The past two and a half years that I’ve been carving my way through this ridiculous, wondrous online world has been nothing short of enlightening in many ways.

It hasn’t been merely a journey of building a business.

In fact, the business I’ve built has been a secondary effect of where my focus has truly been placed—which has been on my mindset, beliefs, and way of being.

The result?

The exact lifestyle I’d catch myself daydreaming of five years ago.

Below you’ll find 13 principles I wish I’d known about about from day one.                                                                                                                                               
These principles are not ordered in the sequence that I learned of and internalized…but in the order that I wish I had learned them, and in the order that I suggest you read, study, and apply for yourself.

What follows is part of a larger project I’m working on and involves deeper expansion on each point. For the time being consider this a first glance of what’s to come. The quotes beneath each principle are hints at the direction of each section.

Also, I quote myself on a few occasions. Because it’s my email list, and nobody can tell me otherwise.

And awaaaay we goooo…

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1. DEATH IS NOTHING AND DEATH IS EVERYTHING

“We’re all going to die, no matter what we do. So why not have some fun in the process?”

– Me


2. A LITTLE SELF-DELUSION GOES A LONG WAY

“I harbour just enough self-delusion to believe that I can achieve my missions.”

– Me


3. THERE ARE NO RULES

“There is no spoon.”

– Spoon Boy, The Matrix


4. YOU HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE

“You will not control your magic if you will not control yourself.”

– Balthazar Blake, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice


5. AMOR FATI

“I don’t love my past. I love the control that I have in the present, and my ability to shape the future.”

– Alicia


6. DEFINE AND ISOLATE YOUR MISSION(S)

“The decision to achieve a mission—and then working towards it each day—will set forces in motion that will change your life, and the lives of those who love you and rule over.”

– Ben Settle


7. BECOME A STORYTELLER

“Stories are what motivate people to live, innovate, and act.”

– Alexander Juan Antonio Cortes


8. ALIGN YOUR THOUGHTS, ACTIONS, AND DECISIONS WITH YOUR MISSIONS

“The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts.”

– Marcus Aurelius


9. ON THE DAILY

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

– Epictetus


10. STAND TALL

“Sometimes the best thing
You can do for yourself is
Create useful stress”

– Mark Manson, a haiku written for me


11. REDEFINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH MONEY

“For the wise man does not consider himself unworthy of any gifts from Fortune’s hands: he does not love wealth but he would rather have it; he does not admit into his heart but into his home; and what wealth is his he does not reject but keeps, wishing it to supply greater scope for him to practice his virtue.”

– Seneca


12. ASK PEOPLE WHAT THEY NEED, NOT WHAT THEY WANT

“A child deprived of love has no love.”

– Alicia & I

13. LOVE IS ALL WE NEED

“LOVE
OVER
RULES”

– A piece of street art in San Francisco

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These principles are not the end all be all for building the life you want, and they certainly aren’t the only way to go about it.

But, they’ve worked *quite* well for me, and now you have the benefit of not needing to take years to put all the pieces together of your own accord.

They’re laid out right here.

For more stories and lessons on constructing your ideal life, click the link below to add your name to the Coffee Cartel pre-sale list:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdCIs6JdXg

(Note: clicking the link above will automatically add your name to the Coffee Cartel pre-sale list, take you to a clip from Rick & Morty, the greatest animated show of all time, and allow you to gain access to the Coffee Cartel launch special 24 hours before anyone else on this list or my social media channels does)

_A. Mullan