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Freedom Fighter Podcast

The True Meaning of the American Dream

September 23, 2025 • Ryan Miller and Tanner Sherman • Season 1 • Episode 56

0:00 | 39:53

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We’ve all been sold the same story: work hard, buy the house, get the cars, and then… coast. But what happens when you finally "arrive" and realize the dream wasn’t what you thought? In this raw conversation, we unpack the tension between the prosperity gospel, cultural expectations, and what it truly means to live with purpose—not just comfort.

✅ Why chasing material success often leads to emptiness
✅ How the "comfort crisis" sabotages long-term fulfillment
✅ The difference between biblical provision and modern entitlement
✅ Why your identity (not just your goals) determines your trajectory
✅ What Jesus would say about today’s version of the American Dream

This isn’t about rejecting success—it’s about redefining it. Are you chasing God’s calling or just a comfortable illusion?

"Jesus promised hardship with purpose, not ease with entitlements."

📌 Key Topics:
✅ The hidden cost of keeping up with the Joneses
✅ Why generational wealth often fails by the 3rd generation
✅ How to build resilience through life’s inevitable fires
✅ Trusting the process vs. trying to control outcomes
✅ The North Star question: What am I truly chasing?

One question to leave with: Does your daily grind align with your deepest purpose—or just society’s script?

Listen now and rethink what "winning" really means.

00:00 The Pursuit of the American Dream

03:12 Comfort vs. Fulfillment

05:56 The Shift in the American Dream

08:48 The Role of Faith and Hard Work

12:04 Cultural Changes and the American Dream

15:10 Generational Perspectives on Success

18:07 Materialism and Spirituality

21:12 Jesus and the American Dream

23:49 The Comfort Crisis

26:58 Defining True Comfort

29:52 Contentment vs. Comfort

32:47 Key Takeaways and Reflections

Ryan Miller (00:00)

So Tanner, stop me if you ever heard this story before. ⁓ Guy starts from nothing, buys a business, buys land, house up on the hill that he drives by every day, just looking at it, it's like someday this will be mine. ⁓ He just, you know, always dreams about this thing. Finally he gets it, he buys the truck, all the tools, the boat, the four-wheelers, he's got everything. He has a little bit of margin, go on vacations, and just kind of... ⁓

do what he wants, then he kind of steps back and he's like, this is it. This is the dream. And he kind of takes his foot off the pedal, ⁓ kind of quit doing things. you know, honestly, what he's built is good. It's great. But he starts pulling back and the dream kind of became the goal versus long-term ⁓ going. And he shifts.

he starts chasing comfort instead of chasing a dream or a goal. Does any of that kind of sound familiar? Yeah. I mean, I think that the initial goal for everyone is the material possessions and what they think that their fulfillment will come from those things and the stuff. And then when they have it, they realize that they're still not fulfilled and they start to prioritize.

other things, or they keep moving that goalpost. Yeah. I think two things kind of want to talk on on this is kind of comparing and contrasting the American dream and the prosperity gospel that we hear preached. I think a lot more these days, you know, back in the years gone by, was hell and damnation that they preach. And that's like thinking in God will provide it for you type thing. And it's kind of goes hand in hand with the American dream, like come to America and you can have whatever you want.

⁓ they're, different sources, but they're the same promise kind of thing. And so my, my argument is we've had this instilled in us from religion, from American culture, but then we get comfortable whenever we get there, wherever the goal is, wherever society sets the goal for us, the house on the hill, the white picket fence, two cars and 2.5 children and all, you know, all that stuff.

But then we get there and we had that comfort stage and we just stop. because that's what everybody else has done work hard to get there, but then stop. And I guess my concern is that.

culture in this prosperity gospel that and when I say prosperity gospel, I mean up to a certain point because no one wants to go beyond what everybody else has. We just wanna keep up with the Joneses. don't wanna surpass the Joneses. do you do those things? The American dream and the prosperity gospel kinda hinder us in some ways but also propel us in the beginning stages of life.

I think that...

the American dream has shifted significantly. especially when what is the American dream to you? Well, I think growing up, everyone, you know, taught the same thing was the owning the house with the white picket fence and the beautiful wife, you know, sitting on the porch, holding the pie and in a sundress with the two and a half kids, two cars. And, you know, that that was the American dream. And then

I think in the desire for life to get easier, we pursue all of these monetary benefits of having businesses, having real estate, you know, even if it's just going down the path of the W-2, go work the W-2 for 30 years and then hope that you can outlive your retirement funds. I think that it shifts a lot. And what I define comfort as

is the ability to travel whenever, wherever we want at, you know, a moment's notice. And that's being able to provide for my family without having to blink twice. You know, that is comfort. Now, granted, the white picket fence, all that stuff, I think of the nuclear family, the suburban life of, you know, which a lot of people aspire to, but...

