Smart Peeps Stall.
Movers & Shakers?
They’re Building Empires.
Your brain ain’t the bottleneck—
It’s your action-fakin’ that’s breakin’ ya.
The Garden Doesn’t Wait
We’ve all met Evian.
Maybe not by name—but we’ve been him.
Sharp mind, big plans, bigger dreams.
The type who consumes wisdom like it's fuel.
But despite all that input… not much changes.
He’s not lazy.
He’s not unmotivated.
He’s just stuck in the most seductive stall tactic there is...
“I need to get ready first.”
And who could blame him? Getting ready feels like motion.
👉You fill notebooks with strategy.
👉You highlight passages like they’ll tattoo themselves onto your behavior.
👉You stack up podcasts like bricks to build your future self.
But here’s the truth I’ve come to learn:
REAL growth doesn’t wait.
It doesn’t care how ready you feel.
It only rewards the ones in motion.
That’s why the third door—The Garden—is EVERYTHING!
I'll say again...
"THAT'S WHY THE THIRD DOOR... THE GARDEN... IS EVERYTHING"
And why so many never make it there.
But YOU will, 'cause you're reading this!
List of Steps To Recap'
Door 1
🟦 Door One: The Library
Evian started where most of us do: knowledge.
Books. Courses. TED Talks. Idea after idea. Motivation by the truckload.
And to be fair, it works—at first.
🔥His brain lights up.
🔥He gets high on potential.
🔥He feels like he’s becoming someone.
Until he realizes he isn’t.
Because knowing the words doesn’t make you live the story.
Eventually, the Library whispers the truth:
“This was meant to spark something. Not be the thing.”
And that’s when the second door reveals itself.
Door 2
🟨 Door Two: The Mirrors
This room is quieter. Heavier. No noise, just reflection.
Here, Evian is forced to look at himself.
Not who he says he is. Who he’s actually BEING.
Every time he quotes a principle, the mirror flashes a moment he violated it.
Every time he nods at a truth, the reflection answers back:“Then why aren’t you living this?”
It’s uncomfortable. But it’s clarifying.
💥This is where awareness sharpens.
💥Where concepts become confessions.
💥Where he realizes the gap isn’t in knowledge—it’s in integration.
And just when he starts thinking awareness is enough…
The mirror cracks open.
A voice says...
“Seeing yourself clearly isn’t the same as becoming someone new.”
So he walks through one more door.
Door 3
🟩 Door Three: The Garden
No applause. No inspiration. No “aha” moments here.
Just soil, tools, and time. (your most precious resource)
This is where Evian starts to do.
Theories become actions.
Reflections become decisions.
Habits begin to take root, not because they’re optimized—but because they’re embodied.
He messes up.
Often.
But motion creates momentum.
Every step forward brings him feedback no book ever did.
Every mistake is a lesson he can actually use.
Because The Garden is the fastest classroom you’ll ever enter.
Dr. Price Pritchett said it best:
“Fast growth calls for a more freewheeling approach. You must operate on the basis of learning as you go, not before you go.”
Evian starts to get it now.
Planning wasn’t progress—it was procrastination dressed in productivity’s clothes.
He was so busy trying to figure out the perfect way that he forgot the only real way forward was action.
The Garden doesn’t ask you to be certain.
It asks you to plant anyway.
The routines are boring. The effort is unsexy. The failures are public. But the growth?
It’s real.
No more quotes. No more prepping. Just roots, systems, and choices that stack.
That’s where Evian finally learns the big lesson:
You don’t grow by getting ready. You grow by getting going.
So let me ask you…
👉How many more books will you highlight before you plant something?
👉How many mirrors will you polish before you pick up a tool?
Because at some point, the only thing left to do… is do.
No more rehearsing. No more prepping. Just motion.
Let’s build Gardens.
Not more PDFs. Not prettier plans.
Gardens.
Where people don’t just understand ideas.
They live them.
Breathe them.
Become them.
And if you’re ready—grab a shovel.
We’ve got work to do. 😁👍
PS: Fire. Aim. Ready.
That’s how kids learn.
That’s how builders move.
That’s how empires get made while the smart ones are still "getting ready."
Stop waiting for perfect.
You ever notice this?
You know what to do.
You’ve read the book.
Heard the podcast.
Even nodded along at the event like,
“Yeah, that’s the move.”
But then…
You don’t do it.
Not really.
Not fully.
So the question isn’t what you know.
It’s what stops you from doing what you know?
Where does your momentum stall? What’s the unspoken cost of crossing that line?
I’m not asking to be clever.
I’m asking because the answer is usually buried under a belief that used to protect you.
But now?
Might be time to trade it in.
"You Can't Read The Label From INSIDE The Jar"
“This really got me thinking. The whole progression from the Library to the Garden is such a powerful way to frame the journey from learning to doing. I’ve definitely caught myself stuck in the ‘Mirrors’ phase—planning, tweaking, and second-guessing without actually building. I’ve been guilty of hiding in the comfort of research and prep, thinking I was making moves.
