shield and sword. Put a helmet on your head and commit to a few months of focused push to build, acquire, design, or create something that gets you moving. Because that's all it takes to change your life.
All it took for me to escape my situation was an event to inspire focused thinking. I designed an exit strategy and spent six months executing it. Six months later, I live on a sailboat with the freedom to chase my goals with the intensity that childhood me always wanted.
Childhood me would be in awe of who we've become, and even more so at where we plan to let ambition take us.
The Campaign Trail
When you look in the mirror tomorrow morning, tell yourself you're going on Campaign. Because with a little hard work and focused effort, you can totally change your life.
What happens on Campaign is between you and the goals you set for yourself. No one is going to wake you up on time or remind you to watch a training video instead of a sports game. If any part of this resonated with you, do something with it while the fire is there.
What you do with your life is up to you, but what the economy does to your life is entirely controlled by forces well beyond our power or comprehension.
Knowing there are things in your life you want to change, make a note on your phone right now.
To help you accomplish the first objective of building your learning arsenal, type out these things you need to figure out before you build your empire:
- What unique perspective do I bring to the world?
- What contribution do I want to make to the world?
- Where is the intersection between what I'm good at doing and what feels good doing?
- Have I subscribed to Isaac's YouTube Channel yet so I don't miss the next time he drops one of these ramblings? (that one counts as two)
Don't wait another day.
The economy is changing whether we like it or not. You can either adjust your lifestyle to need less money, or make more money to support yourself. The best way to do the latter is to build a business around something you're passionate about, because that passion will carry you through the difficulties and keep you grinding at 10 PM and 6 AM.
f*ck it, we campaign, then
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If this resonated with you, share it with someone who needs to hear it. And if you're ready to start building something real: "Lester's Letters" or some such, are just getting started.
Until next time, stay focused and stay hungry. We will forge light from the darkness,
Per Aspera, Ad Astra.
Through Hardships, to The Gorydamn Stars
- There is the "Jolly Roger", and that's cool, but I have "The Grand Standard", and it's super groovy, yo'
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