If you’re new here, welcome to The BOLD Life. Each week I write about building wealth in money and in life, because the goal was never just a bigger account balance. It’s a life that actually feels rich. If someone sent this your way, I’d love for you to subscribe.
A year ago, on October 7, 2025, I hit send on the first official issue of this newsletter. I could use this anniversary to tell you what the past year meant to me, but that would miss the point. The most meaningful part of these twelve months didn’t happen at my keyboard. It happened on your side of the screen, in your homes, with your families, and in the decisions you made after you finished reading.
Let me start with a question. What did you feed your mind this week? Most of us never really choose. Social media, the news, and politics choose for us, and what they serve up is mostly outrage, fear, and comparison. You chose differently. Every week, you set aside time to read something long, something that asked you to think honestly about your money, your relationships, and the life you are building. That choice matters because what we consume every day quietly shapes who we become.
What you did with it
You didn’t just read. You acted, and I got to hear about it.
A father told me an article helped him cope, even a little, with the loss of his son. Several men wrote to say that the stories about my dad helped them finally come to terms with the death of their own fathers. An 80-year-old woman told me she now looks back on her life with pride, because she realized that a life without a career was never a lesser life. She had lived it fully aligned with her values, and that was what counted. Readers booked the vacations they had been putting off for years because they decided experiences were worth more than things. One dad read the Omaha article and took his sons on a football weekend abroad. Many of you told me you are trying the 5:30 email rule in your own lives. And nearly every time I wrote about money, parents and grandparents told me they had passed it along to their kids and grandkids.
Those are your stories, not mine. I wrote the words, but you did what mattered: you took an idea and let it change something real.
Almost none of that showed up in the comments. It came by text, email, and direct message, and I understand why. What we talk about here is personal, and most of us don’t want to share our grief or regrets in public. I know I wouldn’t. So if you have been reading quietly all year, please know that quiet readers count. Some of the most powerful messages I received came from people who have never left a single public comment. I always knew when a post had struck a nerve, because my phone would light up.
What I learned about you
Nearly 1,000 of you read this newsletter weekly, and together you have read these articles more than 65,000 times. That number might look small next to an influencer with millions of followers, but those followers are scrolling past a ten-second clip. You are reading close to 2,000 words a week. In a world built for short attention spans, you are doing something increasingly rare. You are choosing depth.
I also learned that you are wonderfully different from one another. Some of you love the personal stories. Some of you love the aspirational ones. Some of you want the failures, the mistakes, and the lessons that cost real money. Some of you skip straight to the finance. With 1,000 readers, there are 1,000 opinions about what makes a great post, and I have made peace with the fact that no single piece will land for everyone. That is okay. You aren’t looking for one universal answer. You are looking for the idea that fits your life right now, and I hope you keep finding it here.
The lesson hiding in a year of Tuesdays
I’ll share one thing about my own experience, only because I think it applies to you. Writing does not come naturally to me. I am a left-brain thinker who is most comfortable with hard numbers and facts. I was an incredibly shy kid, and I am still an introvert at heart, so telling the whole story, including the uncomfortable parts, has never been easy.
What made the difference was a deadline. Every week, Tuesday was coming whether I was ready or not. Some weeks the ideas poured out, and I wrote several issues at once. Other weeks I stared at the calendar thinking, I need to write something. But after more than 50 issues, it has gotten easier. The skill compounded the same way money does: slowly at first, then all at once. Pressure really does make diamonds.
Whatever you have been avoiding because it doesn’t come naturally to you, whether it is investing, a hard conversation, getting in shape, or starting the business you keep thinking about, the lesson is the same. You don’t need natural talent to begin. You need a Tuesday. Pick a recurring deadline, show up, and let repetition do the work.
Why the name changed
I started this newsletter as BOLD Wealth. To me, wealth always meant something much bigger than money, but many of you understandably read it as a finance newsletter and nothing more. In a way, you were telling me something important. What mattered most to you was never the balance in an account. It was the life that money makes possible.
That is why this is now The BOLD Life. The word I keep coming back to is rich, and I don’t mean rich in money. I mean rich in life. Money is still an underlying theme, because it matters. If you ignore money completely, you will miss out on the freedom and experiences it can fund. If you focus on it too much, you will drift away from your values and end up unhappy no matter how much you have. The goal is to understand money well enough that it fuels what really matters to you.
If you are new here, or if you want the money side of this entire first year in four steps, here it is. Eliminate consumer debt. Buy a home. Invest the rest. Let compounding do its work. Give it time, and you will build financial wealth, and with it, freedom. It works every time.
A Favor
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What’s next for you
A book is on the horizon one day, but not anytime soon. The next step is a podcast, and it is really a response to you. Many of you have told me that finding time to sit down and read long-form is getting harder, yet you still want the full stories rather than quick soundbites. Listening fits into the life you already have, on your commute, on a walk, or with your AirPods in while you tackle the yard. Meaningful life lessons need time and words to land, and I think the spoken word delivers them better. Stay tuned.
A Favor
Before you go, I have a favor to ask. Tell me either the article from this past year that has stuck with you the most, or a topic you would love for me to write about next. Leave it in the comments so other readers can see it too, or hit reply if you would rather keep it between us. I read every message, and your answers will shape year two.
Thank you for spending your Tuesdays with me. We only get one life, and it isn’t easy. Making sure the ups outweigh the downs takes effort and a willingness to challenge yourself. You have already proven you are willing to do that. So here’s to another year of refusing to live an ordinary life, and choosing instead to live a BOLD one.
Don’t drift. Live boldly.
The BOLD Life is for people who want to build wealth without losing themselves in the process - people who want their success to strengthen their health, relationships, purpose, and freedom rather than compete with them. If that’s the life you’re building, you’re in the right place. New here? Start with The Blueprint of a BOLD Life, then read whatever draws your attention. Every post stands on its own.
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Happy one year! Thank you for writing generously each week. Can't wait for the podcast! 🎉
Chris- Always love the personal interest stories about family and friends: Real life’s lessons. You already do this, (but most important to me) more personal stories of how your friends and neighbors made BOLD choices that shaped their lives, and improved their footprint. ( No need for actual names, just their decisions are important). Particularly older folks who can look back at the real results of their choices( good and bad). Looking back on a BOLD Life- a perspective.