Storyliving

Pursue truth. Have fun. Tell stories. Change the world.

It’s January, 2025, and I’m reflecting on my business and I’m not happy with the results.

I left the corporate world seven years ago because I wasn’t passionate about my work, I didn’t think I was contributing any real meaning to society. Most of all, I felt like I was a shell of myself for 40 hours a week, every single week. Begging for the weekends when I could unleash my true self.

I pursued entrepreneurship to go after my true desires and passion. Plus it gave me the opportunity to be more expressive, but soon enough I found myself in a niche, sacrificing the very freedom I sought in an effort to grow my business.

As I sat at my desk on that early winter morning with a candle lit and the sun hidden by clouds that promised snow, I thought to myself, “Man, if I could play tennis for six hours a day, I would just do that…”

I felt this tremendous shame come over me. I just completed my 4th year building my online business, every year working longer hours than I ever did in corporate because everyone says, “if you love what you do you never work a day in your life.” I reminded myself daily my work was changing the world. This is my purpose! It’s okay to work more. So I worked more. I grinded.

I’d send out one more email and post one more story. Then I’d rush off to tennis, 5 minutes behind, with my head buried in my phone responding to DMs as I step onto the court.

Despite all this extra work, I hit a plateau in my business for the third year straight. I thought to myself, “More work honestly doesn’t seem to be the thing that’s helping me grow. How do I know that playing more tennis isn’t the thing that contributes to me changing the world?

“If I’m truly happy and vibrating with joy and love while I play tennis, wouldn’t that ripple into everyone and everything else that I do?”

If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, it’s about time I try something different.

So I decided to make it an experiment. I would prioritize tennis and play every single day. I would finish my work at 4pm, get to the court early, warm up, and be fully present.

One week later, I am playing a match against this guy in his 60s. As we are warming up, I asked him what he does, and he says he owns a cabinetry business. He asked me what I do, and I mentioned social media. He responded with enthusiasm, “Oh, we gotta talk!”

My immediate thought was that I didn’t want to work with an old guy to grow his cabinetry business. One, because he probably has no clue how to even post an Instagram story and two, I work with coaches who have a deep desire to change the world.

As we approached the net to pick up our balls, he said to me, “Listen, I want to build the greatest tennis community in the world, and I think we can utilize social media to do it.”

I told him that sounds amazing, and I would definitely love to talk. A few weeks later, he paid me $3,000 to help him build a new Instagram page to “build the greatest tennis community in the world” for our city.

I had thought my clients would come from a DM on social media, booking a call because of a banger newsletter, or sign ups from my next launch that I promote on Instagram. But wtf do I know?! What do any of us know?!?!

In just one week, my new theory proved to be right. I just landed a 4-figure client while doing the thing that I love most about the thing that I love most!

The goals I’ve been chasing for so long, which I imagined would make me feel more joy, happiness, and love, seemed to allude me year after year. But as it turns out, when I prioritize the things that make me feel joy, happiness, and love, I no longer have to chase my goals, but my goals come chasing me—and they show up in the most unexpected ways.

I grew up in Connecticut where my high school graduation hinged on what college bumper sticker would go on the back of my mom’s BMW. Working on your career was the thing I was taught to idolize. It was the most important thing—sometimes it felt like it was the only thing that mattered.

What I would do for my career was my worth. Period.

It’s always, “do your homework, then you can play.”

Nobody clapped because it was easy for me to play sports all day. Nobody ever said, “wow Matt, I love how happy you are after playing whiffle ball in the back yard.”

Wouldn’t it be wild to live in a world where your parents said, “go play and then we’ll see if you have time for homework.”

Nobody ever considered that being happy would actually produce better work.

So I learned to find safety in the work. Any time I am anxious, I sooth myself by working more. And usually doing more work I don’t want to do. I became a slave to it.

Sure, I could take two days off… max! But a third day? I can feel knot in my stomach right now. You’ll find me pretending to poop in a bathroom stall just so I can I post an Instagram story promoting my newsletter. Like a junky sneaking off to take a hit. Once I got my hit, I could relax.

Just like a junky, it was never enough. I was always chasing the next high.

I had this unconscious belief that one day at the end of all this work I can put my pencil down and go on my endless playdate. Where every day I get to do exactly what my heart desires.

This is the Retirement Myth.

One day you won’t have to work anymore.

You’ve been sold it since you were a kid and it lives deep inside your bones in everything you do and you don’t even know you’re doing it.

Sacrificing and suffering because you unconsciously believe it’s what’s required of you to reach your oasis. But just like that mirage in the desert, the oasis never seems to get any closer. You’re dirty, sweaty, thirsty and exactly where you were last year.

So maybe you’ll be brave like me and choose something different.

It’s going to be hard because you unconscious doesn’t want to change. It really doesn’t trust that prioritizing fun, going after your true desires, is the safe thing to do. It wants to make logical decisions. It wants to get it’s homework done because when you do your homework you get an A. And you never got an A for playing foursquare at recess.

The myth is that there is no retirement. There is no oasis on the horizon. It is here now.

How do you know that relentlessly committing to experiencing more joy and love by prioritizing fun (which, by the way, is ALSO your work) isn’t the thing that will change the world and get you everything you ever wanted. Which, by the way, all you actually ever want is the external experience of joy and love.

If you continue to build your life with the same energy that got you here, you’ll find yourself feeling the exact same way no matter how many oasis’ you reach.

Like Einstein said, “Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.”

I’d like to help this junky off the street.

I’d like to help you feel safe prioritizing fun.

The Art of Storyliving opens doors tomorrow.

This 8 week program is designed to help you unapologetically pursue your true desires (which is the most fun you’ll ever have) and tell beautiful stories about your unique journey so you can change the world.

There are only 10 spots open, so if you’re serious about having fun, set your alarm for 9am PST and check your email for the details.

Love,

Matt

PS — he most definitely did not know how to post in IG story, but we had a lot of fun learning.