There’s a moment most mornings, usually around 5:47, where I’m standing in the kitchen with coffee in one hand and my phone face-down on the counter because I know what’s waiting on it.

Emails. Slack. A LinkedIn comment that needs a response. The Substack draft I didn’t finish last night.

And downstairs, three small humans are starting to stir, which means in about six minutes the day belongs to them.

Six minutes.

That’s the window. That’s the whole thing.

I used to think the goal was to expand that window. Wake up earlier. Move faster. Build a system. Optimize the morning. And listen, I love a good system… I run my whole business on them. But the older I get, the more I realize the win isn’t in stretching the six minutes. It’s in actually being in them.

Because here’s what nobody tells you about being a parent and running a company at the same time in 2026. The tools are better than they’ve ever been. The leverage is real. I can build, write, ship, and connect with thousands of people before lunch. That part is wild. That part is genuinely a gift.

But the part that makes a life… the part that makes any of it worth doing… is the kid who pads upsatirs in mismatched socks and asks if you’ll pour the cereal or make her some chocolate milk. The wife who hands you a look across the counter that says I see you, keep going. The quiet knowing that the company you’re building exists so you can be more present, not less.

I get to do both. That’s a blessing!

The work is hard. The kids are loud. The market is moving. The inbox is full. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, life is happening… right now, while I’m typing this, while you’re reading it, while the coffee gets cold.

Don’t miss it.