You've Won the Game. Now What?

So I made a decision that nobody in my circle understood: I stepped away for over a decade. I lived off my investments, real estate income from several different projects, crypto and occasional technology advisory work. But it was a far cry from full time. I went back to my life's first passion of international travel until I'd lived, worked and played in over 50 countries. I explored my creatitivity by pushing my boundaries into music, writing, podcasting, taking at least one mental reset sabbaticals where I would be completely disconnected for 2-3 weeks in order to explore some idea or project I was chasing. I journeyed deep into the jungles of Central and South America more multiple times on spiritual journeys that shifted my wordlview in drastic and powerful ways. Then for the last 8 years, we co-raised my daughter, traveled to another 25 countries with her up until she was 2, and created purely for the joy of it. This culminated in a 50-episode podcast (about 300,000 written, rewritten, and polished words) called Evolve Faster, speculative and philosophical fiction. No one paid me to do this, but those who listened told me changed their thinking. Then I did a TEDx talk by the same name, themed around how to free your mind and rewire your brain away from traditional modes of thinking and to mentally escape the traps society was setting for you. I played music in my jamband in Chicago dive bars. Sat in cafés in Buenos Aires writing ideas nobody would ever see. And slowly, something shifted. You can find links to all these projects on my personal website scottely.net. I made a commitment to myself that when I went back into business, it would be with different rules, evolved mindsets, radically efficient systems, and a worldview focused on helping others in need of change to unschackle from society as well. And I wouldn't forget the new systems I'd built to live a creative life—to create without needing external validation, to explore without always needing ROI justification, to build a life around joy instead of profit-only optimization. This is not to discount commercial pursuit, but instead to validate it by understanding why we should build and create things as humans in the first place.

So I'm inviting you to think through if you're ready for more. If you were attracted to this page, and are still here reading, you're starting to have one of two things happen-or both. One, you might have the feeling that the profit only model you've spent your life perfecting is not only losing it's luster, but it's also getting decidedly harder as we are plunged into a rapidly accelerating AI-driven economy. And two, you are feeling the pressure of AI closing in on you from all directions-including your family and personal life-and wondering what your life might look like in 5 or 10 years when the edge you spent your life honing is being dulled by an onslaught of nearly free genius level capability and intelligence. What will your life mean? How will you you spend your time? What will happen to your company? How are you supposed to guide your friends and family through this, knowing they will look to you for guidance? The visionary creators of the world need to know: There is a path forward beyond this transition, however hard it will be, and there will be a path forward to fulfill the desire to keep creating as only a human can. You can have both economic autonomy AND creative freedom. Business excellence AND life excellence. You don't have to choose. You just need the right system. And the right community to explore it with. If this message, and the manifesto I wrote about the coming post-work economy, resonates with you, then click below in the 'Join the Revolution' retreats to be notified when it becomes available.

AI doesn't replace you if you're the architect. The fear of AI is the fear of the operator—the person whose value comes from executing tasks. But if your identity is 'I design the systems that do the work,' AI is the greatest gift you've ever received. Machines handle operations. Humans handle creation. Let AI win at being a machine. You win at being human.

You operate in four economies simultaneously: Commerce (money, business, financial security), Creative (art, expression, making things), Impact (legacy, contribution, meaning), and Consciousness (growth, awareness, presence). Most people only optimize for one. The integrated life optimizes for all four. Build systems for commerce. Create art for expression. Contribute for legacy. Grow for consciousness.