I think that we've found along this journey that that is a stepping point, like having the house, having a beautiful wife that, you know, is at home cooking and the, I mean, two and a half kids turns into seven and having multiple vehicles and all that stuff. It's like that, that isn't the fulfillment. It's the life that we're able to provide. So I think we reached that at a certain point when I was an E4 in the, in the army. And then we got it and realized that that's not what we're searching for.

So the dream shifts and I know that's a little bit off topic on the comparison of the American dream to the prosperity gospel.

But I think that the first part that you talked about was how when you get there, you realize that it's not really what you're searching for. And maybe getting there is part of both of that, that just being able to achieve that is a form of the prosperity gospel, which I probably didn't know of it as I was...

Well, I say I'm pretty have some of the books around here, but thinking grow rich. I mean, obviously that's an older book. ⁓

But I would say that kind of goes into the mindset of what I would call a prosperity gospel. that's like, just think of it and God will provide it for you, which I don't necessarily subscribe to. I mean, we can go down a whole different rabbit hole with all that, but you know, I think it's clear. like, you put in the hard work, you know, using the parable of the talents, if you will, like you do the work and then these things will be added onto you.

you think it, and these things will be added on to you. think in that context, it's not a magic spell that you just think it and it pops up on a platter. But I think that's often how it's portrayed. Yeah, possibly. But I think it's more along the lines of we've had the conversation about the reticular activating system of whatever you set your heart and your mind to. I've been listening to a lot of Napoleon Hill lately, and he talks about this.

whatever you set your heart and your mind to and you pray for it with a burning passion of ⁓ desire, you'll find more opportunities for it. And we've talked about the red Camaro, the, whatever pink elephant, whatever you set your mind to, you'll find. Yeah. Whatever from matrix. Yeah. And so if you focus on it, then you're going to find more opportunities that affirm it. And so if you're focusing on the white picket fence, the, ⁓

nuclear family lifestyle, then you're going to make decisions that get you to that point. So I think that it's a lot more of being intentional and setting clear goals than it is just manifesting something to appear. I would agree with you. I just worry that societal wise, we are steering away from that. Like it's more of ⁓ a, if I think it then

I can have it by my own thoughts versus.

If I think it and I said a goal to it and I pray about it and it's my calling in life, then it'll happen. I don't know Napoleon Hill. Obviously he's been gone for a while, but I would argue that's more of his.

argument than what the way we take it in in society today like Matthew 6 33 seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will matter to you and I think we are We're seeking ourselves first and our own pleasures first and not God's will if you will hmm, so well, I think that goes into the deeper conversation of freedom of choice

And if everything's predetermined, then do we have the freedom of choice? And the way that I like to think about it is a lot more biblical is asked and it will be provided to you, right? And, and pulling Hill talks about the scripture specifically. If you ask your father for, I don't remember what it is. It's the mustard seed scripture. If you ask your

Ask your father for something, would he give you less? And it's like the same is true of the father. If you ask him for this, he's going to give you what you asked for. And so as long as what you're asking for is along his will. So, you know, if you say, I want a million dollars in my bank account tomorrow. It's like, well, would we go give our kids a thousand dollars and say, go crazy? Like, no, they'd kill themselves with it. So the same is true that he's just not, he's not going to provide you with something that you're going to get hurt.

So I think my prayers are more asking for opportunities to go make more money or to provide better for my family or whatever, but not for the actual dollar amounts. Yeah. I mean, it's probably mentioned before, but before the fall and Genesis, God told Adam to go out and work. are made to be workers.

And then later on he provided a helper. Women are the men's help, men's helper from my biblical understanding of things, if you will. But too often we just want the boat and we want the, you know, hot rod, know, 65 Corvette or, know, whatever this, you know, whatever it is, we just want all this stuff. We're just thinking it's owed to us. And I think this was where we get.

go down the rabbit hole of chasing material things. I guess one of the things I wrote down was it's a false promise. Do the right thing and you'll be blessed. But it's not necessarily true.

Just cause you do the right thing doesn't mean you'll get something. Like I got a book right there, good or God. Like he's saying like, you can be good, but it doesn't mean it's from God. Just cause you're doing good. It doesn't mean it's a Godly thing. ⁓ I think we conflate the two and make things harder on people, ⁓ mentally harder, like which leads to other issues.

