Author Archives: Eric

Lord, my heart aches. It feels like something has torn loose inside me, and I don’t know how to hold it together. I miss what was. I feel the absence and pain.

You say You’re close to the brokenhearted. Please be close to me now. Sit with me in this ache. Let me feel Your presence even when nothing else feels steady.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
— Psalm 34:18

Bind up the pieces of my heart. Remind me that I’m not alone. That even though someone let me go, You never have. You are the One who walks through all of it with me. You say I won’t be consumed. Help me believe that when the days and nights feel heavy.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
— Psalm 147:3

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… you will not be burned… the flames will not set you ablaze.”
— Isaiah 43:2

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.”
— Lamentations 3:22

Teach me how to cast my sadness on You. Help me not carry all of this alone.

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
— 1 Peter 5:7

Give me enough peace to make it through today, and enough hope to believe that tomorrow won’t feel like this.

“Do not be anxious… the peace of God… will guard your hearts and your minds.”
— Philippians 4:6–7

You wept once. You know this pain.

“Jesus wept.”
— John 11:35

So help me heal and gently be restored.

I trust You, even if it’s just a flicker of light in the darkness.

My heart is open to You.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
— Jeremiah 29:13

Amen.

The goal is simple: create four streams of income that work together to sustain life, build consistency, and expand opportunity.

Stream 1: The Day Job
The first source is the most important: the day job. This is the engine that keeps life running.

It pays the bills, buys the kids’ school clothes, and covers Saturday breakfasts at Crow’s Nest. The purpose of the day job is to ensure no other income is necessary. If budgeted properly, it can cover everything on its own. It doesn’t have to cover much else. The day job isn’t paying for the vacation to Florida.

Everything above and beyond this stream goes toward savings and retirement, quality of life, personal goals, dreams, and the advancement of love and loved ones.

My current status on this income stream – CHECK

Stream 2: $100 a Month
The second stream is the easiest to start — though not effortless. Nothing worthwhile is “easy,” but this one is accessible.

The aim: earn $100 a month. Consistently.

Consistency is the key. Anyone can do this once or twice, but locking it in every month is the real win.

This can be done through Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Poshmark, Whatnot, Etsy, or any auction platform. The question is simple: can you sell enough items each month to earn $100? Absolutely.

My current status on this income stream – PENDING (*Transactions were successfully made. Now waiting for the money to arrive for month one, rinse and repeat)

Stream 3: $100 a Week
The third stream builds weekly momentum: earn $100 a week.

Don’t think of it as $400 a month. Think of it as weekly cash flow. Money arriving like a steady heartbeat. This money pays debt if you have it.

Right now, I have a side job that meets this requirement. It earns more than $100 a week, but the principle remains the same: a reliable weekly minimum. This takes about four hours a week. If I put in more time — say, 10 hours — that brings in closer to $250 a week.

The best approach here is to work for another person or business. Be genuinely useful. These jobs aren’t always glamorous, but they pay, and depending on the season, may pay a handsome chunk. Remember, all you need is $100 a week.

My current status on this income stream – CHECK

Stream 4: $100 a Day
The fourth stream is the most ambitious and the most exciting: earn $100 a day.

This usually requires building something of your own. In the beginning, the hours will be irregular, and the pay nonexistent because you’re setting up the foundation.

An example is YouTube or X.com. It might take a year of posting videos or writing short posts before earning a single dollar. But with time, consistent publishing, audience growth, and proper setup, the work compounds. Eventually, daily income becomes possible and scalable.

My current status on this income stream – NOT YET (*working on it)

Building Layers, Not Leaps
The beauty of this approach is its layered design. Each stream builds on the one before it.

The day job covers the essentials.

The $100/month stream builds consistency.

The $100/week stream builds momentum.

The $100/day stream builds scalability and freedom.

None of these streams need to be perfect at first. Just build one at a time. With a long enough trajectory, with enough persistence, you can create stability, opportunity, and a richer quality of life.

This is my current goal.

The simplest way to build self confidence is to be a person who keeps their word. Not to others but to yourself.

Do what you say you’re going to do for you.

