#52: From Doing to Being

In The Science of Getting Rich (1910), Wallace Wattles wrote about "Acting in a Certain Way". Despite the title, the book isn’t about making money. It outlines our ability to create life, similar to Napoleon Hill’s Think & Grow Rich.

In newsletter 48, I talked about my transition from nearly 27 years of one certain way of doing things (how I created life) to my awareness that it was time to shift approach.

Essentially going from “doing” to “being”, and it’s not easy.

My Old Certain Way (Doing)

For decades, my certain way was about building freedom.

It looked like this:

1. Give yourself a why (purpose, family, lifestyle)

2. Stop buying things that force you to work (commercial junk)

3. Pay yourself first, make self the #1 future bill

4. Store vs. save money. Stay broke, not poor (mindset shift)

5. Build up enough in storage to buy an asset

6. Buy assets that pay you (real estate, stocks, self-education)

7. When it pays, store that money + add paycheck

8. Buy another asset

9. Repeat

10. Repeat again

That framework earned financial and time freedom and was central to five freedoms:

1. Financial freedom – assets covering expenses

2. Time freedom – owning your own hours 

3. Geographic freedom – mobility for life or business opportunity

4. Freedom to execute purpose – express via meaningful work

5. Freedom of meaningful relationships – supporting framework

All in all, I developed lifestyle I don’t need a vacation from. If you want to see exactly how I implemented that system, read how I built freedom in Newsletter 6.

But Here’s the Part I Didn’t Expect

And the reason I am writing this newsletter.

By societal standards I've done okay. Five freedoms and 3 careers complete. But once you reach that point, or whatever point makes sense for you, you cannot just keep executing same way forever. If you do, you risk recreating your own 9-5, still trapped, just different tools and more freedom on paper.

Point of this life, this 1:400 trillion chance we we're given, is not to endlessly grind or maintain old patterns. It's to enjoy the life you have built. Create a framework, yes, but then to live in it.

Too many build their freedom infrastructure but never stop to inhabit it. They keep chasing, keep building, keep repeating, and in process miss the very life they were chasing in the first place.

That is the shift I have come to realize, and why I am writing this newsletter. For me, it makes no sense to continue the way I was doing things before, just because. It is time to live differently.

I am having to relearn how to live life again.

The New Certain Way (Being)

In 2025, I built a new operating model for myself.

Phase 1: Protect & Preserve – simplify everything, cut people & business obligations, protect assets

Phase 2: Pour into 8 Life Satisfaction Anchors – newsletter 48

Phase 3: Automate & Anchor – let created infrastructure run; live

Instead of pouring energy into assets, I’m now pouring resources into life and ignoring old things I used to do (i.e. building businesses, investing to grow, networking with thousands).

The Hard Part

Sounds peaceful. Truth is it’s not easy. Told my coach recently:

“Today I had to be very intentional to just “be”. And it wasn’t easy. I told myself this morning, you don’t have to go “do” anymore, you already did.”

After years of hustle, it feels like losing an identity. My body is still trying to get me to “go do.” When you’ve lived in doing mode for years, your subconscious and body will try to pull you back. That’s why transition is emotional and feels like starting over.

But the gift is once you rewire, you start noticing the details again, the details of life, relationships, and experiences.

Why This Matters for You

This isn’t just about me. Here’s what it means for you:

Your self-concept can shift. Just like I shifted from builder to being, you can practice yourself into a new identity over time

The 5 Freedoms aren’t the finish line. They are the infrastructure. Once you’ve built some level of them, the point isn’t to endlessly expand infrastructure, it’s to exist in it

The goal isn’t more. Too many people build more and more, thinking peace will be the reward. Peace is not a reward, it's a conscious choice not requiring "more"

The Takeway

Acting in a certain way is seasonal. My old certain way was about building. My new one is about being. Your old way got you here. Your new way will take you further, with intention. At some point, stop defaulting to doing and learn to simply be.

Try This

1. Write current certain way: habits, routines, systems lived by

2. Ask yourself if it's still serving you or just habit

3. Imagine a new certain way. What would it look like?

Hope this drives perspective for you. Try Life On.

Maurice