Yeah, I think that when you're doing good, God will reveal himself in ways that you weren't expecting. if you seek him. Right. Exactly. But I think if you're, if you have your sights set on a predetermined endpoint and you expect that God is going to deliver exactly what I asked for, then that's not true. I mean, but if you are obedient and

I mean, I guess doing good in the world, God will review. mean, God's plan is so much bigger than we could have imagined. And so that predetermined endpoint might stop here, but what he actually has planned is over here. It's just a different path. And so I think being okay with that sometimes feels like we're going backwards, but it winds up being so much better than I had ever imagined. So. Yeah. So.

Previously, you said you feel like the American dream is changing. Do you think it's changing? So 250 years into this experiment, do you feel like it's obviously changes times change, but how far off course do you think it is from what the founders intended? I mean, I think there's a lot, a lot of factors at play. Like one of them, most people are just trying to survive. mean, the disruption of the nuclear family, think is

steered that a lot. The cultural shift away from Christianity, think, is a significant impact to that. I

I think that there's a lot of things at play that are, that are changing the American dream and America, the most diverse experiment in history. What does that mean to be an American dream? I mean, you look at every different ethnicity and every, every different culture that that American dream is very different, but it is all still the American dream. Yeah. I think it's interesting because I got two things, guess.

One, I read a statistic that within three generations of someone moving to America. So say you immigrated to America, three generations from you. Basically they're no better off than you are. Like your, your next generation is better. The next generation after that is better. But then after that, there's a fall off and basically starting back at ground zero because they're, they lost the will to fight.

When you come here, you're fighting for something as an immigrant. You try to leave better for the next generation. But at a certain point, before this, we were talking about something about new money versus old money. And it's kind of, once you have that old money, there's no reason to fight anymore. And then they squander it. They don't work as hard. And then the old money falls off. So that's one thing, I guess, as far as just an interesting take on. ⁓

American dream. Yeah, I don't think that's true of only immigrants too. I think there's many generations of people that. Well, we're all immigrants at one time. Of course. My wife and I make that joke because I mean, my wife can trace back her Hawaiian heritage. She can see that they were Hawaiian as far as you can see. I can see that we were some kind of European at some point. I don't know when, you know, when

we became American, but every generation that I've known and that I've had proximity to above me was American. And so I think the same is true about the ultra wealthy. I mean, we've we've talked before about the, ⁓ the crawl, walk, run, you know, of the generations and every generation is trying to make their kids

not have to live through the struggles that they did. And if, you know, I had hand-me-down clothes when I was a kid, then I'm going to work hard so that my kids have brand new clothes. then there's that part of the problem. Yeah, I think so. think it's a comfort crisis, which is also a good book. The comfort crisis is probably around here somewhere. But we're trying to make the next generation that much more comfortable. And my kids are going to have things that they didn't like about their childhood that they try and comfort. And

maybe three generations from now, we'll have one of the wealthiest families, you know, ever lived. And then the generation after that will be flat broke because of that comfort crisis. So, yeah. So you mentioned something earlier about, used to be a Christian nation. I found it interesting and I haven't done a terrible ⁓ amount of research on this, but when the founding father, so most of the original 13 colonies and the founders of these

colonies and, uh, Samaritan as a whole, were Christian, mostly Protestant. And so I think it was just a vote in the first 13 colonies. think nine out of 13, or maybe it was 10 out of 13, you had to be a Christian, just even vote. And then nine of those 13 specifically called out Protestant. like the Catholics couldn't vote, um, stuff like that. So it was like,

was really drawn down into religion and stuff. Anyhow, even the founding fathers that weren't Christian still use the Bible as a basis of morality, just their whole structure of government, most notably Deuteronomy and Deuteronomy chapter 28. I think it has 27, 28, something like that. it's basically, so...

