Humans haven’t figured out how to create more time. The people who win? They protect it like their life depends on it. Because it does. Time is your sharpest weapon. You either use it to cut through the noise, or you let it dull itself with distractions.

If you’re not lethal with your time, you’ll lose it. Simple as that.

Related: Time Is Money — Here’s How to Leverage It to Add Value to a Product

I talk about urgency a lot

I talk about urgency all the time. Not just in business. In life. Urgency isn’t panic. Urgency is respect. It’s knowing time is limited and treating it like gold.

When you move with urgency, you cut the fluff. You get to the point. You stop dragging things out that don’t need to be dragged.

The fastest way to kill momentum? Move slow. The fastest way to build momentum? Move now.

People always say life is short. I don’t believe that.

I believe life is long.

The question is not how fast you can fill your calendar. The question is how well you can fill your life.

I love to work. But I had to learn the hard way.

I love to work, but over the years, I’ve learned there’s a difference between being busy and being lethal. That’s a hard pill to swallow. People love to seem busy.

That’s not bad. It’s human.

But the faster you can learn what’s not worth your time (and actually be okay with that decision), the more unstoppable you become.

Busy people are usually just disorganized people in disguise.

You can be busy doing the wrong things for years and still end up nowhere. Being busy is easy. Being intentional is hard.

Busy fills your calendar.
Intention fills your life.

Busy says yes to everything.
Intention says yes to what matters.

Busy burns you out.
Intention builds you up.

I had to learn that busyness is a trap.

It’s loud. It’s addictive. It makes you feel like you’re winning when you’re actually just treading water. Being intentional is uncomfortable because it forces you to choose. Busy people say they don’t have time. Intentional people know exactly where their time is going.

Related: 10 Simple Ways to Escape Busyness and Enjoy Free Time

Fatherhood changed everything

When I became a dad, my life got a whole new point. It wasn’t about the next company. It wasn’t about the next deal. It wasn’t about stacking more to-dos. It was about family. It was about being present.

Being a dad made me lethal with my time.

When you realize your kid’s only going to be that age once, you get real clear on what matters. I don’t waste minutes anymore. I don’t have minutes to waste.

Faith brought it all into focus

As a Christian, I know I don’t control my timeline at the end of the day. God’s in charge of that. Not me.

But I do get to choose where that time goes. I don’t want to waste it. I don’t want to miss what matters. I had to learn to sharpen my time like a blade. Ruthless. Precise. Non-negotiable. You don’t need more hours. You need sharper decisions.

Your time sets the tone

When I was building my companies early in my real estate career, I used to take every call. Every meeting. Every coffee. I thought being available made me valuable. It didn’t. It made me exhausted.

People respect your time when you respect your time. And theirs. Your calendar is your property. Treat it like that. If you’re loose with your time, you’ll attract people who are loose with your time. If you’re lethal with your time, you’ll attract people who value time. You set the tone. You build the boundary. You decide what’s worth it.

Related: The Most Successful Founders Take Retreats — Here’s Why You Should, Too

The power of no

You can’t master your time if you’re afraid to say no. You’re not being mean. You’re being honest.

Here’s a rule: If it’s not a “heck yes,” it’s a no. You don’t need to apologize for it. You don’t need to explain it. I’ve missed out on things I didn’t need to be at. I’ve skipped calls that didn’t move the needle. I’ve walked away from opportunities that weren’t aligned.

Saying no is how you say yes to what matters.

Related: Why Rejection is the Best Thing for Every Entrepreneur to Hear

Time doesn’t wait

Time is not waiting for you to get organized.

It’s not waiting for you to feel ready.

Guess what? Perfect never shows up.

You have to move now. You have to decide now.

Time is your most unforgiving currency. You can spend it, but you can’t earn it back.

When you start treating your minutes like money, you get very clear. Very fast. On what’s worth it and what’s not.

Be a time assassin

Do you want to win? You have to become a time assassin.

Cut the fluff.
Cut the overthinking.
Cut the dead meetings.
Optimize the pointless tasks.

Move fast.
Decide fast.
Focus fast.

When I got lethal with my time, I made more room for what actually mattered.
More room for building.
More room for thinking.
More room for living.

