The Environmental Layer - Why Your Breakthrough Might Require a New Area Code
When Changing Your Zip Code Changes Your Identity
An onion grown in sulfur-rich soil tastes different from one grown in sandy loam. Same seed, completely different flavor. The environment doesn't just influence growth—it determines what qualities emerge and which ones stay dormant.
I lived in Miami for 36 years before I figured this out.
The Soil You're Growing In
I thought I was just moving an hour north to Palm Beach (two hours with traffic). Turns out, I was performing a full system reboot.
Miami was my identity. The wild one, the partying, the friend groups, the FOMO. I had clients doing headshots and marketing for real estate agents, marketing for malls, and luxury watch campaigns. On paper, I was doing fine. In reality, I was suffocating.
There was this one "friend" I'd known since I was ten. Everyone thought we were brothers. We'd been loyal to each other through everything—except the parts where boundaries got crossed, where exes became fair game, where every woman I dated became his next target. I used to call it karma—like the universe was showing me my own patterns. But really, it was just exhausting.
I'd escape to Delray Beach to hang with another buddy, just to breathe. That should've been my first clue that the soil I was planted in wasn't growing the version of myself I wanted to become. The upside? Delray Beach is ultimately where I met my wife.
The Geographic Leap
When my girlfriend (now wife) suggested I move in with her in Palm Beach, it felt like permission to finally leave. I was 36, starting over in a studio apartment, literally one block away from $5-80 million homes. Jimmy Buffett had three houses down the street. One time, I had to park two blocks away because they'd shut down our road for a Trump fundraiser.
Here I was, surrounded by generational wealth, living in a studio, having lost most of my Miami clients.
I felt defeated at first. Even tried driving back to Miami weekly (circa 2016) to keep some clients—four hours round trip in traffic. It wasn't sustainable.
But something interesting started happening. Years later, one of my true friends said something that stuck: "It was good you left Miami, man. You really got focused and changed a lot." And he was right. The FOMO, the drinking, the womanizing, the wasteful nights I can barely remember—all of it stayed in Miami.
The Shedding Clarity
Here's the brutal truth: When I moved, most "friends" stopped calling. The ones I thought were ride-or-die just... disappeared. I even sent goodbye emails to two of them. Actual emails saying, "We had a good run, I'm sorry for whatever happened, but it's time to go our separate ways."
They tried reaching out. I was done.
The geographic shift gave me something Miami never could—permission to become someone new without the old audience demanding I stay comfortable enough for their standards.
And in Palm Beach? My wife introduced me, through a chance encounter, to who would become my business partner. That introduction led to blockchain, crypto, MetaMask wallets, Web3 infrastructure, and, until recently, implementing vibe coding into the infrastructure—it's ever evolving. The entire trajectory that brought me to where I am now.
The Environment Assessment
Your environment isn't neutral. It's either growing the version of you that thrives or keeping you comfortable in patterns you've outgrown.
I think about how I used to go on "boys trips" where everyone's trying to hold onto a remnant of what used to be, but it no longer vibes with where you are now. It's not that anyone's wrong—we've all just grown in different directions.
Think about the friend circles where you're drained by Sunday. I was for sure recovering not just from the night but from performing an old version of yourself that no longer fits.
Think about the client work that pays bills but doesn't align with where you're heading, or the city that feels comfortable but suffocating.
The Soil Test
I'm not saying you need to move cities (though sometimes you do). I'm saying: look at your current environment honestly.
Is your friend group celebrating your growth or subtly punishing it? Is your physical location giving you access to the opportunities you need, or are you driving four hours to maintain connections that drain you? Are you in an ecosystem that demands you stay who you were, or one that lets you become who you're meant to be?
The hardest part isn't leaving—it's admitting you've outgrown the soil you're planted in.
Miami gave me memories, connections, and a foundation. But Palm Beach gave me my future. Different soil, different growth, different flavor entirely.
This Week's Peel
Notice where you feel most alive versus where you feel like you're performing. That gap is your environment talking.
Your breakthrough might not be about working harder in your current soil—it might be about transplanting yourself somewhere that actually feeds your growth.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is change your zip code, or in some cases, continents. Sometimes it's just changing who you spend Tuesday nights with.
"We are products of our environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective." — W. Clement Stone
This week, peel: What environment is demanding you stay small to keep others comfortable? And what would happen if you gave yourself permission to outgrow it?
Being Coached Layers: The Borders of Evolution
Dr. Goodman says that the technological age has created a global consciousness, allowing you to access knowledge and connections regardless of your physical location. He notes that this virtual interface often brings you wisdom from people you've never met, proving that when the student is ready, the teacher arrives—and when the onion is ready, it seeks out the soil best suited for its evolution.
This evolution, he explains, occurs at the borders of support and challenge. Your current consciousness and environment are the byproducts of your dominant inner thoughts over the last five years, and are now preparing you for what's to come in the next five. To navigate this, trust the process: water, fertilize, and repeat. When you are ready, the answer will appear as the natural byproduct of your evolution. You are exactly where you are supposed to be, doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing, and a master is simply someone who found that out.
Bookshelf Peeled: The Non-Neutral Environment
The story of the hybrid onion and the power of changing your area code made me recall The Power of Place by Winifred Gallagher. Her book scientifically validates the central lesson of this week: your environment is not a neutral backdrop—it is a powerful force that actively shapes your identity, thoughts, and actions.
The key lesson is that if you want to cultivate a new set of qualities—to become a different "flavor" of onion—you must change your soil. The book explains that trying to change deep-seated habits while remaining in the same place that created them is often an exercise in futility. The simplest, most effective act of personal growth might be transplanting yourself to an ecosystem that demands you become the version of yourself you've been avoiding.
The Power of Place: How Our Surroundings Shape Our Thoughts, Emotions, and Actions. By Winifred Gallager
Design Rebel: The Transplant
This segment features the Rebel, me, Onion making a bold environmental move. The realistic look was achieved after extensive iteration with Leonardo.ai. The compelling voice was generated by ElevenLabs, and the script was a collaboration between me and Gemini. Final editing was completed in Wondershare Filmora. Enjoy the journey of growth!
This weeks inspiration for week 19 here.
Weekly Inspired Insights I liked or found useful this week:
P.S. If this resonates with you, share it with someone. I'm dedicated to helping fellow explorers—or anyone who found this page—uncover their authentic self with humor and insight. We're all in this together, finding the courage to truly live from our core essence (or as close as we can get!).
The Multiplicity Layer: Many From One (Tentative title)
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