Moses led him out of Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, wandered around, got lost for 40 years. And then he's getting ready to die and ⁓ God's given them how he wants those people live before he dies. And so that's what Deuteronomy is. It's the law, because they didn't have government. Their government was God and it was how to live and rules and stuff like that. And so that's what the founding fathers, like if you compare and contrast,

Deuteronomy specifically, like I said, it 27 or 28. It contrasts with what we have as a society. And so it's interesting that you mentioned that we're moving away from Christian nation and some of the issues. But when something is designed a specific way and you move away from that design, obviously you're going to have issues. Like if I'm trying to use a chainsaw to build a wall, like

That's not what is designed to cut down trees, not to build a wall. So there's going be issues there. this makes it kind of interesting. We're talking about comfort and kind of the, this is causing comfort. I would say that we, there's a fallout from, the comfort crisis that we are trying to create and it's burnout, disillusionment and.

just not being able to see because people only do so much for so long before they get tired of it for the most part. ⁓ I guess make it a broad question. Do you agree with that? That from the comfort is the discomfort that we complain about so much. ⁓

I mean, I think that when people set a goal and have to pivot and they feel like a failure because they didn't get what they wanted, I think it's because they're comparing the wrong thing. mean, if your goal is the material achievements and you're not fulfilled in the process, then it's just going to wind up biting you in the end. This goes back to why I say I don't like goals because

If don't hit a goal, then you feel down on yourself versus if you set something that's unattainable that you're striving for. Matthew McConaughey's speech that went viral years ago. Who's your hero person 10 years down the road. It's unattainable. That person's always growing. You can, you can never take time and bend it and meet that person. They're always 10 years ahead of you. Right. And that's how I feel goals should be. They should always be unattainable. They should always be 10 years in the future.

and constantly changing. Yeah, I mean, because they're always in the future. ⁓

throw this one for loop. What do think Jesus would say about the American dream?

I think that you'd be disappointed in the obsession with material possessions while not doing good in the world in the process. mean, anyone who's seen The Chosen, the personification of Jesus in that, think is unlike any other movie that's been made, movie or show.

I've seen an interview with the actor where they asked him this question, like, when you get to the pearly gates and you're standing in front of Jesus, what are you going to ask him? Have you seen that clip? No, but I can only imagine someone is playing Jesus for millions of people to watch. I'll never reckon that's got to be to think about. His answer was, how did I do? Was I close? And I got chills just thinking about that. Like imagine

standing at Jesus feet just saying, was I a good advocate for you? he has embodied, mean, I've heard stories too of who was at Christian Bale that did- Batman. What? No, no. Oh gosh. Who was the Jesus in the movie that was made in the nineties? Charles? I don't know. Anyways.

Take Commandments? No, no, was Passion of the Christ. Okay. ⁓

I don't remember, but he was struck by lightning and had all these things happen. Well, the actor in The Chosen, he had some of these instances too where things happen. just, oh, and the Passion of the Christ, he dislocated his shoulder when he was carrying the cross and had all these things. And just the way that they talk about it was like, if I can't deal with this minor discomfort, we're supposed to live like Jesus and they're trying to act.

as Jesus in the show and like.

Anyways, roundabout story, not part of the topic, but I think that the personification in the show and seeing him flip the tables in the synagogue or the temple and how frustrated he was with the humanity and how off track we've gotten, think that'd be the same way. I mean, tables would be flipped today. Oh gosh, everywhere. Yeah, I mean...

If we're supposed to take care of one another, but we're obsessing over me, me, me, me, I think it'd be extremely disappointed. so one thing I wrote in my notes is Jesus promised hardship with purpose, not ease with entitlements. And so I think there was nothing, he didn't come preaching like

do this and you'll have an easy life. Like he said, the rich young ruler, he's like, I've lived out all the rules. Like I've done everything. What else is there? He said, sell all your possessions and follow me. Like he didn't tell them like, Oh, you're going to live a life of easy street. Like he, he says life is going to be hard. You know, look, look at the suffering Paul, uh, had in this, you know, he wrote 13 books of the new Testament.

read the latter ones, you know, and he's like in prison, you know, suffering, know, whipped. He's been stranded. He's been shipwrecked. He's been beaten, you know, all this stuff, like nowhere does it say like life is going to be comfortable. Like, Hey, just go to work your 40 hours and go home and you're never going to have any discomfort. And I just feel like this is what is preached constantly.

I know being in business, like yesterday I had a day that I was just like, I was just two, three, four, five things. Like where a guy got arrested, he's in jail right now ⁓ with gutter that was messed up from buildings. So some water got in, had to dry that out. You know, just like all these like little things. so one thing's an issue. You get like five off from you, like start, you start wondering, but then the day I'm just like, it doesn't matter. Like tomorrow's a new day.