And the best part? I made more room for them. My family. My why.

You don’t need to fill your calendar to feel valuable.

You need to own your calendar to build value.

Your time is either building your future or it’s bleeding into someone else’s. Be lethal with it. Every minute counts. Especially the ones you spend at home.

Young professionals, particularly those belonging to Generations Alpha and Z, aren’t embracing the 9-5 life like those who came before them.

One recent Upwork survey found that the majority of Gen Z workers (53%) opt for freelance careers over traditional 9-5 jobs, and another report from Acorns revealed that 69% of 6-to-14-year-olds have started or plan to start a side hustle.

Nowadays, there are countless ways for young people to make money on their own terms — and online education platform K12 recently dug into some of their strategies for achieving their first $10,000 in independent income.

Related: I Made Over $4 Million on Upwork While Battling Kidney Disease. Here’s How I’m Helping Patients Like Me Achieve Health and Financial Freedom.

K12’s study, which surveyed 380 young entrepreneurs who graduated from public, private and online schools, found that most of them (68%) have one motivation in common when it comes to earning their first $10,000: gaining independence.

Cost of living (45%), peer influence (8%) and family pressure (6%) rounded out the top four motivators for the young professionals, according to the data.

The survey also found that a range of work opportunities contribute to young people’s five-figure incomes. Many of these new entrepreneurs offer freelance services (30%), sell physical products (29%), or resell or flip items (18%).

Related: Tired of ‘Culturally Obtuse’ Products, This 27-Year-Old Took His Side Hustle From $1,000 a Month to 7-Figure Revenue: ‘Pick the Right Opportunity to Pursue’

Additionally, more than half of all young entrepreneurs surveyed (62%) rely on their own savings to fund their first serious business effort.

Many of the young adults surveyed wish that their educations had better prepared them to run their businesses: They would have liked to learn how to market themselves or their business (45%), create a business plan (45%), pay taxes (44%), invest or save for the future (44%) and budget (40%).

Regardless of where their careers take them, young professionals should remain curious — and keep soft skills sharp, chief people officer at edtech company D2L Amy Clark told Entrepreneur earlier this year.

Related: After a 12-Year-Old’s Side Hustle Made Over $4,000 in 1 Day, He and His Dad Grew the Business to Nearly $50,000 a Month: ‘It Takes Commitment

“If your skills don’t yet align with your dream job, look for guidance about how you can learn more,” Clark said. “Remember, your human skills — communication, collaboration, problem-solving — are just as important as the technical skills you need (sometimes even more important). Don’t neglect them.”

Looking for a profitable side hustle but not sure where to start? Money Makers is a free newsletter providing helpful tips, ideas and action items to build your own lucrative venture — delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up here.

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This article is part of our ongoing Young Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of being a young business owner.

According to a recent Bankrate survey, fewer than half of Americans plan to travel this summer. Among those staying home, most cite cost as the main reason.

That’s a missed opportunity.

Travel isn’t just a luxury — it’s a strategic tool. For entrepreneurs, stepping outside the day-to-day grind creates space to think creatively, meet new people and gain the fresh perspective that fuels innovation. One good conversation or idea sparked on the road could become your next big business move.

Here’s the best part: if you’re strategic, you can align your travel with your business goals — and potentially write off a portion of the cost. The IRS allows business owners to deduct legitimate business-related travel expenses. With the right planning, your summer getaway can double as a business trip that moves your company forward.

Related: A Business Owner’s Guide to Maximizing Summer Profits

Travel with purpose

Making the primary purpose of your trip business-related doesn’t mean you have to spend your days in meetings. For travel within the U.S., the IRS allows deductions as long as more than half of a standard workday (four or more hours) is spent on qualified business activities.

That could include meeting with clients, scouting investment properties, researching a new market, or connecting with potential partners. The key is intention and documentation.

If you’re in the 32% tax bracket, treating your travel as a legitimate business expense can result in a 32% “discount” via tax savings. That’s not a loophole—it’s a smart use of existing tax code designed to support business growth.

