Quiet Clarity is a 2x/week newsletter and podcast for people who want to build a life of presence, depth, and deliberate intention.
You ever notice how the whole money game feels backwards?
Trade your youth for money.
Trade that money for more money.
Trade all that money to buy back your time when you're old.
But you keep playing.
You keep grinding away your best years.
You keep telling yourself it'll be worth it.
You keep postponing life until "someday."
So what if you could have both the money AND the time right now?
Where It Showed Up in My Life
I was twelve years old, going door-to-door with my brother selling bracelets.
Seven hours. Three neighborhoods. Sore feet. We made $100.
We thought we were destined for Forbes 30 Under 30.
The reality? We made $14 an hour. Not bad for kids, but definitely not retirement money.
Years later, I was drowning in my business.
Every waking minute spent refreshing emails. Chasing contractors like a lost puppy. Glued to my phone like it owed me money.
I told myself I was building something. Really, I was just filling time.
Then the thought hit me like a punch:
If I had 10 days to live, would I spend them in my inbox?
The answer made me sick.
Because here's what I realized - I'd been so busy trading time for money that I'd forgotten what I was trading it for.
My parents were getting older. I barely knew their stories. I kept saying "one day" I'd spend real time with them.
But when exactly was "one day"? When I'm 65 and they're gone?
What if I'd been playing the wrong game entirely?
What the Wisdom Reveals
This brings me to an ancient parable from the Sufi tradition.
A merchant was traveling through the desert with his camel loaded with goods.
Each day, he'd push the camel harder. "Just one more mile," he'd say. "Then we'll rest."
But he never stopped.
The camel grew thinner. Its steps grew slower. Still, the merchant pushed.
"When we reach the city, I'll buy you the finest hay," he promised. "The sweetest water. A stable fit for a king."
One morning, the camel collapsed and died.
The merchant stood there with all his precious goods scattered in the sand. Useless. Worthless. Too heavy to carry alone.
He realized he'd been so focused on reaching the destination that he'd killed the very thing carrying him there.
The Sufis tell this story to illustrate a profound truth:
We are both the merchant and the camel.
The merchant is our ambition, always pushing for more. The camel is our life force - our youth, our relationships, our joy.
Most people work the camel to death, promising it rewards "someday." They reach their destination rich but alone. Or worse - they never reach it at all.
But the wise merchant understands something different.
He knows the journey IS the destination. He feeds the camel along the way. He rests when needed. He enjoys the desert sunsets.
Because what good is reaching the city if you arrive dead inside?
The Sufi master Rumi wrote: "Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray."
The merchant who follows what he loves doesn't need to whip the camel. The camel wants to go where he's going.
How I'm Trying to Live Now
What if I stopped whipping the camel and started feeding it?
That question changed everything.
First, I discovered leverage.
Remember those bracelets? If I'd hired another kid for $8/hour to sell them, I'd make $6/hour doing nothing. Less per hour, but infinite leverage on my time.
So I built systems for everything:
Accounting systems (no more checking invoices)
Fulfillment systems (account managers handle clients)
Marketing systems (team handles execution)
Every system freed up time. Time I could use for what mattered.
Then I asked myself: What would feed my camel?
The answer was immediate - really knowing my parents.
So I did something crazy. I started having deeper conversations with them.
Every week, we sit down and talk. Not surface stuff. Real conversations. Their dreams. Their fears. Their stories.
And we even record some. Each episode feels like gaining 1-2 years of relationship growth.
And my business? It's never been better.
Because I finally understood:
I don't need to work harder, I need systems
I don't need to sacrifice joy for money
I don't need to wait until "someday"
The camel thrives when you feed it along the journey.
You know that feeling when you realize you've been doing it all wrong?
When you see people half your age making twice your money.
When you notice they're also having more fun.
When you realize they're not working harder - they're working different.
When it clicks that the game has different rules than you thought.
Those aren't anomalies. They're people who figured out the secret:
Your time is the only real wealth. Everything else is just paper.
Maybe you've felt glimpses:
That afternoon you took off and felt alive again
That project you loved that also made bank
That moment you chose presence over productivity
That day you said no to money and yes to meaning
Those weren't mistakes. They were your camel telling you what it needs.
So try this:
Write down one thing you keep saying you'll do "when you have time."
Visit your parents? Start that passion project? Take that trip? Learn that skill?
Now ask yourself: "What would have to change for me to do this next week?"
Not someday. Next week.
Build one system. Delegate one task. Say no to one commitment.
Because the merchant who arrives at the city with a dead camel hasn't won.
He's just alone in the desert with stuff he can't carry.
