What if you could chase $10M in 10 years… but choosing not to made you feel like you’re wasting your potential? Adam and Stephen dig into the seductive promise (and hidden cost) of money-as-mission.

In this episode, we review Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich and wrestle with why it’s both motivating and unsettling. Hill’s framework—clear desire, specific plans, confidence over fear, and surrounding yourself with a “mastermind”—feels directionally right. But the book’s obsession with money as the primary aim creates a spiritual and emotional tension: if you believe extreme outcomes are possible, does choosing family, faith, and balance become a kind of “failure”?

Research agrees. Intrinsic goals (growth, relationships, contribution) lead to more life satisfaction than extrinsic goals (money/status/image).

Stick around to the end to hear Adam's (un)surprising trend and his plunge in to AI life coaches.

Takeaways

1. Clarity + effort works—but the target matters. A specific goal and a plan dramatically increase your odds… yet a money-only target can hollow out everything else you care about.
2. The dark edge of “potential.” Believing “I could do it if I sacrificed everything” can create shame when you wisely choose not to—especially when you’re juggling multiple meaningful goals.
3. Control the inside, not the outside. Life can derail you (Brendan’s story is referenced), but you still have leverage over your internal world—your thoughts, focus, and responses.

Chapters

• 00:00 Intro + why money keeps showing up for high achievers
• 02:00 Adam check-in: intensity easing, back to energizing work
• 03:20 Why Adam read Think and Grow Rich
• 05:00 The core tension: “I could chase extreme wealth… but I’m choosing not to”
• 06:40 What the book argues: desire, plan, confidence, environment, “mastermind”
• 09:50 Vision vs dollar goals: what real “titans” seemed to aim at
• 13:15 Potential, tradeoffs, and the discomfort of choosing one mission
• 16:00 Control, faith, and the inside vs outside world
• 18:30 What Hill gets right vs wrong + intrinsic vs extrinsic goals
• 20:45 Light wrap: next books + sci-fi / Project Hail Mary
• 22:25 Fun segment: zombie apocalypse hideout
• 23:45 Trend spotter: vibe coding + Adam builds Stephen’s paid reports app
• 29:00 Personal AI life coach: uploading data, philosophy “readout,” use cases
• 32:10 Closing reflection question: your vision for life