Today in 5 minutes or less:

✔️ Are You the Hammer or the Nail

✔️ Owner Mode: What You Need to Know

✔️ Is it Time to Pray?

CONTRARIAN FRAMEWORK

The Hammer or the Nail

You ever notice how renters often treat their apartments like a crash pad?

Owners see it differently. They think about the structural integrity, future value, and even how the bathroom tile might impact their sanity.

Owner Mode isn’t just a mindset; it’s a way of operating that fundamentally changes the trajectory of your business and life.

It isn’t about short-term wins; it’s a series of long-term investments. It’s not about being in control of every single variable — it’s about owning how you respond to them.

In life, you either own the blueprint, or you’re the guy hanging drywall for someone else’s dream.

You’re either the hammer or the nail.

Hammers make things happen. They drive the point home. They aren’t afraid to swing hard, take calculated risks, and make an impact. They don’t wait for things to happen; they make things happen.

Nails? They get pounded. They hold things in place, but only because someone else decided that’s where they should be.

Nails wait for instructions. They stay put, keep their heads down, and hope they don’t get bent out of shape. Nails might hold things together, but hammers built the house.

No one remembers the nails — they remember who hammered them in.

It can be easy to look at the work of a hammer and think, “Must be nice.” But don’t be mistaken, the toll on a hammer is rough.

What you don’t see are the years of blunt force trauma on the hammer’s head, face, neck, cheek, throat, eye, and claw (all real parts of a hammer). Years of being thrown around. Years of missing the mark and smashing a finger.

Are you starting to get it now?

Hammers are owners. Nails? The owned.

Owner Mode: What You Need to Know

In today’s world, there’s one phrase that cuts to the bone with all the subtlety of a knockout punch:

“They owned you.”

This isn’t just slang; it’s a declaration of absolute dominance, whether it’s in a boardroom negotiation, a basketball court, or a Twitter thread.

It’s a hard reset on the ego, a reminder that, in the game of life, you were outplayed.

When Steph Curry drains a 3-pointer from 30 feet out, turns around before it even hits the net, and stares down his defender, that’s not just a shot — it’s psychological warfare.

The scoreboard says the Warriors are up by just 3 more points, but the real message is, “We own you.”

It’s a power play that transcends numbers.

Why this matters

It reflects a brutal truth about life: you’re either in control or you’re controlled. You’re either setting the pace and dictating the terms, or someone else is. In this world, if you’re not doing the owning, you’re the one being owned.

To put it another way — you’re either the lion or the lamb, and the “real world” is the Serengeti. It’s nice being a lamb until it’s very much not.

Ownership isn’t just a choice; it’s the rational strategy for anyone who wants to do more than survive. This is about you, us, and everyone who’s ever felt stuck — in a job, or in a life that feels like it’s going nowhere fast.

Whether you’re building a business or building a life, being in Owner Mode means you refuse to be a passive participant.

It’s about understanding that you’re the CEO of You, Inc. and that the buck stops here. And maybe most importantly, as CEO, you treat your time like a hedge fund treats capital.

You know who doesn’t sit in 2-hour Zoom meetings debating whether the company picnic should have vegan options? Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, whose company manages $10 trillion.

Those in Owner Mode don’t allocate time to things that don’t move their needle, whatever that needle is.

In Owner Mode; you don’t spend time — you allocate it to something that will yield a return, whether that’s directing energy toward building a business or cooking dinner with your kids.

Most people treat time like a resource — something you spend, waste, or lose. Owner Mode treats it like an investment. Strong owners obsess over where their time is allocated because they understand it’s the one thing they can’t get back.

What else should you know about Owner Mode? 6 things:

1. Owners take responsibility

The ultimate rebellion is holding yourself accountable to being a truly excellent person in a world where laziness, excuses, and disrespect are the norm. Owners show up on time. They admit when they’re wrong. They treat others with respect.

2. Owners work the problem

Owners don’t “circle back” in a week. They don’t do half jobs, either. They crack their knuckles, bang their heads together, take a deep breath, and work the problem till progress is made.

3. Owners do anything how they do everything

There are 3 types of people. The 1st drops a paper towel on the ground in a public bathroom, looks to see if anyone noticed, and leaves it. The 2nd drops the towel, then picks it up to put in the trash. The 3rd drops the towel, picks it up, tosses it in the trash, and grabs another to wipe off the splashes and soap they left on the countertop. Owners aim above what’s expected, even if no one’s around to see it.

4. Owners’ word is their contract

Owners strive to be the few who do, not the many who talk. Owners wince in pain when they overpromise and underdeliver. In a world of talkers, keeping your word earns respect and sets you apart as a rare breed.

5. Owners show results, not intentions

Some hypothesize and judge yet rarely put a plan into action themselves. Owners can actually count their missed shots on goal, whereas most people simply have nothing to count.

6. Owners strive for elite communication

One of the most valuable assets in life (let alone any business) isn’t on the balance sheet — it’s clear communication. People who can’t effectively communicate are just steering their ship blind. Codie’s latest podcast was all about how to level up HARD on this front. Click to watch:

Is it Time to Pray?

With economic (and general) uncertainty reaching a fever pitch, some of the sharpest minds in business may be looking upward for a little divine guidance. And can you blame ‘em?

Take Pat Gelsinger. The guy runs the $85 billion computer giant Intel, one of the most powerful tech companies on the planet.

(Over on Main Street, we don’t usually focus on publicly traded tech stocks, but bear with us — there’s a lesson here.)

In the last 6 months, Intel’s stock has plummeted 52%. The company faces a brutal fall from grace in the age of AI, a messy financial maze to work itself out of, and a future in limbo.

Oof.

If you’ve been watching the news around this, you might think it’s time for Intel’s leadership to start praying. And if you took a look at Gelsinger’s Twitter, you might even assume that’s exactly what’s been happening.

We scrolled through Gelsinger’s last ~100 tweets. Many are quotes from… the Bible. Talk about being a contrarian in 2024.

Even though these Bible tweets likely have nothing at all to do with Intel’s business, their timing captures the mood of the moment: for many small business owners, buyers, and builders, there’s desperation and hope in the air.

But “hope” is not a strategy.

Ownership is, and there’s a saying tailor-made for builders in times like these:

“Pray like it’s up to God, work like it’s up to me.”

Here’s the hard truth: The Almighty has bigger things on His plate than our Q3 earnings. No amount of divine intervention is going to fix a balance sheet if we’re stuck just hoping things will get better.

And the reality is, if you’re waiting on someone else to solve your problems, you’re going to be waiting a long time…

That’s where owner mode comes in

In a world that’s getting more uncertain by the minute, the only thing in your control is your ability to take ownership.

Don’t wait for the universe to align. Playing in Owner Mode means choosing to take responsibility for your business, your career, your community, and your life.

While the rest of the world hopes for a bailout from the storm, Owner Mode means building yourself a lifeboat and learning to sail in the damn rain.

Be the person who isn’t focused on making excuses, but on making moves.

It’s time to live life in Owner Mode.

If ownership interests you…

There are a few ways we can help.

You can enroll in our Main Street Accelerator course. Learn how to source, evaluate, and negotiate, with around 20 hours of lessons on small business acquisitions.

If you’re ready to get serious, the Contrarian Community is our premier program for ambitious dealmakers, owners, and achievers working to build ownership. Grow into a pro through high-caliber education, expert-led guidance, and incredible peer support.

We’ll also be hosting a free, live, virtual business-buying training in October. Keep an eye out for more details.

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