My $5,000 very recent mistake...

Master → Mission → Marriage → Money

That’s the order and the order matters.

Order matters, and there’s a real cost to getting things out of order.

Money, time, relationships and confidence are all the cost of doing things out of order.

This last week, it cost me over $5,000.

I’ve learned this lesson the hard way before, at different points in my life, I’ve put things out of order, and had to deal with the consequences.

Even though it stings, I’m grateful for the $5,000 reminder because it could have been a whole lot worse. 

More on that in a moment.

The Correct Sequence in a Man’s Life:

1. Master (God) → Submission Before Strategy
   Everything starts with alignment to God. He’s the source of clarity, direction, and purpose. This is foundation, without a supreme Master, leadership can quickly become Tyranny.
   

2. Mission → Your Path Before Partnership
   After the Maker, a man needs a mission. This is his purpose and his “why.” If a man doesn’t know what he’s building, he will drift. Anything placed before mission (including relationships or money) will cause disorder.
   

3. Marriage → Purpose Before Partnership
   A wife is a helpmate, not a purpose. Only after a man is rooted in God and his mission should he commit to a woman. If he doesn’t have direction, he’ll look to her for fulfillment—a burden she was never meant to carry. A relationship without mission leads to dysfunction.
   

4. Money → The Byproduct, Not the Prize
   Money follows purpose. When a man is aligned with God, mission, and marriage, financial prosperity flows. Chasing money first leads to emptiness, compromise, and loss of identity.
   

The world teaches men to pursue money, women, success, the next thing... 

But pursuing without order is how men become lost, enslaved, or destroyed. 

What seems like progress is like running on quicksand, the faster you move, the faster you sink.

Trust me, I’ve been there.

The Problem When Marriage [or Mate] Comes First:

I’ve been in relationships where I put the woman before the mission.

I didn’t see it that way at the time, thinking I was showing up, pursuing her, making her a priority. But what I was really doing was seeking fulfillment in a relationship that wasn’t meant to complete me.

As a recovering “Nice Guy”, I made this mistake multiple times, thinking love would bring clarity, that if I had the right partner, everything would fall into place.

But here’s the truth:

When a man lacks clarity in his mission, he makes a woman his mission. And that’s the quickest way to destroy the relationship and yourself.

Instead of being rooted in purpose, I adjusted myself to fit the relationship. Instead of having direction, I made her the direction. Instead of leading, I sought validation.

It always played out the same way.

The moment she felt the pressure of being the center of my life, the relationship started to crumble.

No woman wants to be the center, it means you’ve taken your eyes off the mission. That mission is what made you attractive in the first place.

Lesson learned: A man must fully own his mission before committing to a woman. Otherwise, the relationship will be built on shaky ground… and if you’re in relationship its even more important get this right.

The Problem with Putting Mission First:

I’ve spent seasons focused on mission, over 10 years grinding self-improvement, focused on building better men. But I was disconnected from God.

I was building, leading, and creating, but something felt off.

It was never enough. I was moving on my own strength without divine guidance. 

Mission without Master leads to striving.

You can build great things with sheer willpower, but it’s unsustainable—and it robs you of peace.

This is where many high-performers get stuck. 

The grind without spiritual alignment leads to burnout, compromise, or self-destruction which can turn the most meaningful mission into an apathetic pursuit.

Lesson learned: A mission must be fueled by faith and can never become more important than the Master. If it does, it becomes an idol, and even great work can become empty.

The Problem with Putting Money First:

Here’s my $5,000 reminder.

Recently, my crypto accounts started pumping, and I put some profits aside to invest in other coins. I ended up in a rabbit hole of memecoins, day trading, and quick flips. It wasn’t about growth, it was about control. It was about escape and a shortcut to win on my own terms.

And to be honest, it was about greed.

I spent about 20 hours diving into the blockchain, trading bots, Discord groups, pushing deeper into a system I thought would be the answer. 

I had some early wins, but in the process, I lost sight of my mission.

After a single wrong click, the profits in that wallet got wiped out, including my Telegram account and conversations. Poof.

Upset? Yes, but grateful. God has more for me.

Why?

Because money without a mission is empty. 

Money is a tool, not a purpose. What is wealth without impact?

Money follows mission, but usually not with 23,000% overnight returns. 

There are no shortcuts, and that’s why order matters. 

This was a reset. Wealth should never be the first pursuit.

Lesson learned: Money is the byproduct of alignment, not the goal. It flows naturally when Master, Mission, and Marriage are in order first.

The Macro Perspective: Why Order Matters for Every Man

This isn’t just about me, this applies to every man.

When men get the order wrong, they collapse.

• If Master is missing, they build on sand.

• If Mission is missing, they drift and lose meaning.

• If Marriage is out of order, they become needy or reckless, ruining relationships.

• If Money is the first pursuit, they compromise everything for hollow success.

Look at history… or perhaps your own life.

Every fallen king, every lost empire, every ruined man, all came back to misalignment.

When a man puts God first, aligns his mission with divine purpose, establishes a strong marriage, and treats money as a tool, not a master, he becomes unstoppable.

That is what we seek.

Unstoppable purpose, power and growth.

Bold in Faith. Mission Driven. Legacy Minded. Inspiring and Impacting.

Alignment Over Everything

I’ve learned these lessons through experience, through mistakes, detours, and painful realizations… and I know I am not alone.

Every time I’ve tried to chase relationships before my mission, or make money my focus, or build without God at the center, I paid the price.

This $5k reminder was a small cost in the grand scheme. The order is clear:

1. Master first – When God is first, everything aligns.

2. Mission next – A man must know his path before leading others.

3. Marriage in place – A strong covenant multiplies a man’s purpose, not defines it.

This is the way.

The Micro Perspective: Where to start right now.

I don’t know where you are in your journey of faith, but maybe this resonates with you and like me you’ve placed things out of order and paid the consequence.

If so, a good place to start is with prayer.

God, thank you for all you have given me to steward. I am sorry for placing things out of order. I want to do better. Please reveal to me what I need to give up so that I can put you first.

Followed by action.

What I will say is the faster you relinquish control and surrender to the lesson the faster you get to experience the insight and blessing.

What you resist only persists, so if you recognize something is out of order, change it willingly and move on.

Hope this helps in your pursuit, just don’t forget, order matters.

To your ordered life,

E