[#023] My First Billion: Resurrection Season

Today is Good Friday.

And I don't think it's a coincidence that I'm writing this particular newsletter on this particular day.

Because this week, realized something…

A lot has died recently.

The sales team.
The workshop model I was doing.
The identity that was built around proving something instead of stewardship.

The heaviness that comes when the business gets bigger.

All of it died, and I surrendered to it.

Scripture talks about dying to yourself.

Jesus said it like this…

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it multiplies.”

Peter had to die to his old identity before he could become who he was always supposed to be.

Paul had to lose everything he thought made him qualified before God could use him.

The disciples watched everything they believed in get buried on a Friday before they understood what Sunday was for.

Death is never the end of the story, it's always the setup.

And here's what I know about resurrection, it's not resuscitation.

It's not going back to what was, and trying to make it like it once was. It's restoration.

Being brought back to your original design.

The version of you before the performance, proving, and addiction to affirmation started.

Before success and chasing the arbitrary revenue goals made everything heavy.

I started this business 15 years ago for the love of the game.

Yea, I wanted to make some munyon, however, it was fun and light.

I was playing on offense because I loved what I was building not because I was trying to protect what I had.
It’s something about playing the game with a nothing to lose mentality.

Somewhere along the way it got heavy.

The brand, team, and the overhead got bigger.

The pressure to maintain what we'd built started replacing the joy of building it. I didn't notice it happening.

That's what needed to die.

Not the vision, the calling, or the gifting.

Just the weight that I chose to carry, that God never meant for me to carry.
It was all based in pride and self-reliance.

And in the white space of this week, I could feel something being resurrected.

The week itself was deliberately still.

Monday was light. Analyzing ads, connecting with a real estate contact about a building for our church, which could also serve as an event and content space.

Tuesday was coaching day. Started with health coach, then into client calls.

Wednesday, I connected with my ad coach, who’s my second set of eyes.

We're in full testing mode right now. Bottom of funnel is performing. Middle of funnel picking up steam.

Meta had some interesting traffic patterns throughout March.

Click fraud and mixed signals in the industry about open targeting versus interest targeting.

We're staying in testing mode and building a clean baseline.

That's the whole goal for the next 90 days. Not attached to specific numbers, just understand what the data is telling us and dial it in from there.

Morning routine with my boys stayed intact, took them to school and picked them up on some days. Those are the moments the business exists to protect.

My ops director reached out mid-week. "Hey, you've been quiet. Everything okay?"

I smiled and replied: “Have I?”

Yeah. Everything is okay. More than okay.

Thursday Vanessa and I had our weekly Breakfast, shifted from Wednesday since she worked at the hospital.

The waitress told us that, "we don't look married, we look like best friends."

Also did a site visit for our Easter Sunday service location.

We moved our church recently, and Easter fell right in the middle of my six-week teaching series so I'm teaching Sunday.

God gave me a Word I'm still sitting with. I'll just say it's going to be interesting and leave it there.

Did some deep inner work over the weekend.
Got clarity on patterns that have been running in the background.

Things rooted in proving myself that started when I was 9, that I hadn't seen until now.
Sheesh.

I’ve also nailed my calories this week. Consistent wins compound.

Looking ahead:

Today (Friday), wrapping up the week, Taking the boys to the barbershop…

Then filming the Miseducation of the Christian Show (it’s on YouTube)...

And doing my Forecasts Friday review and planning combined with Q1 review.

Saturday is Panda Fest with Vanessa, Mj, RyPie, and Ro…

And Sunday, is Easter service. Teaching and then the family at the house afterward.

What the snowball is teaching me:

The pruning isn’t loss, it’s preparation.

Jesus teaches in John 15:2 that the Father is the Gardener and…

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

You can't resurrect what you won't let die.

The quiet this week wasn't emptiness. It was Saturday, the day between the cross and the empty tomb.

The day that looks like nothing is happening, but everything is being prepared.

I'm not going back to who I was. I'm being restored to who I already was, but didn’t know it.

Lighter, leaner, more prolific, and free.

Building from the love of the game again with nothing to prove or protect, because none of it is mine anyway.

That's Resurrection Season.

And Sunday is coming.

More next week.

Tell those you love that you love them.

Marquel