TDW #033 The Elephant In The Room...

About 8 years ago, I was consulting with an organization who needed some digital marketing strategy.

Like always,I flew out to their headquarters on Monday to lead a strategy session with 10 of their top marketing leaders on Tuesday.

The flight out was uneventful. The city was a nice-but-modest mid-tier city. The building was clean, professional, if a bit stuffy.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

But when I got to the room where we’d be working for the day, I noticed this weird underlying tension. Everyone seemed to be on edge. Eyes darting around the room. It was like the group was just holding their collective breath, waiting to exhale.

(And, thankfully, after multiple “zipper checks” I concluded it wasn’t because my barn door was open.)

Hair Plugs & Throwing Chairs

Finally, the leader of the organization (whom I had never met up ‘til that moment) stood up, did a quick introduction of me, and then dropped this bomb on everyone:

As many of you might have noticed, I didn’t have hair last week and now I do. I had a hair transplant over the weekend. They recommended I stay home for a few days to rest, but we booked Justin months ago and I don’t want to reschedule. Justin, the floor is yours.

There were only two words running through my mind at that moment:

“Holy. Shit.”

It was precisely then when I saw everyone exhale. It was the elephant in the room no one knew how to address:

• their boss got hair plugs
• No one knew if they should say anything
• Mercifully, Boss Man addressed it head-on and off we went

(I later got some insight into Boss Man’s character when he literally flung a chair across the room after one of his staffers suggested removing table tents to save costs. It reminded me of when Costco founder, Jim Sinegal, told the current CEO 'If you raise the [price of the] f*cking hot dog, I will kill you.’)

Gotta respect when someone addresses the (sometimes very obvious) elephant in the room.

Which is what I want to talk to you about: you and I have an elephant to address.

Addressing Elephants

I see so many entrepreneurs, business owners, and founders creating businesses that bring them sorrow. Sure, they might make some money. It might even feel ‘okay’ most days. Every so often a win'll come along and rise the tide for a bit.

But underneath is a deep, abiding disconnect from how they spend most of their working time and what brings them true joy.

And, candidly, that’s what my content (and by extension, The Different Weekly) started becoming for me. Inevitably, this path leads to three unavoidable outcomes:

1. Burnout (you phone it in)
2. Breakdown (you can no longer phone it in)
3. Breakthrough (you stop phoning it in)

I'll spare you the details, but awhile back I started noticing in myself the signs of both burnout and breakdown. I’m in therapy and I have an amazing support system around me, so I was able to catch it early and pivot.

But out of that experience came a belief that you have the divine right to build a business you absolutely love and have fun while doing it and make an astronomical butt-load of money doing so.

For me, no matter how many times I tried to push it away, that includes my faith.

I can’t say it any more plain than that.

And that doesn’t mean trying to convert clients in some weird “street preacher” sort of way. It just means, as a former pastor, I need to have an outlet to creatively explore what God’s doing in my life. And my business is my canvas.

I took baby steps in April of 2023 by releasing my first faith-based business product, The Spirit-Led Business Plan. It’s been my most low-key launch to-date, but WOW!—it’s been a fun one. It definitely feels like I’m on the right track—and thanks to so many of you for buying it!

But that change also involves you because it involves this newsletter, The Different Weekly. So let’s talk about that…

Here’s What Won’t Change

The Different Weekly will still contain the content you’ve come to enjoy so much:

1. Marketing
2. Business-Building
3. Content Monetization

That won’t change. It’s been a true joy to connect with you each week around these topics. Your replies, encouragement, and support mean so much to me. I hope you know that. It’s also a sincere and true joy to get the success reports back from so many of you. Yes!

Here’s What’s Changing

I’ll be sprinkling in faith-based topics occasionally here on The Different Weekly. Usually once or twice a month. I’ve been doing this already. A fact some of you have noticed and warmly welcomed.

Specifically, I’ll be exploring how to unlock your full potential as a wealth generator, using your business as a vehicle to get there. Why? So you can co-create your business with God, bring your God-given visions to reality, and maximize your lasting impact and influence.

But I also want to acknowledge the “God stuff” is not necessarily what you signed up for.

Just because I have a worldview based in my Christian faith doesn’t mean you need to as well. That’s 100% understandable. And I don’t want to be presumptuous. So I want to give you an exit route, should you want it…

Here’s What You (Might) Need To Do

If you want to get both “editions” of The Different Weekly (the faith and business versions) you don’t need to do a blessed thing. No action needed. Proceed as planned. You’ll get every weekly edition. Nothing will change for you.

If you do not want to get the Faith Edition, all you need to do is click this link and it’ll automatically opt you out. (But you can always come back if you want to.)

If you opt-out of the Faith Edition, here’s what you need to know:

• First and foremost, I completely understand. Trust me, I get it. The last thing I want to do is shove content down your throat you don’t want. Absolutely zero judgement from me.
• There might be some weeks where you don’t see The Different Weekly in your inbox. These will likely be faith-based weeks and I want to honor your request.
• If you ever want to see the weeks you miss, you can always do so here: http://justinwise.net/blog

Everything I publish is publicly accessible. The main thing will just be what emails show up in your inbox. Cool?

Final Words

This is something I simply have to do. It’s a compulsion. A drive. An itch that needs to be scratched. I’ve kept it bottled up for far too long—and it’s time to let the (divine) genie out of the bottle. This is part of my personal breakthrough. I hope you’ll stick around for the ride. But I can understand if you don’t.

Either way, I believe you have a specific purpose. As Neil deGrasse Tyson once said, “You are alive against stupendous odds.” I believe it’s no accident you’re here. I hope you’ll stick around as we both figure it out together.

When you're ready, there are two main ways I can help you:

Spirit-Led Business Plan: Learn how to create a kick-ass faith-driven business (without sacrificing your soul or sounding like a weirdo).

Clients & Content: Discover how Ryan made his investment back in just two months + dropped his ad spend by 50 percent.