Take one of my clients, for example. He built a vacation around scouting real estate deals in New Mexico, a place he already loved visiting. The trip saved him around $3,000 in taxes—and even better, it led to a property deal that eventually earned him over $1 million in profit.

What qualifies as deductible business travel?

The IRS has clear rules on what counts as a deductible business expense. Common eligible expenses include:

• Airfare, train fare, or mileage to and from your destination
• Hotel or lodging costs
• Ground transportation (Uber, taxis, car rentals, airport transfers)
• Baggage fees
• Laundry or dry cleaning during the trip
• 50% of non-entertainment meal costs

To qualify, expenses must meet four basic criteria:

1. Business purpose: There must be a clear business reason for the trip.
2. Ordinary and necessary: It should be a typical and reasonable expense in your line of work.
3. Directly related to business: The activity must advance or support your business.
4. Properly documented: Keep records—receipts, dates, contacts, meeting notes, and outcomes.

If your spouse or children are active in the business and perform meaningful work during the trip, their expenses may also be deductible. For example, if your spouse is a co-owner or your children help with content creation, marketing or research, their travel may be part of your business plan — if documented correctly.

Related: How Smart Entrepreneurs Turn Mid-Year Tax Reviews Into Long-Term Financial Wins

Work with a trusted advisor

Blending business and personal expenses adds complexity to your tax situation. A tax advisor who specializes in entrepreneurs can help ensure your strategy is sound and legally compliant. The goal isn’t just to deduct travel. It’s to structure your business in a way that supports growth and lowers your tax liability year-round.

Final thoughts

Before you book your next trip, ask: How could this support my business?

Maybe it’s an investment scouting trip. Maybe it’s reconnecting with a client in a new market. Maybe it’s simply taking space to think clearly and plan your next move.

When you approach travel with intention, the possibilities multiply. That break you’ve been craving could be the catalyst for your next revenue stream or expansion play—and with a smart tax strategy, the IRS could help fund it.

If you love where you’re traveling, why not plant business roots there? You’ll have a reason to return—on another deductible trip—with even more upside next time.

Because when travel helps you grow your business and lower your tax bill, the real question isn’t whether you can afford to travel—
It’s whether you can afford not to.

Barbara Corcoran, the 76-year-old founder of the real estate firm The Corcoran Group, claims to have created a work environment where there was “no turnover.”

In an Instagram post shared with her 1.2 million followers on Monday, Corcoran outlined the “crazy things” she would do to keep her staff happy. For example, Corcoran would bus hundreds of agents to the country for midweek picnics, each with its own memorable feature, like a 60-foot-tall hot air balloon or a 5,000-pound elephant offering safari rides.

Related: Barbara Corcoran Needed to Make Job Cuts. Here’s Why She Fired Her Mom First.

She would also provide babysitters for employees who wanted to bring their kids to work and offered plenty of office perks, like yoga classes, free lunches, and massages.

Corcoran recognized top performers by giving gold ribbons to anyone who closed a million-dollar sale, and gave one of her top brokers a Bentley with the license plate “SOLD1” to highlight her stellar performance in front of the whole company.

She additionally claims to have thrown “the wildest parties in town” for her employees, complete with their own “wacky” themes — and dressing up was mandatory.

The end result of these initiatives? People were “lining up” for jobs at The Corcoran Group, and Corcoran didn’t have to advertise new job openings. There was also zero turnover; employees chose to stay.

Related: ‘Do You Know What a First Class Ticket Costs?’ Why Barbara Corcoran Flies Coach

“People are most creative when they’re having fun, and we had more of that than anyone else,” Corcoran wrote in the post. “I stopped advertising to hire because people were lining up to work at The Corcoran Group! Fun builds loyalty, and we had no turnover.”

Corcoran founded The Corcoran Group in 1973 with just $1,000 and seven agents. By the time she sold the brokerage firm for close to $70 million in 2001, the team had grown to encompass 700 employees.

Corcoran also noted in an Instagram video in March that she is “the best boss” she has ever met because she follows a simple principle: She works for whoever works for her. In other words, she works for her employees, and her perspective is always tied to what she can do for them.

“I shower my people with anything they need selflessly,” Corcoran said in the video, adding later that, “I don’t think anyone could be a better boss than me.”