Ricky, I hear you—and you’re not alone.
The Mirrors can seduce you.
Feels like progress, feels like safety…
But it’s a clever disguise.
Reflection without movement turns into a hall of mirrors real quick.
What helped me?
Realizing the Garden doesn’t ask for perfection, just presence.
Messy steps count.
Half-baked counts.
Even planting the wrong seed teaches you more than planning the perfect harvest.
I appreciate you sharing this, my friend.
Seriously,
It’s in the honest admission that the real shift starts.
You’re closer to the gate than you think.
In your corner
Dedo (Chief MEME Officer)
Building an empire is thrilling—and layered.
Here are a few key questions I’ve been wrestling with:
What does “empire” mean today? A brand, a movement, cultural impact?
Where should one start—mindset, money, or mastery?
How do you scale without losing soul or burning out?
Is failure essential—or can it be outmaneuvered with foresight?
How do you stay anchored to purpose as you grow?
Today’s empires aren’t just physical—they’re digital, conceptual, built from content, culture, or community. Vision and consistency drive them, but so does adaptability.
From my experience, growth comes from systems, not hustle alone. A clear value prop and a human touch keep things real. Empires fall when they lose that.
In a world of noise, your voice—authentic, intentional, and value-driven—is your edge.
Curious how this lines up with your take. What’s your version of empire-building look like?
AJ, this distilled the journey beautifully.
You nailed it—today’s empires aren’t castles or campuses… they’re “conviction” layered into code, content, and community.
What once needed armies now needs alignment.
The thing that stood out most?
That balance between building with scale and soul.
Too many people forget…
…systems scale reach, but meaning scales resonance.
I’ve found my version of empire-building isn’t about domination—it’s about revival.
Unearthing dormant assets, reactivating potential, and re-aligning offers to identity.
It’s less “growth hack” and more “craft meets current.”
And failure?
Can’t skip it.
But you can design for faster feedback.
That’s the key.
Forward motion, not perfection.
Let’s keep this thread going.
Loved your framing.
What’s one empire you’re quietly building that nobody sees yet?
In your corner
Dedo (Chief MEME Officer)
This post hits. Every word felt like a mirror, then a shove, then a call to dig in.
The “smart stall” is real—we’ve all been Evian.
Consuming info feels productive, but it’s the most elegant form of delay.
The breakdown of the 3 doors is brilliant:
The Library—where you spark.
The Mirrors—where you confront.
The Garden—where you build.
No applause, no permission—just messy, beautiful, real motion. It’s where growth stops being aesthetic and starts being earned.
“Planning wasn’t progress—it was procrastination dressed in productivity’s clothes.” Whew. That line alone deserves a standing ovation.
So yeah, enough prepping.
Time to get dirt under the nails.
I’m grabbing a shovel.
You?
Let’s stop curating knowledge and start cultivating action.
See you in The Garden.
Ohhh this comment is rich, Andrejs!
You didn’t just read the post…
…you walked into it and came out with dirt on your boots.
Respecto amondo!
The way you distilled it—spark, confront, build—that’s it.
That’s the arc.
And yeah, the “smart stall”… it’s seductive, right?
Feels like movement, but it’s all mirrors unless you plant something real.
You caught the heartbeat of the message…
No more perfectly color-coded Notion dashboards.
No more buying another course to delay the first uncomfortable step.
Just motion.
Just proof of life through messy reps.
And YES…
I’m already in The Garden.
Calloused hands, sunburnt neck, composted perfectionism.
Let’s grow something that doesn’t need applause to matter.
In your corner
Dedo (Chief MEME Officer)
Whew, this hit hard in the best way.
I’ve definitely had my “Evian” moments—highlighting like a champ, organizing my Notion dashboard like it’s a startup, but still stuck at the starting line.
The Garden analogy is raw, honest, and exactly what I needed to hear.
Motion over motivation, right?
I’m curious, though…
what’s something small you did in your own Garden that made a big shift over time?
Like one unsexy but powerful move that got real momentum going?
Sometimes it’s the tiniest action that cracks the whole “getting ready” spell. Ready to grab my shovel—let’s go!
Christine!
Okay, this comment gave me life.
Thank you.
You nailed it with “Evian moments.”
I’ve had entire weeks that were peak productivity cosplay,
highlighting,
optimizing,
fine-tuning dashboards,
and yet…
The real seeds were still sitting in my pocket.
For me, the tiny-but-mighty shift was this…
I stopped trying to “start the empire.”
…and just started responding to one REAL person at a time.
That was my first dig in the dirt.
One DM.
One comment.
One reply.
It felt small, almost silly… but it built roots.
Real ones.
That’s when things began to move, not because I had the perfect plan, but because the garden got interactive.
It’s humbling how momentum hides in the ordinary.
So yes, Christine…
Grab that shovel.
You already sound like you’ve got both the spark and the soil.
Let’s build it from the dirt up.
In your corner
Dedo (Chief MEME Officer)