For years, I've been connecting with interesting people and documenting insights that might help my clients and myself. What was once private is now (mostly) public.

People often ask: "How do you know all these people?" and "How do you connect these (re: random) ideas?" The answer is simple: consistent relationship cultivation and thoughtful note taking. My north star is trusting my instincts, my maps are the constellations in these reflections.

This approach to multidisciplinary networking has helped dozens of clients, colleagues, and friends strengthen their networks and unlock new opportunities. Find my Personal Archive on CultishCreative.com, watch me build a better Personal Network on the Cultish Creative YouTube channel, and listen to Just Press Record on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, and follow me on social media (LinkedIn and X) - now distributed by Epsilon Theory.

You can also check out my work as Managing Director at Sunpointe, as a host on top investment YouTube channel Excess Returns, and as Senior Editor at Perscient.

Feel free to steal these ideas directly - that's what they're for! I can't promise you'll learn FROM me, but I guarantee you can learn something WITH me. Let's go. Count it off: 1-2-3-4!

Introducing... Morgan Ranstrom!

Do you know Morgan Ranstrom? He's a wealth advisor at Trailhead Planners, author, musician with Stone Arch Rivals, and someone who thinks deeply about compounding in all its forms - from right living to generational legacy.

If not, allow me to introduce you. Morgan combines financial planning expertise with a musician's creative soul, and he's written thoughtfully about the intersection of money, meaning, and multi-generational impact. I wanted to connect with them because they embody something I value deeply: the rare ability to see how everything compounds - relationships, habits, creativity, and wisdom - over decades.

Our conversation is LIVE now on the Just Press Record YouTube channel (and this Cultish Creative Playlist). Listen and you'll hear us dive deep into time as a filter, the power of being a good ancestor, and why Morgan traded his Friday nights for Saturday mornings.

THREE: That's The Magic Number of Lessons

In the meantime, I wanted to pull THREE KEY LESSONS from my time with Morgan Ranstrom to share with you (and drop into my Personal Archive).

Read on and you'll find a quote with a lesson and a reflection you can Take to work with you, Bring home with you, and Leave behind with your legacy.

WORK: Everything Compounds (For You or Against You)

Key Concept: Morgan's insight cuts to the heart of professional development - every decision, every habit, every relationship choice is either building momentum in your favor or creating drag against your progress. In work, this means your reputation compounds through consistent quality, your expertise compounds through deliberate practice, and your network compounds through genuine relationship cultivation. The key is recognizing that neutrality doesn't exist - you're always moving in one direction or the other.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: There’s a weird part about personal growth where you know you’re growing if you almost can’t believe who you were before. I never felt it more than with creative stuff. Art and music especially, but there’s a whole host of life/human behavior bits I could focus on (and get queasy over) too.

The tie-in to compounding is, rolling a snowball means every time you measure backwards in time you realize just how small you were. And that smallness is a function of surface area. OK, I’m passing on the arts stories and going personal I guess.

So in my personal life, I know I was pretty depressed not all that long ago. I remember thinking, “How can I be so dumb and screw so many things up” a lot. A lot, a lot. The reality was, the funk I was in was compounding. The surface area of my down and outtedness was expanding, so the things I was subconsciously screwing up was growing alongside it.

It takes a lot of effort to reverse the momentum, but it can be done. It took me therapy and reconnecting with a bunch of old friends while making/deepening my relationships with some new ones. But, in all cases, as the positive surface area started to expand, all these other good bits started to get picked up too.

It showed up extra in my work-life too. The better my personal situation got, the better the opportunity set for work got because now I was (finally) compounding in the right direction. It's been 4 years of every time I look back I can't believe how small I used to be.

Work question for you: What's one professional habit you've developed that's clearly compounding in your favor, and what's one that might be working against you without you realizing it?

LIFE: Trading Friday Nights for Saturday Mornings

Key Concept: Morgan captures the profound challenge of right living - making choices today that your future self will thank you for, even when your present self can't see the benefits. This requires a fundamental shift in how we measure success, moving from immediate gratification to long-term compounding. The "trade" he describes isn't just about sleep schedules; it's about choosing the path that builds rather than depletes over time.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: Morgan might as well be explaining the entire loneliness epidemic in one simple example here. If you don’t make life adjustments, if you don’t figure out where your energy and connectivity is coming from, and figure out how to not fight against it, you end up in a bad spot. If you figure it out, everything gets better.

I love early dinners. I love going to bed early and getting up early. It’s just how my energy ebbs and flows throughout the day. Life is busy, I get it, but I had to learn to notice. It took years.

Now I protect those early dinners and early bedtimes like Morgan protects his Saturday mornings. It's not about being antisocial (or boring, or weird) - it's about recognizing what actually gives you energy vs. what depletes it. Does energy compound? Apparently it does.

Now, if on a Saturday my wife and I don’t have big plans and are planning a quiet night together and we realize it’s 4pm and, “Hey, I could eat, could you eat?” We do the early dinner. It’s wonderful. The senior citizen discounts will come eventually, but for now, if my energy is in a better place then everything else sort of falls into line too.

Life Question For You: What "Friday night" habits might you need to trade for "Saturday morning" benefits, and how can you sustain that trade when the payoff isn't immediately visible?

LEGACY: Planting Trees You'll Never See

Key Concept: Morgan's retelling of this classic story about Napoleon's general illuminates the essence of legacy thinking - the willingness to invest in outcomes you'll never personally witness. This mindset transforms how we approach parenting, mentorship, creative work, and even our daily choices. It's an act of ego reduction that paradoxically creates the most lasting impact, because it frees us from the need for immediate validation and allows us to focus on what truly matters across generations.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: At my lowest lows in the depressed state I found myself in years ago, I started focusing on what I call “giant baby steps.” They’re the smallest thing even a baby could do, with the largest long run payoffs.

They’re my way of describing how a baby isn’t going to win a marathon, but they’re still a big deal, even if they look stupid-simple.

In the broader sense, it’s also reinforced in my marriage. My wife and I use this expression all of the time with each other. Whenever one of us is in a rut but there’s a small step to walk it forward, we point it out. That matters too. The call out.

Just like the general with the tree who wants to start today even if the payoff is generations later, I want to take the smallest steps today in the right direction. It’s the compounding in the right direction idea all over again. Giant baby step after giant baby step, eventually the baby grows up and a lot of ground can be covered. Now that’s progress.

Legacy question for you: What "tree" could you plant today that future generations would benefit from, even if you never see its full growth?

BEFORE YOU GO: Be sure to…

• Connect with Morgan Ranstrom on LinkedIn and check out his work at Trailhead Planners

• Listen to Stone Arch Rivals on Spotify and discover his musical side

• Visit MorganRanstrom.com and follow @MorganOnPurpose on Instagram and YouTube

• Reflect on what you want to compound in your own work, life, and legacy

You have a Personal Network and a Personal Archive just waiting for you to build them up stronger. Look at your work, look at your life, and look at your legacy - and then, start small in each category. Today it's one person and one reflection. Tomorrow? Who knows what connections you'll create.

Last thing: Don't forget to click reply/click here and tell me who you're adding to your network and why! Plus, if you already have your own Personal Archive too, let me know, I'm creating a database.