⭐️ Today’s Highlights: 

• Tale Of The Tape: One month off stats.

• 25 Life Reseting Questions Answered.

• I’m about to launch my first Vibe Coded Project. (At the bottom)

• Find out where your tax dollars are actually spent

• The most engaging form creation software I have ever seen.

(Total read time: 8 minutes)

THE APPETIZER

What started as one week spiraled into ONE MONTH. Ok.. I will be honest, it’s not like I was completely disconnected from the world for a month and yes, I did end up working throughout parts of the month but I did keep to my commitment of one whole week completely away.

Here is the tale of the tape and stats on my removal from the world experiment: 

• 72 hours of not opening my laptop. (New Record)

• 50 Surf Sessions Completed. (New Record)

• 8.5hrs = Avg. sleep per day. (New Record)

• 4hrs. = Avg. daily work hours. (Thanks to an incredible VA team)

However, what I missed the most was all of you and I am excited to share the big learnings I had while examining the questions I sent in the last edition. 

If you want a recap on the questions and prior edition you can get a quick refresh here! So without keeping you waiting any longer, as always:

 I hope you enjoy my sauce. 

(Man…It feels good to write that again) 

- Patrick Frank

PAT’S SNAPPLE CAP

• 🚀 I Launched A Course To Launch Your Business! (CHECK IT OUT)

• 🚨 COOL TOOL ALERT: PERSPECTIVE FORMS. The most engaging and customizable forms you will ever find.

• 📈 Top Post Of The Month: Everything ever for your business. (LINK)

• 🧐 Interesting Read: Ever wonder what YOUR tax dollars are spent on? Now you can find out! (LINK)

Obstacles (The darkness) become more daunting the more you stray away from your goals. (The light) They start to prevent action, the goal starts to look impossible not because it became harder to hit, but because you are spending more time worrying about what is in your way of acheiving it, than you are focused on the end result.

The fact of reality is that obstacles are always going to be in your way, the larger the goal, the larger the obstacles.

Know that, expect that, and worry less about them. Eyes on the prize people.

Don’t forget the goal. Forge a path forward. You got this.

Some Sauce For Thought

THE MAIN COURSE

🧠 Personal & Character Questions

1. If I could start from scratch, would I rebuild my life exactly the way it is today?
NO. BUT - This is not out of place of regret or wanting to change anything major. I think regret and wanting to change MAJOR parts of your past would ultimately lead to unkown changes in your current present. Rather, I would course correct on small mistakes that wouldn’t materially impact where I am or who I am today other than just being further along both professionally, and monetarily. Apply principles I know today and cleaner execution to have done even more than I have today but remain the same person.

2. Am I chasing my own dreams or someone else’s version of success?
This is something back in 2020-2022/23 I was guilty of. Playing start up founder, not pursuing the things that interested me, which led to burn out. Now most days are my version, but there are still areas where I feel as though I am being held back. (More on that in a bit) But TLDR - Those are the things I need to claw out of and starting eliminating in my life.

3. Which of my beliefs or opinions have I stopped questioning?
That I know a lot about a lot of things. Though I know enough to converse at a dinner table, I am re-engaging in universal curiosity and being more interested in challenging my beliefs than challenging others to a debate on theirs. The ladder never really ends up benefiting anyone.

4. What do I consistently avoid, and what uncomfortable truths might it reveal about me?
Deep rest. Because part of me still believes my value is tied to output. Avoiding rest = avoiding the discomfort of stillness. Though this is extremely unhealthy, I still cling to productivity as much as possible which negatively effects my personal relationships. Reframing to deep and blocked work is the new normal I need to adopt and prioritizing health is a major focus of mine in the coming years.

5. Am I living the advice I'd give to my best friend?
Considering he is an entrepreneur himself I would say yes. Though, there are many things he is doing that I have advised him on that I still am not doing such as video content, and really putting himself out there without fear from a content perspective. That is going to change no matter what in the coming weeks!

6. Have I confused being busy with being impactful?
More than I would like to admit. My calendar has since been cleared of 50% of meetings and I typically leave meetings early now unless I am fully required for participation. Since I have been traveling the notion going through my head has been: Is what I am doing RIGHT NOW worth that perfect surf session waiting for me? If it is, then I am productive as possible to ensure I can get out into the water. Makes the waves that much better.