Like this is just the discomfort of running a business, you know, like I got a team though. They'll handle it. And I mean, I wasn't even, I was here, so we're doing my job. So, but too often we just want.

this business to be perfect. Day one, minute one, everything has to be perfect. And it's just not the case. Right. So, and that's, I feel like part of the fallout of the American dream, you know, just strive for perfection. Yeah. We've talked a lot of time about the choose your hard. I think what, what does that defining what that comfort is I think is

If you know where you want to get to, then you can better find a path to get there, which I'm not gonna call it a goal. It's a checkpoint. But if I define comfort as not having to worry about bills, not raising my lifestyle to match my income, you know, like we talk about the... ⁓

hamster wheel of the income creep, you know, where you make more money, spend more money, make more money, spend more money, then you're, just as broke as you were when you weren't working at all. I mean, I talked about this a lot recently with, ⁓ how people will live their whole life working to the bone until they're in their sixties, seventies and just sick because they beat their bodies up so much that they spend every, every dollar that they have saved just trying to survive. Like what's

you would have been better off just not working at all and saving all the money that you have. I think that if the goal is to live a long and healthy life with minimal stress, you should probably be making decisions that help you get there. But is that even possible? I think so. You do? Yeah, absolutely.

I would disagree from standpoint of I think.

Every time something pushes, it's like working out. So you can lift five pounds that stresses you out. Now come back next week. You can lift seven pounds. that seven pounds stressed you out. That five pounds easy now. So then you go, now you're up at eight pounds, 10 pounds. Soon later you lifted 200 pounds. That five pounds wasn't hard. It isn't hard anymore. It stressed you out at one time, but it's easy today. And I think that's what life is.

Like what stresses you today? I haven't, you mentioned it before, I forgot who it is, but like, you need to be able to take care of the $10,000 problem. So she can take care of the a thousand dollar problem. So you can take care of the million dollar problem. So you can take care of the $10 million problem. And that's the same thing in my opinion. Like if something small stresses you out, like I did a terrible job with my oldest.

Like she's like, I'm worried about this or this is stressful or this idea. I'm like, this is nothing. But to her, was to me, it was nothing because I'd already been through it. And so the more fires you've been through more hardened you become. And so that's why I don't think it's possible because you're just going to think whatever you're facing is the struggle, even though it'd be easy for somebody else.

Yeah. And I think what I'm getting at is more of if there's going to be a Jones's in every neighborhood. And if you start with a $300,000 house to keep up with that set of Jones's and you start making some more money because you've been really busting butt and you move into the $500,000 house, there's a new set of Jones's to keep up with. And they bought a new Audi. Now you got to go buy a new Audi. And then you move up into- financial contentment.

Exactly. Versus being comfortable with where you're at versus having to chase that hamster wheel. And that's the income creep is you make 200,000, you spend 200,000, you make a million, you spend a million. The stress, amount of stress I think is the same at every level. Yes, you keep growing and you find your capacity to handle more zeros in your bank account and more, you know, whatever.

But if you, if you realize that you're just constantly on that hamster wheel, the hamster wheel just gets bigger than what is really the point. Yeah. It's kind of, I'll tell the story real quick. So yesterday I had a meeting with business, ⁓ coach the day prior. So is a car $750,000 for or something that parked at his office. Someone wrecked into it, like hit and run in this parking lot.

at his office, basically totaled his $750,000 car. And he just kept on going about his day. He just told his, you know, call a tow truck, get a towed in, blah, blah, blah. I'll get my other car. They brought his other car to him or whatever, but he stayed at work. He like, you know, stacks a schedule pretty, pretty good. He just kept going about his day and I'm like, someone later on was like, how do you do that? Well, it's just.

over 30 years of business or ever long he's been in business. Like he's just been stacking and he's changing his mindset and been through lots of fires. And I know I wouldn't have been able to, I'd have been in a parking lot crying, you know, personally, but that's, but what you just said about your oldest is that what she was stressing about was not an issue because you've been through it before and it's something small, right?

but it's small relative to what she's been through, what she's been through. Right. And that's why at 16 large compared to what she's been to, right. 16, 17, every problem that you come across is the end of the world because it's a significant percentage of your discomfort. As you go through more discomfort, you can handle more of that stuff. And he's been through, and in that example, enough discomfort to realize that stressing about it is not going to solve the problem. So I mean,

But he's also, that $750,000 car makes up a small percentage of his net worth and a small percentage of his wealth. So if we look at it on a comparison basis, we've talked about this before. I remember growing up, the analogy was that if Bill Gates stepped over a hundred dollar bill, it wouldn't be worth his time to bend down and pick it up. And hearing the numbers now that we talked about this in previous episode.

that feeling you get when you find a $20 bill in a pair of jeans that went through the wash or something like that and you get excited. For Elon Musk to have that same excitement, he would have to find like $13 million in his pocket. that's the truth of the problem is someone just wrecked his $750,000 car, but that'd be the equivalent of someone running into our $22 bicycle. Like if someone ran over my bicycle, I'd be like, that's fine. I'll get him another bicycle.

