society told black people that being a controlled worker is the epitome of success.
the epitome of success they sold us is people that are controlled by other people. and that is at the center of what young youth want to achieve. they grow up wanting to be controlled without even knowing it.
there is a reason that artists' music is called their masters.
they want you to think that's the ceiling. it's not. there is no ceiling with God.
still picking cotton
we put hard work on a pedestal. execution as virtue. and what does that make you think of? you know what the first thing that comes to mind is? picking cotton.
it's crazy. we're not that far removed. my grandma's grandma was a slave. it's literally embedded in us.
this idea of putting hard work on a pedestal as virtue in itself. obedience as activity.
but in reality, most people don't get rich from working in a business. most people don't build generational wealth from execution alone.
the programming never left. it just changed clothes. we're still picking cotton in the office.
the owner's box
in football they have the owners' box. they're looking down on the field watching the players. but they also have offensive and defensive coordinators up there that get to see the entire field and read adjustments.
that's where you need to be. because if you're the quarterback, you take hits. you take sacks. you're relying on everybody else. you need to be above it. you need to see the entire field.
and think about longevity for a second. the average nfl career is three and a half years. you give your body, your mind, everything, and then it's over. as an owner, you're passing that team down generation to generation. your grandchildren inherit the franchise. that's the difference between playing the game and owning it.
working on a business, not in it. working on strategy, not just executing.
the elevator economy
we're playing a new game now. ai is changing the rules. the old playbook of grind harder, execute faster, outwork everybody is dead. ai executes at an insane rate now. there is no shortage of execution anymore. the thing that's scarce is vision. direction. knowing what to build and why.
those who don't know the rules of this new game are going to crash and burn. or you get an elevator and fly.
read more about the elevator economy at imagoslabs.com/manifesto.
metathink or die
metathinking is owner thinking. you're not in the game. you're looking down at the entire field with God's eyes and making decisions from up there.
it's thinking with the mind of Christ. how would God think in this situation? you're in a constrained body. he gave you certain hardware, certain gifts, a certain story. but if you had the mind of Christ, how would you think? how would you think in a way that compounds?
metathinking is dedicating your thought cycles to the things that actually matter. what opportunities to seize. who to spend time with. how to carry yourself. you're not just in life. you're designing it.
the enemy of metathinking is reactive thinking. slave thinking. player thinking. local maximum thinking. imagine someone obsessed with being the best at tic tac toe. that's what most people are doing. playing little games. metathinking is figuring out what the highest game to play is. and it's God's game. the Great Commission is the greatest game you can play. and God created a specific 1:1 highest and best way for you to play that game.
your value isn't in your execution. it's in your strategy. your imagination. your heart.
ai can execute. machines can execute. but they can't feel what matters. they can't connect people with purpose. and they can't connect with God.
the trauma is being conditioned to believe your toil, your execution, is where your value comes from. that's not true. it's the strategy. the imagination. the heart.
every day is the most important day of your life. carry that. you will elevate to heights you didn't know were possible.
stop thinking about ceilings. there are none.