Corcoran is now an original cast member of “Shark Tank.” She has appeared on the show for 16 seasons and made more than 650 deals. She makes about $4.5 million a year from her investments, including profits from deals from the show.

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The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the second-largest U.S. teachers’ union with 1.8 million members across the U.S., is starting a new training hub with funding from the biggest AI names.

AFT announced on Tuesday that it would start a new AI training center for teachers, the National Academy for AI Instruction, with backing from Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The hub is set to open in New York City this fall, starting with workshops, online courses, and hands-on training for K-12 educators on how to use AI for tasks like creating lesson plans. The center aims to support 400,000 teachers over the next five years.

Microsoft has committed $12.5 million to the hub, OpenAI will provide $10 million in funding, and Anthropic will give $500,000 for the first year the hub opens, for a total of $23 million in funding.

The move is part of a broader push by AI companies to bring AI to the classroom. AI use is rapidly becoming normalized in higher education, with California State University stating in February that it would provide ChatGPT for its 460,000 university students. High schools are also feeling the push, with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the third-largest school system in the nation, introducing Google AI chatbots to more than 100,000 high school students this spring.

Related: A New AI Chatbot Is Revolutionizing Business School Curriculum and Accreditation — Here’s What It Could Change

A Bloomberg Intelligence report predicted that the generative AI market will expand to $1.3 trillion by 2032, up from just $40 billion in 2022.

Teachers are also increasingly using AI. Consulting group Tyton Partners found that the percentage of teachers who reported using AI nearly doubled from 22% in 2023 to 40% in 2024. The same survey found that in 2024, nearly 60% of students reported using AI at least once a month for assignments.

However, not everyone approves of AI use in the classroom. Earlier this year, Northeastern University student Ella Stapleton asked the school for a refund for an $8,000 course after she noticed the professor used AI to create lecture notes and slide presentations. Northeastern University denied her request.

There are also cognitive dangers associated with AI. A study released by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University in January found that while AI can improve efficiency, it can also “reduce critical engagement,” leading to “diminished independent problem-solving.” The researchers found that humans who were more confident in AI’s abilities used fewer critical thinking skills. They left the thinking to AI instead of doing it themselves.

Related: Using ChatGPT? AI Could Damage Your Critical Thinking Skills, According to a Microsoft Study

One trait consistently separates those who thrive from those who stall: a growth mindset. At its core, this mindset is less about raw intelligence or flawless execution and more about adaptability, resilience and the ability to transform setbacks into strategic stepping stones.

Growth-oriented leaders don’t see failure as defeat — they see it as data. They understand that success isn’t about having all the answers, but about asking better questions, staying curious and acting with courage even before they feel fully ready.

Related: 5 Entrepreneurial Mindsets That Drive Success

Growth requires discomfort

In my experience, meaningful growth begins the moment you step outside your comfort zone. It’s not about waiting for perfect conditions — it’s about being willing to step into the fire, learn, adapt and evolve. The leaders who rise aren’t the ones who avoid risk, but those who are willing to fail forward, turning missteps into momentum.

Strategic thinking, resilience and problem-solving are forged in uncertainty. The ability to spot opportunity in foggy conditions — and act on it — is a hallmark of growth-minded leadership. When done right, each failure becomes a rehearsal for future success.

Growth mindset in leadership

The most successful leaders don’t start with all the answers. They lead with better questions: How can we improve this? What haven’t we considered? Where is the opportunity hidden within this obstacle? This intellectual humility drives both personal and organizational evolution.

A growth mindset equips leaders to adapt in volatile markets — not just by being clever, but by being willing to evolve. In a world that demands reinvention, standing still is riskier than failure.

Growth mindset in the workplace

This mindset doesn’t just benefit top executives — it transforms entire organizations. When companies promote growth thinking across all levels, they build cultures that value curiosity over perfection, learning over blame and potential over fixed roles.

Employees with a growth mindset don’t view problems as roadblocks — they see them as invitations to innovate. They’re more receptive to feedback, more collaborative and more likely to take initiative. This leads to higher performance, deeper engagement and a more resilient organization.

