07/14/25 - Wakie Wakie 4:44

Author

Mark Evans DM
July 14, 2025

Welcome to Your 444 Newsletter!

Where leverage, leadership, and life-changing strategy collide.

Today’s topic?
Why most business owners stay stuck working harder while others build freedom.

It’s not about effort.
It’s about leverage.
And the right room.

On July 15th at 2PM EST, I’m hosting a private masterclass to walk you through exactly how I built 9+ companies that run without me.
Not 10 years ago. Not theory. What I’d do right now if I had to start from zero.

4 Thoughts to Reflect On

  1. More effort doesn’t mean more freedom.
    You can work 12 hours a day and still be broke and stuck.

  2. You can’t scale what only works when you’re present.
    If the business falls apart when you step away, you don’t own it. It owns you.

  3. The best strategy is proximity.
    The right circle gives you shortcuts, partners, capital and clarity.

  4. What worked five years ago won’t get you free today.
    The game has changed. Your playbook needs to evolve too.

4 Lessons I’ve Learned

  1. Working more hours will cap your growth.
    Working smarter, inside the right rooms, removes the ceiling.

  2. Most people don’t need a better offer. They need a better operator.
    Systems, delegation, vision. That’s how you scale sustainably.

  3. Building with leverage is not optional.
    If you want freedom, you better master teams, tools, and capital.

  4. The biggest moves I made happened after I got around people doing what I thought was impossible.
    You need to be around that kind of energy and execution.

4 Challenges for You This Week

  1. Audit your business for bottlenecks that require YOU to fix.
    If your name is on every problem, your model is broken.

  2. Identify what would break if you took a 30-day vacation.
    Now you know what you actually need to solve.

  3. Get brutally honest: Are you building freedom or a prison with fancier income?
    One pays you. The other drains you.

  4. Save your seat for the private masterclass right now.
    This is where I’ll show you what I’m doing TOMORROW to build companies that run without me.
    Lock in your seat here

"The fastest way to change yourself is to hang out with people who are already the way you want to be.”
— Reid Hoffman

You don’t need another 100-hour week.
You need a better room and a smarter plan.

Your next level is closer than you think. But only if you make time to learn how to reach it.