7. What am I not doing that would bring me 2x the happiness without sacrificing career or wellbeing?
Going fully remote. The world is big, and I am not needed in person. I love traveling and immersing myself in new places, locations, and meeting new people. Flights back and forth suck, no doubt.. but a small price to pay for that additional freedom….

8. Am I surrounded by people that make me the best version of myself?
I’m becoming more ruthless about this. If you drain my energy or shrink my vision, I’m out. If you are interesting, and are great to be around…you’re in. It’s actually just that simple.

There is a catch though if I am being honest… I want to expand my circle with very accomplished individuals but until I am in that bracket earning time with them is difficult.

All I can do is continue to be fearless in putting myself in situations where I can be around those types of people and be more interested in them then trying to make myself sound interesting.

9. What are my largest blind spots? What am I doing to make them visible?
Moving quick leads to quick mistakes. I move faster than almost anyone I know but I make A LOT of mistakes in the process. They are not killer mistakes but sometimes enough of ones that lead to having to go back and course correct.

Being overconfident in my beliefs. I again, like to beleive I know a lot about a lot but learning to approach the world with a blank slate is the only way to learn more about a lot.

Not prioritizing my health. Even though I workout and eat healthy for the most part, it is not the whole package and I am starting to pay the price. I neglect recovery which needs to change. I cannot be 100% of myself if I am operating at 50% of my cognitive abilities.

💼 Professional & Career Questions

10. Is what I am working on, what I want to be doing?
I am 50% right now. I have been really down on myself because my main role is not where 100% of my passion is however I have been working to change my framing of this. Working on projects that are what I am interested in, and bucketing the shit I don’t want to be doing as the price I have to pay to work on the things that I want to be. It’s helped but still not 100%. This is the largest blocker in my life as I currently stand and something that I make excuses for all the time.

Realizing that there are always goign to be things you DON’T want to do is part of owning a business. However, it is the businesses that I own that are in question and something I am wrestling with the potential impact of if it were to change.

11. What is the one thing that would change everything, if decided to act on it?
See above. There’s a lot of safety in my life right now. Maybe I am craving safety for the first time in my life because so many other areas of it are so crazy. (House remodel, travel, personal life etc.) However, I realize that this is also an excuse. So this prompted me to start the cost benefit analysis of weighing the future decision of what it would take to make this change. I am not ready today but planning for the future I am hoping will prepare me for it.

12. If money wasn’t an issue, would I still build the same companies or pursue the same career?

No. Though I am an operator that thrives in the realm of scaling businesses, I have always blamed my ADHD makes it hard to remain focused on one thing. However, I have had a new realization in that perhaps the reason that is, is because I am not working on the ONE thing that would capture all of my passion and interest.

I have grown and scaled several businesses across several different industries, and started doing this for others as well. But the fact remains I have yet to find ONE thing that captures all of my interest entirely. This is something I have placed a new focus on finding and can only be done through the continual pursuit of new ideas and tackling new problems.
 

13. What is the real reason behind why I work so relentlessly: Is it passion, fear, or habit?
I think I have a passion for building interesting things, building things that help people but my primary motivator I have realized is fear of not accomplishing all that I could. The fear of dying and facing the potential me’s that could have been is my largest driver. Which as a result as turned into habit, which when all combined I would like to think is the equation for discipline.

However, there have been very unhealthy part of this habit that I am working on changing to form new diciplines that prioritize health, freedom, and a bit of balance without sacrificing the potential me’s of the future.

14. Who in my professional circle genuinely challenges me, and who simply agrees?
I am a bit of a bull when it comes to my circle. I am guiltily opinionated which I think has led to people being fearful of challenging my perspectives out of not wanting to deal with a friendly confrontation of ideas which has limited my ability to uncover blind spots and new ideas. Being more open to ideas, and less confrontational and outspoken is a repetitive theme in this journey it seems so it remains at the top of the list of focus areas.

15. If I had only one year left to build something meaningful, what would I choose to create?
I would actually write several books that I would leave my estate to pay for the publishing, marketing and distribution. I have written 3 and have so many more ideas that I just dont spend the time on. Something that will be changing going forward. My goal is to publish my first in 2026 and make the announcement before 2025 ends.