When setbacks occur, these teams ask:

• What can we learn?
• How can we do better next time?
• What does this make possible?

The answers fuel continuous improvement and stronger collaboration.

Growth is the new competitive advantage

In industries where talent and technology are often evenly matched, mindset becomes the ultimate differentiator. Organizations that embrace change, foster adaptability and invest in growth thinking outperform those that cling to legacy thinking or ego-driven leadership.

Importantly, a growth mindset doesn’t discard strategy or planning. Instead, it sharpens them. It helps leaders balance ambition with discipline, grounding their decisions in both vision and reality.

Willingness over readiness

Every great career pivot, business turnaround or entrepreneurial success story has a common denominator: someone chose to grow. They didn’t wait to be ready — they moved forward anyway.

Readiness is often an illusion. The people who succeed are those who are willing to take the first step, challenge their assumptions, and keep going even when the outcome is uncertain. That’s real growth — progress through discomfort.

The danger isn’t in failure — it’s in staying stuck. When you believe you can grow and take action accordingly, you position yourself to succeed in ways you never imagined.

Small shifts, big results

You don’t need a radical overhaul to start thinking with a growth mindset. It begins with small internal shifts:

• Replace “What’s wrong?” with “What’s possible?”
• Use feedback as fuel — not a threat
• Choose curiosity over criticism
• Trade perfection for progress

These micro-adjustments unlock major results over time. One new perspective. One brave question. One action taken before you’re “ready.” That’s how transformation begins.

Mindset as a strategic asset

The right mindset isn’t a soft skill — it’s a strategic advantage. Leaders and teams who embrace growth thinking don’t just adapt to change — they create it. They turn feedback into fuel, pressure into performance and uncertainty into innovation.

In a business environment that rewards agility and continuous learning, the most valuable asset you can develop isn’t just a product, process or pitch. It’s a mindset committed to learning, evolving and leading through change.

Related: What Separates a Great Leader From a Good One?

Final word: choose growth

Every challenge holds within it the potential for transformation — but only if you’re willing to lean in. Growth isn’t comfortable. It’s not always convenient. But it is always worth it.

Don’t wait for the conditions to be perfect. Choose to grow — especially when it’s hard. That’s when the real breakthroughs happen.

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The buzz around artificial intelligence is undeniable. It’s revolutionizing industries, automating tasks and promising unprecedented growth. As an entrepreneur, you’ve likely explored ways that you can start incorporating this powerful tool into parts of your business, such as experimenting with generative AI for marketing copy or trying an AI-powered scheduling tool. Unfortunately, for many small business owners, the promised land of AI-driven transformation feels more like a mirage.

The challenge is often a fragmented approach to AI. You might use one AI tool to design social media content, another to manage your customer database and a third to interact with customers on your website. Because these tools are disconnected, they struggle to work cohesively, often relying on humans to act as a middleman, transferring information or cleaning up outputs. The results end up being generic insights that lack depth, leaving you wondering if AI is worth all the hype.

This isn’t a failure of effort. Most AI tools operate on a vast, general knowledge base, delivering broad strokes rather than the nuanced details your unique business demands. But a new frontier is emerging that promises to bridge this gap. Instead of a generic AI, a concept known as Model Context Protocol (or MCP) can deliver highly personalized, strategically relevant solutions.

MCP works by creating a framework that allows numerous AI models to interact based on a common understanding of a single source of context — your business. Rather than just relying on broad training data, AI models using MCP can tap into information that is relevant to your business, such as your customer data, past interactions, brand standards and strategic goals. This makes their outputs incredibly precise, actionable and personalized to your business.

While MCP is still in its early stages, there are critical steps that entrepreneurs can take today to prepare their business for this incoming wave of innovation. By laying the right groundwork now, you can get a jump start on maximizing the value of AI for your business.

Related: 3 Ways to Prepare Your Business For an AI Future

1. Create a clear brand identity

If you ask an AI to create marketing material, you’ll often get something generic. To make the AI truly effective, you want it to create content specific to your brand’s unique identity. Start by solidifying your brand identity by creating a brand profile.

