The Badge I Refuse to Wear: My Journey From Near-Burnout to AIGenius

There was a time I wore exhaustion like a badge of honor.

Wake at 5:00am.

Run/Exercise.

Cold plunge.

Slam coffee.

Take a call.

Respond to three emails while I’m still on that first call.

Hustle.

Grind.

Repeat.

I ran my life like a chaotic startup and called it “dedication.”

It was a toxic Git 'R Done attitude.

Truth? I didn’t control my time. It controlled me.

That’s when I knew I had it all wrong.

I picked up Rework again and reread this:

Our culture celebrates the idea of the workaholic. We hear about people burning the midnight oil. They pull all-nighters and sleep at the office. It's considered a badge of honor to kill yourself over a project. No amount of work is too much work.

Not only is this workaholism unnecessary, it's stupid. Working more doesn't mean you care more or get more done. It just means you work more.

That hit deep.

Gary Vee once said, “Working more hours isn’t noble if you’re working on the wrong things.”
And David Goggins, the king of effort, reminds us: “Do the work that matters. The right work. Over and over.”

So I made a decision—I’d stop measuring myself by the hours I worked.

And I’d start measuring myself by how well I used them.

That shift gave birth to AIGenius.

At first, it was a basic CRM—lead intake, some text follow-up, email automation. But like me, it is evolving.

I built workflows to qualify seller urgency. Depending on where the seller was within the follow-up cycle, I've automated SMS, Email and even "slydialed" voice messages. I trained it to ping me only when my attention is necessary.

Now, with every iteration, AIGenius gets sharper.

I’m about to launch AI agents (Walt and Grace) that will handle initial calls—real phone conversations.

They don’t just recite scripts; they listen, adapt, and log notes straight into the CRM. These agents tag motivation, urgency, and even schedule phone calls for me.

It’s eerie. And beautiful.

Want to chat with Walt or Grace?? Let me know and I'll have one of them call you.

The more I refine it, the less I do the busy work.

And the more I lean into what I’m actually best at—communicating with people, evaluating opportunities, negotiating contracts, and managing pending transactions.

Every iteration of AIGenius buys me countless hours back.

Every new agent frees up more creative space.

I don’t chase more hours. I design smarter systems.

That badge I used to wear? I traded it for automations and workflows.

I traded it for Efficiency.

I traded it for Time.

And that’s a trade I’ll make every single time.