Rethinking My Highest and Best Use

Each Saturday, I take a step back from the daily grind—revenue, meetings, code, strategy—and ask a more important question:

What is my highest and best use?

This isn’t a productivity hack.
It’s not a leadership tactic.
It’s the reason I started documenting this journey—moving from Canada, building a business in the U.S., investing time in Spain.

Because here’s the truth:
At some point, building for building’s sake just doesn’t cut it anymore.
There has to be a deeper “why.”

The Realization Hitting Hard This Week

This week, the U.S. passed another bloated budget bill.
More spending. More bloat. More bureaucracy.

And Elon Musk? He’s out.
He said he’s done trying to influence the system from the outside. He gave it a shot. Realized the government machine isn’t something you fix by force. So he’s going back to what he knows best:
building companies, solving real problems, creating meaningful work.

And it clicked for me.

Maybe the best thing I can do isn’t to “fix” a system—it’s to build a better one somewhere else.

The Environment Matters More Than Ever

If you’re a business owner, here’s the hard truth:
You must read the environment you’re operating in.

Here’s what I see:

🇨🇦 Canada: Productivity is plummeting. More people in government jobs than private sector. GDP flatlining. Public sector expanding while value creation declines.

🇺🇸 The U.S.: Still a mess, but still a market. There’s motion, momentum, and a private sector that still wants innovation.

🇪🇸 Spain: Bureaucratic, slow—but rebuilding from the bottom. The pain has already happened. Now it’s about reinvention.

So I’m building in all three—with the long-term belief that I’m most useful where value creation still matters.

What This Means for Me, Practically

This week, my personal mantra came into sharper focus:

Highest and best use.

What’s mine?

🌍 Stabilize my local business in Canada
🤝 Build team autonomy so I can step back
🇪🇸 Help lead a grassroots school project in Spain
🇺🇸 Establish a business presence in the U.S. where innovation is still welcomed
🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Keep investing in people—not assets

Because here’s the real kicker:

Businesses don’t fail from competition. They fail from irrelevance.

And the only thing that keeps you relevant is your ability to create value for people.

Read the Room, Then Respond

Millennial business owners who’ve never experienced interest rates above 2% are in for a wake-up call.
Margins are getting crushed.
Cash flow is tight.
Insurance, subscriptions, G&A—all rising.

And while many are still trying to grow at all costs, they’re ignoring the math:

Interest rates up
Wages up
Profitability down

The game has changed.

And if you’re not changing with it, you’re going to get left behind.

So What Should You Do?

Ask yourself:

What environment am I building in?
Are my assumptions still valid in this market?
Where am I still valuable—and where am I just spinning my wheels?
Is my business resilient enough to survive margin compression?
Am I optimizing for purpose, not just profit?

Here’s My Answer:

I’m using AI and automation to strip out admin drag.
I’m shifting financial resources into people, not tech toys.
I’m aligning with those who care more about culture than capital.
I’m saying no to distractions that don’t serve the mission.

Because I don’t want to be the last one holding the bag when the tide goes out.

You Have to Know When to Stay—and When to Serve Somewhere Else

I love the company we’ve built.
I love our team.
But I also know this isn’t the only thing I was built to do.

If you’re feeling that same pull—toward something more—this is your sign:

You don’t have to burn it all down to build something new. You just have to know where you’re still useful.