"...And Now We Begin The Ascent"

Level 1: ... And that's okay

“And now we being the ascent”
- Mike Leone

Future Guardian,

I’m going to tell you a short story about the day I met grandmaster Mike Leone.

On Valentines Day of 2022, I flew to Arizona to hangout with my friend Joe and see the town he had just purchased. Mostly because I was shocked you could just… buy a town. (Note: if you’re a Guardian, you have had many opportunities to visit this town. If you’re not yet, that’s okay, we will be going back).

Joe and Jason Campbell convinced me to go climbing with them the next day.

All I remember is that every time I thought we had reached the end of the climb I would breathe a sigh of relief and think to myself: “Thank God that’s over”

…and then our guide, Mike Leone would say:

“And now we begin the ascent”

Over the past few months we have posted at least twice a week, laying the foundation for what is the Guardian Academy. It’s a lot. We know.

But there’s good news…

Now we begin the ascent.

The posts will get increasingly more advanced and less evergreen, which means we will be writing about things that either require a base knowledge to understand and/or are relevant to current events.In either scenario, it will be important to go back to the Master Roadmap¹ and touch up on the foundations. Remember, different man, different river.²

It’s also important to recognize evergreen content vs non-evergreen content. Evergreen content is philosophy and principles-based, it’s timeless. “How To Win Friends and Influence People” is a great example of evergreen content in the format of a book. It was relevant when it was written almost 100 years ago, it it relevant today and will still be relevant 100 years from now.

On the flip side, a book about running Facebook Ads or day-trading stocks is not evergreen. What is relevant or true (regarding the tactical and tools element) 100 years ago is not relevant or true today and will likely not be relevant or true 100 years from now.

We can turn to Lukas Resheske’s “Clarity Compass” as a guide:

Evergreen (Never changes):

• Philosophy

• Principles

Not Evergreen (Derived from philosophy and principles, but specific to the current climate and changes along with the climate):

• Strategies

• Tactics

• Tools

The TGA Foundations are evergreen, they are free and will always be free.

Strategic, tactical and tools based articles are relevant at the time they are posted and can inform short term action/behavior.

They also break down the logic, reasoning and evidence from which we are forming our interpretations of current events and complex problems. You do not have to agree with our conclusions - but it’s helpful to understand where someone is coming from.

We’ve laid it all out for you.

It’s up to you, as a reader, to discern whether or not a non-evergreen post that was posted previously is still relevant today. If you can do that, that means we can get into…

• Current events in the market, culture, and news

• Interests like gaming, business building, marketing, sales, investing, crypto and real estate

• Sharing contributions from other Guardian Academy Members

…As long as Guardian Academy readers are staying grounding in the basics, working on knowing themselves and contributing.

Now…

We can help guide you, but it’s up to you, as a future Guardian, to read and implement at your own pace. You have to decide the pace at which you climb; it will be different for everyone. Here’s a look at what lies ahead:

The Ascent

The Posting Schedule will remain the same. The content will evolve, but one free post Monday and one paid post Friday will remain the standard.

The Foundations Articles and Posts have comment access turned on for paid subscribers. Use it. Ask questions, add insights, share perspectives. The team and over 100 Guardians are here for you.

Founding Members have at least 1x a month live workshops. Currently, they are the first Monday of every month. If you want to step into community, connectedness and dialogue, join us.

Starting in 2024, we expect to have at least 8 in-person events for Guardians. There is nothing quite like exposure, proximity and access.³

If you’ve been through the entire Master Roadmap, practicing the principles and sharing with others, great work…

…and now we being the ascent.

Nic
Guardian Academy

1. Master Roadmap

2. Different Man, Different River

3. Exposure, Proximity and Access