There’s a question I’ve been wrestling with:

When did singing, dancing, or creating art become a performance instead of an expression?

Art was never meant to be judged. Art was meant to be freedom - the unfiltered

voice of the soul. Somewhere along the way, we started worshiping applause instead of authenticity. But I refuse to do that. I believe in the intrinsic value of the individual, the sovereign human soul, and the uniqueness no one can replicate.

And in that same spirit, I refuse to sacrifice my family for vocational success. I refuse to trade integrity for money. I refuse to be silent when something must be said, even at great personal cost. Everyone believes in honesty until it costs them something.

For the last six months I’ve stood on stages asking myself:

What can I say that will matter?

Just one more
one more contact,
one more day,
one more step in the dark guided only by the pinprick of a dream barely visible in the distance.

Because I don’t care about fame. I don’t care about the applause.
I care about impact. I care about legacy. I care about being me.

When I started, I was willing to cut off parts of myself to succeed. Cut your hair. Be a good boy. Vote this way. Believe that.
I didn’t know what made success, so I sacrificed myself trying to find it.

But wisdom teaches a painful truth:
Nothing, no trophy, no title, no money - is worth losing yourself.

And many do.
They get the trophy, and lose the prize.
They win the game, and lose their soul.

Business is a game. Amway is a game.
Winning is preferred, yes, but not at the cost of relationships, joy, integrity, or humanity.

If your work is only about the outcome, you will always lose.
If you do the work because it is your calling, you will always win.

And leadership? It’s not about how you treat the people who help you win. It’s about how you treat the people who quit, who disagree, or who offer you nothing in return. People over profits. Always.

We live in a world obsessed with narratives. History is written by the victor, not the virtuous. Every tragedy on every side is still a tragedy. And the most judgmental people, I’ve found, are those hiding behind dogma instead of practicing forgiveness.

I’ve been told I’m hard to understand. Too intellectual. Too complex.

But I’ve spent 20 years sharpening my language so I could express what matters. A light on a hill is meant to shine, not to be hidden under a bowl. Growth requires struggle, including intellectual struggle. Most people want simple answers, not transformative ones.

If you cannot entertain ideas you disagree with, you’re not thinking; you’re being controlled.

To the outsiders reading this:
The gay one in a room of judgmental Christians.
The Democrat among Republicans.
The Muslim, Sikh, atheist, agnostic.
The stoic among pleasure seekers, or the pleasure seeker among stoics.

Your value is not diminished.
Your difference is your contribution.

A meritocracy elevates the best idea, not the loudest ego.

Teams crumble when ego wins and culture loses. Jealousy suffocates talent. Bureaucracy chokes innovation. When people feel unheard, unseen, or undervalued, the best leave; or they stay and quietly quit.

But when we honor each other’s gifts, when we know our strengths and weaknesses, when we lead with empathy, openness, and courage, prosperity follows.

Not because of the money.

But because we did not lose ourselves on the way to it.