I’ve written this post before…
July 2024: “A Return to the Keyboard.”
September 2025: “I’m Back.”
April 2026: “The Daily Draft Returns.”
Each one came with big promises like daily posts, podcasts, challenges, a whole book written live…
Each one was followed by a sprint, then silence…
So I’m not going to tell you I’m back; I’m going to tell you what I learned, and what you can count on from here.
WHY I DISAPPEARED
I stepped away from social media because, unknowingly, I’d built electronic walls around myself, and infinite timelines for my mind to walk.
Where I once ran a six-figure business 100% online, posting every lesson, lift, thought, win, and loss inside FoE and on X, the past 2 years, I’ve had a few articles here and there, some videos, photos, and nothing at all near the levels of 2017-2023.
That system worked, until it didn’t.
The more I fed the machine, the more it wanted to eat, and I hadn’t built the boundaries to keep it from emptying my cup. I was present for the online world and my wife, kids, and community, but I wasn’t present enough in my head or in my life to see what it was pulling from me, until the cup went completely dry…
Instead of fighting for something I no longer felt compelled to be a part of, I cut it out (not easy), knowing full well the impact it would have on my finances, ego, network, and daily routine.
I spent the time away doing work nobody online saw:
Building a ‘Green Industry’ focused podcast, blog, social accounts, and more
Building up my photography business.
Auditing all of my finances to get out of the rat race
Putting my first fine-art prints up for sale
Having my final season coaching my son in baseball
Prioritizing my health and fitness, both mentally and physically.
I don’t regret the pause; I needed it. I do regret the pattern of going all in, burning out, then disappearing on the people who were here for it.
WHAT I GOT WRONG
I kept treating this newsletter like a sprint.
Seven posts a week, a podcast, the 31-chapter book in 31 days.
That’s not discipline or good entertainment; it’s trying to replicate how I once operated, not how I should be operating. What I did to find success early on wasn’t what I need to do now.
I tell men all the time that the standard is the standard; you don’t get to set one you can’t keep and then call it a lifestyle. Yet there I was, being the dude saying I’d do “X,” only to quit and come back months later saying, “Now I’ll do Y,” rinse, wash, repeat. It’s like I wanted to remain a part of the discussion, but I also wanted to get the fuck away from it all.
This time, I’ve chosen to follow my own advice and look at what I want (to keep creating online) and what I'm willing to do to create in a way that fills my cup, not drains it again.
THE NEW STANDARD
This is how it will operate; two letters a week, every week.
Tuesday: A free essay. Fatherhood, marriage, discipline, and the lessons I’m learning in real time - these are for everyone.
Friday: The Draft Room, for paid subscribers. The practical side, including the deeper lessons, insider information, plans, numbers, and the stuff I won’t put on the open internet.
That’s it.
If I have time to do more, you’ll get more; but I am guaranteeing Tuesdays for all, and Fridays for those who support the newsletter.
WHAT’S COMING
A few things I’m building and sharing with you:
Fatherhood: My kids are teenagers now, plenty of lessons on what worked, what didn’t, what continues, and what’s changed.
Marriage: How it's worked for Jackie and I, along with insights you can take and apply to your relationship.
Service: Leaving the military left a void in my soul; I found that serving others or a community filled that hollowness. That is something I continue to make a part of my life, and I will share how you too can benefit from having something you provide value to.
Running a small business: Both building the brands for the company I work for, my own business, as well as all socials, personal and professional.
Leadership & Discipline: The daily habits that hold when motivation doesn’t; lessons from someone who's been in the trenches in almost every field, with real-world and online experience helping people become their best selves.
“I write for the same reason I breathe, because if I didn't, I would die.” - Isaac Asimov
WHY GO PAID
Free subscribers get my best thinking every Tuesday, and that won’t change.
Paid subscribers get the tools that make the thinking usable:
The Draft Room every Friday: With tools you can use that weekend; a script, a checklist, a plan, etc. geared towards Fatherhood, marriage, discipline, and work, in a semi-rotation of topics.
A paid-only subscriber chat with a weekly prompt, and a monthly Ask Zac thread where I answer every question
Access to the full archive, 400+ posts deep
25% off everything in my Gumroad store
It’s $7 a month, or $70 a year.
That’s skipping a coffee a month, or one night out a year.
If you want to go all in, Founding Members ($150 a year) get everything above, plus every product in my Gumroad store free, now and in the future, the 31 Days to Masculinity ebook, and a quarterly Q&A with me.
If this newsletter has ever made you put the phone down and go be with your family, or choose to be a better person, that’s why you should support it. If this is your first time reading my newsletter, you picked the perfect moment, because now it is game on again.
Stay tuned.
- Zac
"I kept treating this newsletter like a sprint” hit home. As a runner, I know you can’t sprint a marathon, and the same goes for building anything worth keeping. I love that you chose a pace that fills your cup instead of draining it. Two letters a week, every week, is a standard you can actually live by. Rooting for this version of you, Zac 🙏🏾