This should include your company’s mission, target consumer profile, brand voice (is it formal, quirky, empathetic or direct?) and brand elements like logos and colors. This information becomes important context that an AI model can leverage to produce content and communications that truly resonate with your brand.

2. Map out your data and systems

To harness the full power of MCP, you need to know where all your data is housed. A solid best practice is to start a data inventory across all your systems. For best results, it’s wise to prioritize cleaning and standardizing this data, ensuring consistency in names, addresses, product descriptions and categories. The more organized and accessible your data is, the richer the context you can provide to AI models, resulting in better outcomes and decisions.

3. Provide contextual information

Context is where AI often struggles. Without sufficient background information, it tries to fill in the blanks, which can lead to irrelevant or inaccurate outputs. A good approach is to make sure you have information readily available that will give the AI enough context to make better decisions.

For example, create a centralized folder or knowledge base that contains important contextual information such as your company history, FAQs, product manuals, internal policies, standard responses and key client information. This context library will be a foundational resource for AI working under an MCP model.

Related: Your Company’s AI Strategy Is Probably Backwards. Here’s Why — and How to Fix It.

4. Engage with technology providers

It’s important to understand what integrations are coming in the future from your current technology stack. Reach out to your current software and tool providers to inquire about their plans for AI integration, specifically their support for contextual capabilities and APIs. Now might be the right time to evaluate if certain software or tools will be better prepared to provide MCP options, helping you make informed decisions about potential replacements.

5. Foster a culture of experimentation

MCP is an evolving field. The most successful entrepreneurs will be those willing to experiment, measure the results, and continuously refine their approach. Encourage your team to explore how AI can solve specific business problems, given your unique context, data, and goals. Even with current AI tools, you can simulate MCP by providing follow-up prompts that add more context, like breaking down a request into multiple, more detailed steps.

6. Create guidelines for data security and privacy

As you feed your proprietary business data into AI models, understanding the security and privacy implications is paramount. Before implementing MCP or other AI tools that leverage your data, it’s important to establish clear data governance policies. These policies can help protect your company and guide your team, ensuring sensitive information is handled responsibly and in compliance with relevant regulations.

Related: Balancing AI Innovation with Ethical Oversight

The future of AI for entrepreneurs isn’t about bigger, more complex models. It’s about better integration and context. Model Context Protocol (MCP) unlocks AI’s true potential for small businesses, making it personal, relevant and truly integrated. By focusing on providing the right context, you’ll gain a powerful competitive edge, working smarter and breaking through existing limitations.

Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.

Morgan Stanley’s return-to-office (RTO) policy is clear: The company’s 15,000 advisors and most other employees are expected to be in the office at least four days per week.

But what happens if your brother is playing on one of tennis’s biggest stages? After winning his fourth-round Wimbledon match on Monday, professional tennis player Ben Shelton, who’s ranked No. 10 in the world, asked Morgan Stanley (live on international television) to give his “lucky charm” sister more vacation time to help him continue. He is set to play in the quarter-final on Wednesday against the No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner.

^{The team of Ben Shelton of the United States, parents Bryan and Lisa, his girlfriend, professional soccer player, Trinity Rodman, and his sister, Emma, react to his on court interview after his victory against Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in the fourth round of the Gentlemen’s Singles Competition at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon on July 7th, 2025, in London, England. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty Images)}

“I’ve been playing well this week. It’s not just been me here. My parents are here. My girlfriend’s here. Also, my sister’s here. She’s been here for every match that I’ve played this tournament so far,” Shelton said. “She’s been the lucky charm. But she has work back in the U.S., starting on Monday. She works for Morgan Stanley.”

Shelton’s sister, Emma, works as a Virtual Engagement Associate at Morgan Stanley in Georgia, according to her LinkedIn.

“If any of you all have [connections] and get her a couple of extra days off so we can keep this rolling, that’d be great,” Shelton continued.

It looks like it worked. Later on Instagram, Shelton can be seen asking his sister if she got off work, and she jumps for joy.

“Shout out, Morgan Stanley,” he said.

Related: ‘Seeing People I Helped Succeed Is My Greatest Thrill’: Baseball Star Dexter Fowler and Restaurateur Michael Tanha Outline a Playbook for Success