This Is the Rise of the Builder
Having the right tool matters.
Try to screw in a screw with a hammer—you’ll only make things worse.
Try to hammer a nail with a screwdriver—you’ll get nowhere.
Same with scale.
You can’t walk across the ocean. You need a ship or a plane.
But you also don’t fly a jet to the next town.
That’s where the car, the bike, or even your legs get the job done.
The lesson: tools have contexts.
The wrong tool isn’t just useless—it can sabotage you.
The right tool makes the job possible.
Use the right tool.
You’ve heard it a thousand times: knowledge is power.
Somewhat true.
Let’s be precise: relevant knowledge is potential power.
Because it’s not enough to know “something.” You have to know the right things for what you’re building.
Information on climbing the corporate ladder? Useless to an entrepreneur.
A book on parenting? Noise to someone childless.
A website about home gyms? Off mission to someone living in a studio apartment.
And even relevant knowledge isn’t enough if it just sits in your head. Knowledge is potential power until it’s applied.
So don’t just learn it. Get out into the world and use it.
Knowledge is power…but only if it’s relevant and applied.
It’s just a table and some chairs.
Wood. Metal. Screws. Maybe a few dents and scratches.
But the kitchen table is sacred ground.
It’s the gathering place.
The feeding place.
The teaching place.
It’s where food is shared and wisdom is passed down.
Where homework gets done and hard conversations get had.
Where laughter lives and lessons land.
It’s where you learn to listen.
Where you learn to understand.
Where you learn to guide instead of control.
The kitchen table is the heart of a home—a quiet stage where life happens in ordinary moments that turn out to be anything but ordinary.
One day, you’ll sit at that table and look back at it all: the good, the bad, the chaotic, the beautiful.
You’ll see the growth.
You’ll see the work.
You’ll see the man you became. And the people you helped shape.
Don’t take it for granted. Treat it like the sacred space it is.
Because a kitchen table doesn’t just hold plates.
It holds your story.
It holds your family’s story.
It holds the next generation’s story.
And you get to write it—one meal, one talk, one moment at a time.
You’re not supposed to be.
When you try to be everything to everyone, you water yourself down until you’re flavorless—just another option in an ocean of sameness.
That’s not selflessness. That’s self-betrayal.
You don’t need mass appeal. You need alignment. You don’t need everyone to clap. You need the right people to connect.
Because the truth is, you can’t build deeply if you’re spread thin trying to please everyone. You’ll lose your edge, your clarity, your mission.
Better to be the #1 in the eyes of a few than #20 in the eyes of many.
Stand tall. Be yourself. Speak your truth.
And let the ones who are just kind of “meh” show themselves the door.
When something goes wrong—or when things don’t go how you think they should—it’s easy to blow up.
Go scorched earth. Go nuclear. Come out guns blazing.
But this is usually a mistake. Going from 0 to 100 solves nothing.
Worse, it fractures relationships. It erodes trust. It burns bridges you may need later.
This doesn’t mean you can’t express how you feel. It doesn’t mean you stay silent. It means you use restraint.
Say what needs to be said.
But say it cool-headed. Calm. Controlled.
I’ve had situations where I let loose on people. Gave them everything that was on my mind.
It never really turned out how I hoped. There were always downstream consequences I hadn’t considered.
On the flip side, there were times I stepped back.
I cooled off. I thought it through. I approached it level-headed.
And wouldn’t you know it?
Those situations almost always turned out better. And more often than not…they went my way.
Something happens?
Pause. Breathe. Think.
Then respond from a place of calm control.
Master your reaction, or your reaction will master you.
Something is going to pop up this week that rubs you the wrong way. How will you handle it? Explosively? Or cool, calm, and collected? One destroys. One builds. Which will you choose?
This week is just about over. Next week is just about here. Let’s keep building.
Brick by brick.
-Brickwall
Earth Log Entry #9: Love Bites
Sonny had been awake for an hour. He sat at the kitchen table eating a protein bar and reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
Chad shuffled in, half-conscious.
“Good morning, Chad,” Sonny said cheerfully.
“Morning,” Chad croaked.
Chad started his coffee and grabbed the newspaper. “Ahh, Valentine’s Day. Just another day for us single people.”
Sonny stopped chewing. “Valentine’s Day?” he asked, tilting his head like a confused puppy.
Chad didn’t look up. “Yeah. Holiday where you celebrate love with your special person and blah blah blah. What are you and Firecracker doing?”
Sonny slowly set his book down. “A…love holiday?”
“Yeah. Happens every year.”
“EVERY year? And it is TODAY?”
“Yep.”
Sonny stood abruptly and began pacing. “My romantic standing on this planet may be in jeopardy.”
He sat back down and stared intensely at Chad. “What is the minimum acceptable tribute?”
Chad sipped his coffee. “Red roses. Chocolates. Stuffed animal. Dinner. Some people go bigger.”
Sonny leaned closer. “If I fail to perform adequately, will Firecracker withdraw her warmth?”
Chad flipped to the sports section. “…Potentially.”
Sonny grabbed a notepad and began writing furiously. “Ten dozen red roses. Five boxes of chocolates. Three giant teddy bears. Dinner at Earth’s finest restaurant.”
Chad glanced over. “That’s way too much, dude.”
Sonny didn’t blink. “Overdeliver. Establish dominance.”
“She might be freaked out.”
Sonny stood, staring into the distance. “It is a risk I am prepared to assume.”
He grabbed his Earth Log Device and began typing.
Humans create holidays for many variables, including love. I was blindsided. I have recalibrated. I will dominate. Concern: Spatial limitations within my vehicular transportation.
Someone asked me this the other day: “What’s your story?”
And I froze.
I should know my own story, right?
But I hadn’t actually thought about how to tell it.
Most of us don’t. We live it, but we don’t frame it.
We move with intention, never stopping to define what we stand for, what we’ve built, or what we’re building toward.
But here’s the truth—the man who can tell his story clearly can shape his future clearly.
Your story is your compass.
It’s how people understand you, follow you, trust you.
Craft it. Sharpen it. Be ready to tell it with conviction—short, precise, intriguing, and real.
An elevator pitch for your life.
Because you never know when the next door opens, or who’s standing behind it.
Yes, the gym is where the work gets done.
It’s where you track lifts. Chase progression. Build muscle with intention.
The gym is the forge.
But the forge is not the battlefield.
Musclebuilding was never meant to live under fluorescent lights alone.
If all your strength exists inside a building, it’s incomplete.
Inside the gym:
Outside the gym:
The gym builds the physique.
The world builds the man.
Not as punishment. As power. Sprints. Hills. Shorter distances. Move your body through space.
Test your stamina, grit, and explore new places.
Build lungs. Save joints. Clear your head.
Pull-ups in the sun feel different. No mirrors. Just gravity and grit.
Sprint. Wrestle. Chase. Be the strong dad, not the tired spectator.
Competition sharpens timing, coordination, aggression.
Carries on uneven ground. Swings in the grass. Presses under the sky. Strength feels different when it meets the elements.
The modern world is engineered for stillness.
Chairs. Screens. Climate control.
The Musclebuilder resists that.
He lifts…
…and he moves.
He doesn’t just look capable…
…he is.
Train in the gym.
Prove it in the world.