From Frustrated And Broke Working $14.95 An Hour To Creating A Multi-six-figure Business

I was once the king of short-term thinking and over-optimization.

You see when I started my self-improvement journey…

I jumped straight into using all the habits and hacks you can think of… 5 am get-up times, meditation, journaling, cold showers, biohacking, fasting, time tracking, fancy calendars, affirmations, and anything else I thought would give me an advantage.

While it took me out of my rut, it created another one down the line…

Let me explain…

Back in 2012, I worked in a record store. Yes, I was a cool hipster earning $14.95 an hour. Yet, I was about to turn 33, had little to my name and would spend most weekends in dirty, sweaty nightclubs to the wee hours of the morning.

The situation was complex. I moved to Canada in 2009 and had spent 2+ years trapped in a job linked to my visa application. (Unfortunately, change jobs and you start the 18-month+ process from the beginning again).

Eventually, in March 2012, I got my Canadian resident visa, which meant I was out of the system and could switch jobs. By May, I had found a commission sales job selling luxury clothes.

Now… I knew I didn’t want to be stuck anymore… I knew I didn’t want to work low-dollar jobs. So, I plunged head-first into this new sales job and leaned into self-improvement.

The first 2 years of this new job flew by. I was promoted a few times. I made close to $100K two years in a row.

All The Hacks Worked… Until They Didn’t

I hit a wall hard in late 2014. I was burning out.

The thing is… the hacks started to feel like a chore.

I was getting promoted again. But so were other people who had half my work ethic. I felt like I was putting so much in and getting less out.

In fact, I now had 3 managers and 15+ team members below me, and my wage dropped to around $70K in 2015. I wasn’t selling as much because I was running around trying to do everything and hacking my way to success.

Sounds stressful, right?

Burnt out, fed up, I broke…

In early 2016, I quit the sales job. It was not a good time. The break up was a little messy, and I jumped right into another sales job selling Audis (that was a fun mistake)

You know the saying… Everywhere you go there you are.

Well, it’s so true. I went from one job to the next, expecting my life to change, but it didn’t. The hacks still felt like a chore. I knew this was not where I wanted to be.

Onward to the summer of shifting identity.

In June 2016, I left the sales industry and took 3 months off before finding a corporate leadership role.

I am writing this today because of those 3 months.

The upside of that time off, I read books, took programs, went to yoga a few times a week, and played soccer more often.

But Most Importantly I Discovered The Missing Secret Behind Success

The bad news is that I spent 4 years of my life using hacks, setting short-term goals, and reacting to external factors.

The good news is that I now knew why I had burnt out and why I hit a wall harder than an out-of-control freight train.

What did I discover?

I discovered I never shifted my Identity.

And that's the secret to success... shifting your identity. 

Interesting, right? 

You see, I was essentially the same Stephen in 2012 as in 2016 with the same core beliefs and identity, forcing myself to take actions I was not always aligned with.

My old identity could not cope with the demands and roles that NEW Stephen found himself in 2014, 15 and 16

Obviously, the hacks and habits I had and used only covered the cracks of an identity breaking under pressure.

Now, Identity is the core foundational first step in everything I do.

Did it work?  It sure did…

Over the last 8 years, I have been promoted many times, earned a good six-figure salary, and started my own business based on moving toward the identity I set for my future self.

I’ve now helped dozens of business owners use future Identity to make significant changes and boost their results.

Because… your future identity reveals your standards, which develop your actions to create the life you want.

To do that…

This Is WHY The Acorn Thinking Matrix Is A Unique Three-Step Process That Helps Business Owners Tap Into The Long-Term When Developing Their Identity Standards And Actions

The data tells us…

Thinking long-term with your life and business goals increases your chances of success…

Over 384 separate studies have shown that goal-setting has a statistically significant effect on behaviour. Setting future goals gives you at least a 40% higher chance of success.

The Acorn Thinking Matrix taps into this power.

Smart, right?

The Matrix has increased the income of business owners who use the program, saving dozens at least 10 hours a week, reduce stress, escape multi-year ruts, and flow with momentum.

Over the past 3 years, I’ve worked with 30+ clients facing the frustrations of short-term actions and thinking.

Like you, they want to escape ruts and improve their performance in their business but have been disappointed with the results.

Especially recently, when life feels like it's moving faster and faster with AI, social media, and the 24-hour news cycle.

Sadly… many have accepted that fighting fires and being overwhelmed is the norm.

Busy has become a badge of honour.

Unfortunately, you've been told to use hacks, optimize your days, and use fancy systems, but if the answer were that simple, you wouldn’t be reading this now.

That kind of shallow advice is your enemy!

You've seen it... it's all over social media because it's the advice you get from asking copycatGPT to create content on improving performance. 

Avoid that shallow dribble at all costs.

Got it? 

The fact is, improving your performance and creating your dream life is getting harder, but I don’t want you to think it's impossible because it's not.

The good news is there is a shift happening. People are waking up to the right way to change. The right way to use your future identity to drive your daily actions.

Improving your performance is the best opportunity for your business. It's like upgrading your car from an old Honda SUV to an Audi RS Q8... more power, improved handling, and a superior overall feeling.

And to help you what you need is a strategy to slice through the noise.

You see, there's a common thread with business owners who are thriving and not just pumping out numbers but also enjoying life and time with their families.

They know where they're going and what's important to them.

The Identity-Standards-Actions they set themselves are the vehicles they use to show up and improve everything in their life:

- Health
- Wealth
- Mindset
- Family time
- Experiences

The thing is, poor health, constant stress, slow business growth, no free time, and a lack of satisfaction ALL improve when you improve your performance.

What's more, improving your performance is infectious, which means those in your environment notice and take lead from your actions.

But many think they need to be some type of superhuman like David Goggins or Andrew Huberman to make improvements.

This is false. Understand?

I’m certainly not superhuman, and neither are my clients. They’re ‘normal’ business owners and entrepreneurs who want to reach their potential.

I tell them what I'm about to tell you: Performance isn't about hitting personal bests day after day.

It's about how well you connect with your identity and how satisfied you feel daily.

The kicker here is... people trip up because they don't have a clear roadmap and chase results, get sucked into hacks, and beat themselves up over their perceived lack of progress.

And don't get me started on the push from productivity bros to pitch AI and overcooked optimization systems as a magic pill.

They don’t realize that successful performance is all about inner work.

Which is where I’d like to help you.