So that's how he's thinking about relative to what he's got going on. So, but what he's not doing is having a negative net worth going out and leveraging everything he can to go and buy that $750,000 car. And then when it even gets a speck of dust on it, he's freaking out because the value of it's gone. That's the stress that I'm talking about is when you're living beyond your means, then there's no difference of being a millionaire and spending 1.1 million, you know, every year.

versus having a net worth of zero and just not working in fishing every day and enjoying life. Yeah. I think everything you just said is. Or most of what you just said kind of goes into the last things I wrote was you're calling being content. We talked about that a little while ago and having trust over control. So trusting that if I do the right thing, if I put, if I see God first,

If I, um, just trust the process that, I have a team. These things are going, Hey, why are in my business today? So one wrecked them on my three quarter of a million dollar car, whatever it is. Trust the process, trust the people around you, trust your team and everything will be added to you. Do the right thing. Trust your team and let go of control. And I think that's more of the insert versus.

⁓

sitting there and, uh, manifesting all day. Like, uh, Alex Ramose jokes around like my morning routine is I wake up, I brush my teeth and I get to work. You know, like he doesn't have this long drawn out 10 minutes after he gets wakes up. He's working, working. Yeah. And this Napoleon Hill speech, one of the things, and I've been listening to it every day. It's a 45 minute one. Yeah. 45 minute one. And one of things he says,

is and this is what 1910 I think was when kind of the ballpark that he was most active. So in 1910 he said this and I think it still rings true today. says, ⁓ when you wake up, let your first thought be a determination of conquering the day. Basically. It's like, don't, if the first thing that you do in the morning is touch a machine, then you've already let that machine control your day.

And so his whole, the whole premise of the speech was about deciding what kind of day you're going to have and the type of person that you're going to be. And the more I read into psychologists, you know, there's

when they speak about identity. Identity is not how you see yourself, it's the daily habits that you do to become the type of person that is X. And we talked before about the biggest identity shift for me coming from the military to being in real estate was getting business cards that say investor on it. And it wasn't just that I had something that gave me validation that said I'm an investor.

It's that I started to behave in a way that an investor does. And I think that's the shift is changing your habits to become the type of person. And if my goals are this comfort and fulfillment and peace, then I needed to do daily things that get me there, which is like you said, chasing that person in 10 years and me in 10 years.

needs to be someone who is happy with their life and comfortable where they're at, whatever size bank account I have at that time. And if I can't do that now, then I'm just chasing dollar signs and you'll lose everything else in the process. I'd push back on the comfortable change that's a content with content. I just think it's, we use the word comfort a lot, but you know, and I don't know if it's the, my family is mad at me cause they use words and I,

correct him. need to go to the store and do this. I'm like, you don't need to like you never go to the store. Like it doesn't matter anyhow. Napoleon Hill was active in the thirties. So 37 was thinking grow rich. Hmm. So looked it up while you're talking. One of the nice things about having an iPad. So, uh, so I guess kind of just wrap it up. What are some of the key takeaways that you, you know, if you summarize all this into, uh,

And I'll back this up. So this is a topic I picked. I didn't even know how it came up, but it was from a sermon on Sunday that I were at church. It was local. It wasn't on TV, but something the preacher said that I wrote this note down and kind of what unpacked kind of wanted to unpack it from there. But, uh, anyhow, what you say about this kind of key takeaways, if you are.

Yeah, I think we haven't used the word North Star yet this episode. I think defining your North Star and what's important to you, if what's important to you is the biggest net worth that you can possibly attain, I mean, be clear about that. No judgment here, but if that's not the goal and the goal is a happy life, happy wife, happy kids, and long healthy life.

then the pursuit of the monetary gain can't contradict the health and the happiness of your family. And so I think that if your American dream is defined as that happy life, then make decisions that serve that goal and continue pursuing that. Like you said about me in 10 years, find who that you in 10 years is and keep working on becoming that person.

Not just chasing a dollar in a bank account. Yup. And on that, so kind of goes hand in hand with what I wrote as far as closing question. Am I chasing God's calling or just a comfortable version of the American dream? So guys, it's interesting concept. Like what are you truly chasing? Yeah, I think that's a question that people need to ask themselves regularly.

What am I chasing?

Anything else before we end? Yeah, keep fighting the fight.