Even if it’s as small as telling yourself, “I’m going to the gym today.”

Go!

Every time you follow through, you teach yourself that your word means something.

By keeping the promises you make to yourself, by being a man of his word to yourself, you build un-shakability.

It cuts the other way, too, because once keeping your word to yourself becomes a top value, you begin to be more selective with your words.

If the gym or the place you exercise is the hardest part of your day, your life is not hard.

That place could be your living room.
It could be the track.
It could be your neighbor’s garage with the bench and squat rack.
It could be a trail run with your dog.

The options are endless.

Exercise is not suffering. It is nothing compared to what is actually hard.

You have music if you want it.
You probably have air conditioning, and if you do not, good. You are supposed to sweat.
You have aisles of supplements to choose from.
You have time to train, even if it is at five in the morning.
If you have no money, it is still free.

That is not hardship. It’s a privilege to exercise.
It is also your responsibility.

And the payoff? Better quality of life

If you do not have a regimen, message me. I have one for you.

A lot of people in the sports world debate about, “Who’s the GOAT? Was it Jordan or LeBron?” (Easily Jordan, okay!!!) People go back and forth. They dig up stats, highlights, rings, moments, etc.

Today, I’m doing something similar but with characters from the Bible, and really, it’s just me trying to make connections and practice my craft while showing my appreciation for the Good Book.

So, let me start with a “Who’s the GOAT?”-type of comparison.

Solomon vs. Jesus.

SPOILER: of course it’s Jesus, but…

Solomon was the guy back in the day. Super wise. Super rich. Charming and charismatic. The dude did well. One of my favorite people from the Bible.

People traveled from other countries just to hear him speak (including the Queen of Sheba. read 1 Kings 10:6-9). He even built God’s temple. And he’s the author of much of the Bible’s wisdom writings.

Total legend!

Yet in the end, bro messed up. Big time. He began to love money, power, and WOMEN more than God.
Solomon’s issue?
Well, it wasn’t a sudden fall, but a slow drift. Until his heart fell away from God. It sure is ironic that the dude who built the temple no longer worshipped the God it was made for.

Fast forward about 1,000 years…

Jesus comes along. He’s talking to the people. One day, he said something that caught my attention.
He said:

“The Queen of the South will rise… for she came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.” — Matthew 12:42

I was asking myself, “Is this Jesus dissing Solomon?”

Because that’s like saying, “Forget LeBron and MJ, I’m actually the greatest!” with the audacity of someone like Muhammad Ali.

Except Jesus wasn’t bragging. He was making a point.

The point is this:
– Solomon gave good advice, but Jesus IS the wisdom.
– Solomon built a building, but Jesus IS the place where we meet God.

It’s a “Doing” versus “Being” thing. No comparison.

Jesus’s point is — if people would travel to hear Solomon, how much more should we pay attention to what Jesus says?

Jordan was the GOAT in bball. But Jesus? He’s the King.
Jesus takes the win here. Solomon is sent to chase the wind.

A practice in presence, and a way to return to your own life.

You’re not here to become a better writer. You’re here to become more you.

You will write every day, just for a few minutes. Not because you have to. Not to impress anyone.

Because something inside you knows there’s more life to find. More to reflect, remember, redeem and reimagine. Writing helps you find it.

You don’t need to write perfectly. You don’t need a fancy journal. You need a small moment to notice, then a quiet moment to write it down. It’s more of a willingness than anything.

Think of it like this…

You’re planting seeds. Each one is small. Each seed is enough. Over time, those seeds will grow.

Three things to remember:

1. This isn’t desk work. It’s life work.

You’re not doing an assignment. You’re not getting graded. You’re paying attention.

The point isn’t to fill pages. The point is to notice something you might have otherwise missed.

Like the shape of your thoughts, the weight of a moment, the look your daughter gave you when you picked her up early from school for a daddy daughter date at her favorite restaurant.

Writing like this doesn’t sit still. It moves. It deepens. It brings you back to yourself.

