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... Tom Morgan!

Do you know Tom Morgan? He's the founder of The Leading Edge, a 150-person community that's hit capacity and operates at the bleeding edge of consciousness, personal evolution, and what he calls "non-local consciousness."

If not, allow me to introduce you. Tom spent years in traditional finance before undergoing what he describes as a fundamental frame break around age 36 - that magical inflection point where accomplished people start asking "what next?" after reaching the first mountaintop. I wanted to connect with him because he embodies something I value deeply: the courage to explore the intersection of spirituality, consciousness, and practical success without losing his mind or his integrity.

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 synchronicity, dragon-slaying, the common knowledge game around consciousness, and why the biggest problems in the world are downstream of consciousness.

THREE: That's The Magic Number of Lessons

In the meantime, I wanted to pull THREE KEY LESSONS from my time with Tom Morgan 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: The Butterfly Effect Beats the Billion-Person Impact

Key Concept: Tom runs his 150-person Leading Edge community deliberately at Dunbar's Number because he's seen too many people jump straight to "I want to impact a billion people" without first proving they can meaningfully impact one person. The butterfly effect suggests that deeply influencing a small number of high-agency individuals creates exponential downstream impact that's far more powerful than shallow engagement with massive audiences.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: Almost all that matters, almost all we have a shot at controlling, is our starting conditions. It's like starting a campfire - you can have all the right materials, but if you're underwater, none of it matters.

If you start to look for this elsewhere in life, you quickly start to realize what gets starting conditions right and where nobody’s thought about it. Every fast food line has this down to a science. Open the Amazon app on your phone and - yeah, they thought about it. But now think about the people you’re hanging out with and why. Are you being as intentional about your network conditions as Amazon is about your shopping experience?

Not that it has to be either, but it’s a question worth asking. What are the right starting conditions for what you’re trying to do? The Leading Edge, Tom’s community, has directly addressed this and I think that’s why they’re thriving. When you get high-agency people to opt in with a sense of wonder and woo, you’re going to get a lot (A LOT) of mind-expanding conversations.

This is not your father’s - or even your weirdest uncle’s. What Tom’s building is something unique and special.

Work question for you: Who is the one person in your network that, if you helped them level up significantly, could create the most meaningful downstream impact in your industry?

LIFE: Reality Is Probably Pretty Smart (So Listen to the Feedback)

Key Concept: Instead of trying to control outcomes through pure rational analysis, Tom suggests treating reality as an intelligent system that provides constant feedback through synchronicities, coincidences, and patterns. The crazier the synchronicity, the more likely you're on the right path. This requires moving from left-hemisphere dominance (logical, controlling) to right-hemisphere integration (holistic, responsive).

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: Understanding the direction you are heading in is more important than obsessing over the next step. Yes, the step is important and you don’t want to twist your ankle or walk off a cliff, but the direction you are going in is going to make all of the difference. Because the direction is going to give you instructions about those steps, if you’re paying attention.

When I finally decided to start this podcast, it was a step in a direction. It wasn’t a final answer or a completed journey. It was a commitment to an idea, and then, a first episode.

Jess Bost and Tom Morgan were the first episode. They knew each other, but we talked about something they wouldn’t go on any other podcast and talk about. The topical novelty felt really good to them. I kept experimenting with episodes. I took more steps and paid closer attention.

I realized introducing strangers, with the novelty of the topic they wouldn’t discuss in this way, anywhere else - unless I introduced them in person - was the angle. Again, it took lots of steps and lots of feedback from guests and the audience to triangulate on this data. The crazy/win, when I know I’ve made a pairing, is when the guests turn to me (and each other) after we just press stop and say, “Matt, you are a magician.” That is the best feeling.

This combination - of the synchronicities of who shows up and confirms your direction, like Jess and Tom did for me, coupled with the intelligent feedback of them and people in the audience - works together. It’s shaped the show, it’s shaped my network. And I am going to keep taking steps in this direction on my journey.

Life Question For You: What synchronicities or "crazy coincidences" have you been dismissing lately that might actually be feedback about your life direction?

LEGACY: Do What You Love in Service of Love

Key Concept: Tom's formula for thriving beyond conventional success: find what you're uniquely good at (differentiation) and put it in service of something larger than yourself (integration). This isn't just feel-good philosophy - it's what he calls "the path of complexity" that mirrors how the universe actually operates, from cells organizing into organs to individuals organizing into meaningful systems.

Personal Archive Note-To-Self: There’s a horrible procrastinator and an excited curiosity chaser that live in my brain. They cause me - great amounts of anxiety when I don’t give them stuff to do. The curiosity chaser picks up stuff to work on and the procrastinator doesn’t work on it until there’s a deadline. If I’m not structuring their chaos, it’s a disaster. Emotionally, psychologically, and yes, spiritually.

BUT. The combination of my procrastinating until I’m in action focus, and my curious to the point of fault engaged interest is a differentiator. Most people don’t index in these categories the way I do. Which means if I can do something constructive with them, if I can integrate them into my life in a way that doesn’t cause me harm, I’m onto something special.

Special requires some output. I write my Cultish Creative posts and have shared one daily for almost 8 years. I invite friends from across my network onto podcasts (now, introducing strangers just to see what serendipities might arise - and they do!). These are actions. These are as much about loving the work as realizing I love myself when I’m in this mode.

When I’m working in my zone, I create better value for others. I had to learn that it’s my presence that I’m good at giving, especially when you combine my “Oh no I procrastinated” focus with my “Oh yes I am so interested in THAT detail” curiosity. If I can put that energy into my steps, for myself and others, I know good things await. That’s exciting.

Watching Tom build a whole community of people thinking this way too - it’s so inspiring. We are taking steps in directions that we believe in, not steps life, or jobs, or careers say are “right.” We are inviting serendipity in every time we put one foot in front of the other. And, we aren’t fighting ourselves along the way - it’s all out of love (and, “you know what love is”).

Legacy question for you: If you stripped away all external expectations and financial pressures, what would you love to do in service of love, and how might your unique skills serve that vision?

BEFORE YOU GO: Be sure to…

• Connect with Tom Morgan on Twitter @TomOwenMorgan and LinkedIn 

• Check out The Leading Edge on Substack

• Get on Tom's calendar at theleading-edge.org (he'll actually take the meeting!)

• Reflect on your own "36-year-old moment" - when did the first mountain stop being enough?

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.