I didn’t make content for six months.

I didn’t make content for six months.

Not because I was lazy. Not because I was strategizing.

But because I was grieving.

Here’s what I learned.

Today in 6 minutes or less:

✔️ The Truth No One Prepares You For

✔️ Systems Save When Seasons Change

✔️ Proof in the Watch Time

💔 The Truth No One Prepares You For

When my father-in-law unexpectedly passed away last year, I was surprised by the ways it impacted every corner of my life.

Grief isn’t always loud. Sometimes it just… empties you.

The creative energy? Gone.
The push to perform? Numb.
The pressure to produce? Still there, but impossible to meet.

And in the past, that would’ve done a lot of damage.
Six months without a new YouTube video?
That should’ve tanked our lead flow.

But it didn’t.

Because of something I built long before I needed it:

Systems.

Not glamorous ones. Not always perfect ones.

But consistent, quiet systems that worked — even when I couldn’t.

⚙️ Systems Save When Seasons Change

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I had been digging a well long before I was thirsty.

Recording content.
Documenting processes.
Setting up automations.
Delegating things I once swore only I could do.

I thought I was just trying to buy back some time.

What I really built… was margin.

The kind of margin that shows up when you can't.

The kind of margin that lets your business keep breathing… even when you're holding your breath.

In the darkest season of my personal life, the business didn’t collapse.

Not because I hustled harder.

But because past-me had created enough structure that present-me didn’t have to hold everything together.

📊 Proof in the Watch Time

I hadn’t touched our YouTube channel in six months.

No uploads. No new promos.

And still… in just one month, those videos were watched for over 200 hours.

That’s like doing forty 1:1 strategy calls…

While I was off the grid. Healing. Processing. Resting.

And maybe that’s the real ROI of systems:

They don’t just scale your business.
They shield you when you need it most.

This is your sign to film and post the content you’ve been putting off. Seriously.

💌 Who Needs to Read This?

If someone you know is:

• Carrying a lot right now

• Running a business through a hard season

• Or waiting for “someday” to get their systems in place...

Forward this email to them.

Seriously. This might be the thing that gives them permission to rest… or the clarity to start building margin.

And if that someone is you?

Here’s where you start:

What’s one task you repeat every week… that someone (or something) else could do instead?

• Maybe it’s sending client check-ins.

• Maybe it’s posting content.

• Maybe it’s answering the same question for the 20th time.

Pick one.

Then either:
✅ Document it
🤖 Automate it
or… 📤 Delegate it

That’s how systems start.
One handoff at a time.

Most people build for growth…

But the wisest people build for storms.

We build systems thinking we’re just trying to save time.

But what we’re really doing is preparing for a moment we hope never comes.

The truth?

You don’t rise to the level of your goals.
You fall to the strength of your systems.

So the best time to start?
Before you need it.

While your energy is still high.
While your brain is still clear.
While it feels like “you’re fine.”

If you are going through something right now, I see you. One small step today towards building those systems could be huge for you down the line.

Because systems aren’t just for the good seasons.
They’re what carry you through the hard ones.

To profiting more and working less. 💸 

-Matt

📦 THE TOOLBOX

This wasn’t an easy decision.

But it was the right one — for me, for my family, and (I think) for you too.

I recorded a short video explaining what happened to one of the businesses I founded: ZappyChat.
And what I learned that might shift how you build.

Here’s what went down 👇️ 

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