I'm Building Something Different

(and you probably should be too)

I wanted to share something that's been on my mind lately.

I’ve been writing online now for over 12 months. Most of the time was probably wasted shouting the same boring ideas no one really cares about into the aether. Wondering why nothing I was doing would stick. It probably didn’t need to take so long. But it did.

Maybe you know how that feels too.

But the excuse I like to give was that I was stuck on so much different advice.

Be the niche. Actually, don’t be the niche, niche down a LOT.

Follow your passions. Actually, don’t do that, go where the demand is.

Focus on monetizing. Actually, don’t do that, validate your ideas first.

But something shifted in me recently.

Because whatever I did never felt quite right. But I think that’s changed now, and it all comes down to why I called my newsletter “Unpacked”. So let’s talk about that. Because honestly, it's not what you might expect from another business newsletter.

It Started With Two Realizations

First, I've always loved teaching.

I studied Educational Psychology and History, thinking I'd become a teacher. Turns out, traditional teaching wasn't for me. But that didn’t stop me from being obsessed with taking complex, overwhelming ideas and breaking them down into simple, actionable principles.

I love seeing the light in people’s eyes when they have that ”aha” moment.

That's the heart of what I want to do with Unpacked.

Second, I got really tired of the Creator Economy's obsession with revenue, scale, and "growing at all costs." The hustle culture. The 12-hour workdays in pursuit of "freedom." The shallow tactics and endless shortcuts that never seem to lead anywhere meaningful.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still fascinated by the mechanics of building and growing a business/brand online. But I realized something: the people who succeed long-term are the ones who are operating in their own uniquely effective way.

What I'm Building Instead

I'm calling it lifestyle entrepreneurship.

It's about approaching business from a place of deep clarity about who you are and what you actually want—not what you think you should want. It’s creating something meaningful to you and helpful to others that support the life you want to live. It’s living your life without outside constraints, like money, expectations, and being realistic.

Because here's my controversial take: entrepreneurship is primarily an inner game.

Your business reflects your psyche. If you can create something that aligns with your strengths, build habits that support your goals, and work consistently in a way that works for you over time—you'll succeed.

There's no mysterious "business skill" to master. Business is just creating something people want and serving them in a way that rewards you too. The real “skill” of business is understanding yourself enough to make that happen.

My Two-Hour Rule

To prove this to myself, I've given myself a hard constraint: I can only spend two hours a day maximum on my business. That's it. I work a full time job already, and the last thing I need is work consuming my life even more. Because if I want freedom, I need to actually practice it.

Sure, there's seasonality—some days require might require a little more. But my baseline is two hours. If I can't build something meaningful within that constraint, then maybe I need to question what I'm really building.

What This Means for You

I'm building Unpacked for people who are sick of:

• Hustle culture that promises freedom but delivers exhaustion

• Constantly comparing themselves to others

• Downloading useless lead magnets with zero actual value

• Feeling trapped despite knowing they're capable of great things

If you're tired of optimizing for someone else's definition of success, I hope this little nook of the internet will feel homey for you.

I'll be sharing three different emails per week:

• Stories from the lifestyle entrepreneurship journey (mine and others)

• Principles and mental models that make sustainable building possible

• Real-time learning—experiments I'm running, what I'm observing, how it's impacting me

Here's What I'm NOT Promising

I don't have it all figured out. I'm not here to sell you a course or guarantee success. I'm documenting what happens when you commit to building something authentic instead of just something profitable.

And the goal is to prove that it’s possible to do both.

Because the only thing others can't replicate is being you. That’s why so much advice falls flat. No one knows exactly what you want to do, how you best do it, and what success even looks like for you. So with the internet and AI making everything else accessible, that difference maker becomes tuning in to your authentic self.

So that's Unpacked—an experiment in building a business that enhances life rather than consuming it. Individual growth driving business growth, which drives more individual growth. A compounding cycle across years of work that actually feels fun and sustainable (which somehow makes it more profitable).

I’m excited for you to join me on this journey!

Let's figure it out together.

Jarrich ~

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P.S. I'm committed to this experiment at least through the end of the year. Some podcast episodes are coming too—already have guests lined up. Should be pretty interesting :)