2. Writing isn’t about writing. It’s about remarkable communication.

Years ago, I met a man named Ken. Sixty-two years old. He told our writing group,

“I’m dying from a rare form of cancer. I feel okay, but there’s something I need to finish. I’ve written these love letters to my wife, and I want help getting the communication right.”

That was the moment I stopped thinking of writing as “writing.”

Ken wasn’t trying to write well.  He was trying to say something real while there was still time.

That’s what this is about.

3. Write in the spirit of yourself. Leave a trail of exploration behind you.

You’re not writing for the algorithm. You’re not writing to be liked. You’re writing to remember or express who you are.

Imagine your future self opening your journal five or ten years from now. What would you want them to see? What would you want them to feel?

Be honest. Be clear. Be simple. Say what happened. Say what it meant. Leave something behind for the one who’s still becoming.

Let me leave you with this prompt:

What tried to speak to you today that you may have otherwise missed?

That glance. That smell. That old feeling that rose up out of nowhere. Slow it down. Write it out. Give it a home on the page. You don’t need to explain it. You already saw it and lived it.

“People like us do things like this”

-Seth Godin

People like me post notes like this on sites with our names [dot] com.

People like me drop off the car for an oil change and ride our bikes home (because it’s a beautiful day & we can).

People like me don’t wear earbuds or sunscreen. We bring books, not screens.

People like me write things down, take a stance, and get clearer on where we’re headed and who we’re becoming.

People like me write so our grandkids might find it someday, nod quietly, and tape it to the fridge.

People like me read the Bible all the way through with someone we love, one day at a time.

People like me get 50% custody on paper, but we’re 100% dad in practice. We don’t miss and don’t wonder where the time went.

People like me respect consistency and aim for alignment, where meaning, money, and love overlap.

We do these things not because they’re required, but it reveals who we are becoming.

“Those not busy being born are busy dying”

– Bob Dylan

Things like reading with intention, riding bike with the noise of nature, writing instead of scrolling, praying instead of complaining.

This is a line of defense.

Headlines scream atrocity, and I have to locate what to feel, and the media bludgeons me for its attention with nothing in return.

People like me are choosing something else.

We write to remember.

We read to stay awake.

We live like our attention matters.

At the least…

We’re exercising our mental muscle, keeping our brain sharp, learning and improving.

The best thing would be…

Someday, someone we love will read what we’ve written and remember how to pay attention, too.

Sound good?

Start here. 

When Gene Hackman died not long ago, I got to reading a bit about Denzel Washington, and why he took the role opposite Gene in the movie Crimson Tide.

He said one reason he took the role was because he wanted to:

“joust with a master”

And so it was.

I do the same thing.

The 28 year old personal trainer calls me out. He’s ripped, he’s got the physique…

Out of the blue I get a DM from Bro the 28 year old chiseled trainer. Saying:

“Do such and such class with me at 10 a.m. the next day. LFG” is basically what it said.

I’m competitive, but I don’t mind losing when I’m jousting with the masters.

In fact I love losing, I love the taste of eating dirt. Because then I can make a comeback. Because then I can be an underdog that wins.

There’s a stamina in always being hungry. I feel sorry for the satiated.

As it turned out, Bro the fitness trainer underestimated “man strength” combined with being in shape…

Which I am!

Because man strength + in-shape will ALWAYS beat da youthful who just do it to look pretty in their boxers. They ain’t hungry.

And so it was.

What does this mean for you?

It means that it’s healthy to work at something possibly against someone (real or imaginary) that pushes you to “dig deeper” and “find the fire” within yourself.

Make a small promise (to yourself). Make a small promise to yourself and be on time. Continue to show up for yourself to keep that small promise on time. Fulfill this small promise again and again. Keeping a short-term promise will build your confidence and capabilities for more significant commitments in the long run. The long run is made up of several short runs.

For example, my small promise is to show up here every day for a year to write these small ditties. To show up daily with my personal writing for a professional cause. I believe if I persist in keeping this small promise, it’ll inform me about who I am supposed to serve and what my message will be, and it will earn the trust of contractors who are curious about hiring me.

What small promise are you keeping to yourself, and why does it matter?