16. How much of my professional identity is tied to external validation?
More than I would like to admit but I also think that my largest challenger is myself and the mirror. My identity is more tied to how I think I am performing in comparison as to how I could be performing. Though the answer is 95% of the time…”Not Doing Enough” - My new approach to life is giving myself the grace to enjoy life along the way and know that productivity is not the only thing that needs to be chased.

🚀 Startups & Growth Questions

17. What widely accepted startup advice is actually hurting more founders than it helps?
“Learn to fail” I think you don’t need to fail more than you need to and that there is so much knowledge about the failures of others to learn from that you should focus on minimizing failure as much as possible and learn to win without slowing down.

18. Which current business trends or AI hype cycles am I blindly following without critical thought?
I think GPT everything is causing the loss of humanity. People are no longer needing to critically think about just about anything.

I think that jsut because there is the possibility to do something with ai there needs to be a question to block the action to say do we actually NEED to do this? Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD.
Honorable Mention: All content has gone to shit due to overuse of ai writing all content. Everyone sounds the same and it SUCKS. 

19. Is a personal brand more valuable than the company brand?
Short term: Company. Long term: Personal. Personal brands are the cheat code for asymmetric leverage for life. If you have a personal brand, you can build, distribute, and do just about anything. It follows you across all companies but is also that much harder to grow and retain. Reputation is now more important than ever.

20. If everything is leading to AI, what’s going to be left for humans?
The line between ai and humanity is closing everyday faster and faster. I think our judgement and taste and personalities end up being all that we are left with. Though ai is smarter than us, can critically think better than us, it still is not human. People like people more than machines. So in some theoretical and philsophical way…. all that really is left for us will be our humanity and I hope after this craze that people come back to wanting humanized touches to everythign rather than craving the eaze of using ai.

21. What everyday problems are not being solved, and can I build something to solve them?
Going down the same track as the previous question… I think a platform that would only allow human interactions is something that is NEEDED. If it is not an if it is a when….. And something that I am heavily considering building… Anyone interested?

22. What new habits or tools could meaningfully transform my productivity, but I’ve dismissed them prematurely?
Health: Going to bed earlier. Less caffeine. Less nicotine toothpicks.

Productivity: I have found my most productive hours are oddly 4am-9am and 12-3. Optimizing my schedule for those hours is also at the top of my list.

Time: Only showing up to meetings that matter and cancelling the ones that can be slack messages. Ez fix to the calendar to have more time in your day to do whatever you think is important.

23. Is it better to be consistently good or occasionally extraordinary?
Consistently good compounds. Occasionally extraordinary gets headlines. You want both—but build the base first. Be consistent in how you show up everyday to be ready for that moment that you can go extraordinary. It will come.

🔥 Final Question

24. Am I happy with my life and where it is headed today?
Yes. But that is a result of forward looking anticipation and preparation for the future. I can see the fire on the horizon, and I am doing everything I can to make sure I get there as fast, and has content with my life as possible but being sure that I have the health to enjoy it once I am there.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

If you actually read all of that, thank you to coming to my newsletter equivalent of a ted-talk. I hope that the questions and answers got you thinking, challenging, resonating in some kind of way. IF they did, drop me a message about which one was your favorite or the one that you are facing in your life and you are looking for a backboard on. I am here for it, here for all of you and excited for all that is headed our way!

-Pat

DOMAIN DADDY (SPECIAL EDITION)
 🚨 Domain Daddy: GETROASTED.ai 🚨

Twice a week I share a business idea and a domain associated with it to all my readers….Unlike the other domain daddy editions you have been used to, this time I am going to give you a preview of one that I kept for myself.

This domain daddy is something that I spent some fun time working on while I was away… and something that I am dedicating the next 2 EDITIONS of the Secret Sauce to because there was so much that I learned while doing it. 

Want to get the sneak peak?

If today's sauce sparked something inside you, check out Business In A Box. It’s everything I wish someone handed me when I first got started

Whatever you decide, keep moving forward, stay curious, and keep life interesting. You owe it to yourself.

That’s a wrap everyone. See you in 2 weeks, and as always. 

Hope You Enjoyed My Sauce. 

- Patrick Frank