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Hey there, freedom builders.

Right now?

I'm typing this from a cabin three hours north of home.

Golden aspens everywhere. Six kids tearing around. Six adults actually unplugged.

Sauna. Cold plunge. River access.

This isn't a vacation.

This is what winning actually looks like.

Not the hustle porn where you grind 60 hours to afford a trip you're too fried to enjoy.

The real deal. Where your business funds your life instead of eating it alive.

Wanna know how we got here?

Buckle up.

Why You Should Give All the Cares:

• Life-First Business Design: Stop building businesses that own you. Start designing income around your actual life.

• Tax Strategy Reality: The wealthy aren't cheating. They're playing by different rules you can learn.

• Creator Crack Warning: Sora AI is the most addictive tool I've seen in years. Here's what you need to know.

• Self-Ownership Foundation: You can't build a life-first business without owning who you are first.

The Mazama Truth

We come to this rustic town twice a year.

Spring and fall.

When the seasons shift and the world reminds you to slow down.

This trip? My wife needed product photos for her new line. She's launching these incredible blankets, Pendleton purses, and scarves going into the holiday season.

Gorgeous stuff. Real craftsmanship. Check them out here.

So we rented a cabin. Brought two other families. Made it a photo shoot location.

Business write-off.

The gas to get here? Write-off.

Percentage of the food? Write-off.

My time consulting with the other two families on their marketing? You guessed it.

This whole trip is a business expense that happens to look like a vacation.

And before you get all weird about it, let me tell you something most people don't understand.

The Wealthy Aren't Cheating (They're Just Playing a Different Game)

The rich stay rich because they've minimized their tax burden.

Not through shady offshore accounts or illegal schemes.

Through understanding tax law.

They have lawyers. Accountants. Entire teams studying how to legally reduce what they owe.

Here's the part that'll blow your mind:

There's no law requiring you to pay MORE than you legally owe.

Back in 1934, Judge Learned Hand made this crystal clear:

"Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible. He is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes."

Let that sink in.

The courts have repeatedly ruled: minimizing your tax burden through legal means is your right.

Most people just don't know this.

They think paying maximum taxes is somehow noble.

It's not noble.

It's expensive and unnecessary.

When you run a business and nail your deductions? You're saving 30% of what you earn.

That's not gaming anything.

That's understanding the rules while everyone else plays blindfolded.

The system is designed with these deductions built in.

The wealthy use them. You can too.

(We won't get into whether taxes are legitimate in the first place. That's a whole different newsletter. But yeah, someone taking a percentage of your labor is worth questioning.)

Introducing: Life-First Business Architect

This is what I've actually been doing this whole time.

Not just marketing help.

Not just business strategy.

I've been helping people design businesses that support their lives and lifestyles.

There's a much broader strategy at play than maximizing profits.

Because what's the point of making money if you're too stressed, too tired, and too busy to actually live?

I call this service Life-First Business Architect.

And it's for three types of people:

1. The Starter: You want to launch a business that supports your lifestyle from day one

2. The Escapist: You're burning out in corporate and need a real exit plan

3. The Optimizer: You've got something going but it built a job instead of a business

The process starts with clarity.

What do you actually want your life to look like?

Not your Instagram version. Your real life.

Then we reverse-engineer a business model that funds it.

We look at financial strategy. We look at write-offs. We look at how to structure your days, your revenue streams, your client relationships.

And yes, we use AI to make it all run smoother.

Speaking of which...

Creator Crack: Sora's Dangerous Gift

I've been playing with Sora AI for the past week.

OpenAI's new video generation tool.

And I need to warn you about something.

This thing is addictive.

Not only in a "oh this is fun" way.

In a "I just lost three hours and produced nothing much of real value" way.

Here's what makes it dangerous:

You can type a sentence and get 80% of the way to a captivating video in minutes.

Seeing yourself in wild scenarios? Totally fascinating.

You in space. You in a spooky house. You doing things you've never done.

It's a trip.

But then you try to get that last 20% dialed in, and suddenly you've burned an hour chasing perfection.

The barrier to entry for content creation just got nuked.

Back in the day, you needed:

• Movie producers

• Huge budgets

• Film equipment

• Actors and actresses

• Hollywood's blessing

Then it shrunk to needing a production company.

Then it shrunk to needing a camera and editing software.

Then TikTok made it so you just needed 8 seconds and a phone.

Now? You just need to type a sentence.

Anyone can create video content with themselves in it.

And that's both incredible and terrifying.

The Good, The Bad, The AI Slop

The Bad: This creates a new type of social engineering. Highly entertaining. Wildly addictive. But potentially zero value. AI slop at scale.

The Good: The gatekeepers are done. Hollywood's 100-year stranglehold on storytelling is over. Closet filmmakers can now produce anything they imagine without actors, equipment, or studio backing.

Generic, watered-down stories fed to humanity for decades? About to get disrupted.

What I'm Doing: Learning how to create commercials and content using these tools to help brands tell better stories without the massive expenses.

You just need to understand:

• How these tools work

• How they can be dangerous

• What boundaries to set

• How to actually use them for value

And that's what I'm teaching my clients and Inner Circle.

If you're running a brand and you're not thinking about how AI video generation changes your content strategy, you're already behind.

Hit reply. Let's talk about what this means for your business.

Beyond The Matrix: Self-Ownership

This week in Beyond The Matrix, we're covering self-ownership.

Taking full responsibility for every area of your life.

Your thoughts. Your feelings. Your ideas. Your labor.

Your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and digital well-being through regenerative practices.

We're talking about the King's Mindset.

Not the ego-driven, chest-puffing nonsense.

The real king energy. The one that leads through responsibility and service.

I got to spend time with the late Michael Badnarik before he passed. Helped him create his course. His book "It's Good to Be King" changed how I think about personal sovereignty.

Check out the video I shared this week about his teachings.

Because here's the truth: you can't build a life-first business without first owning who you are.

You can't design freedom if you're still enslaved to other people's opinions, broken patterns, or unexamined beliefs.

Self-ownership is the foundation.

Everything else builds on top of it.

Your Voice Matters

Got questions about Life-First Business Architect?

Want to know more about using AI tools without getting lost in the addiction?

Need help figuring out how to actually own your life instead of renting it from your job?

Hit reply. I read everything.

And if you're ready to stop building someone else's dream and start designing your actual life, let's talk.

Today’s Takeaways:

• Design Your Life First: Build a business that funds your lifestyle, not one that consumes it

• Tax Strategy Matters: The wealthy minimize legally. You can too. It's your responsibility to learn how.

• Creator Crack is Real: Sora AI is powerful and addictive. Use it strategically or it'll waste your time.

• Self-Ownership Foundation: You can't be free in business until you own yourself completely

Alright, that's the download from the woods.

I'm getting back to the sauna, the river, and watching my 7-year-old live a life I couldn't have dreamed of at her age.

Because that's what this whole thing is about.

Not the money. Not the status.

The actual life you get to live.

Joshua | The Holistic Tech Wizard

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