Welcome to Week 28 of the High Performance Playbook.

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We cover high performance in 4 key pillars: health & fitness + longevity, personal finance & investing, business growth hacks, and how to optimize all areas of your life.

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Ready? Start your engines… Let’s GO:

Mindset & Psychology

The Confidence Feedback Loop

Where does confidence come from?

Confidence isn’t something you’re born with.

And it doesn’t magically appear once you hit some external goal.

It’s built day by day, decision by decision, repetition by repetition.

Here’s how it really works:

Confidence = Trust in Yourself.

And trust is earned by keeping promises… especially the ones no one else sees.

• You said you’d get up early. Did you?

• You said you’d hit the gym. Did you?

• You said you’d start investing each month. Did you?

Each time you follow through, your identity shifts. You become the kind of person who does what they say.

Each time you don’t… the opposite.

That’s the loop:

• Take action

• Build trust

• Build confidence

• Take bigger action

• Repeat

Most people try to think their way into confidence.

High performers act their way into it.

So if you’re in a dip (mentally, physically, or emotionally) don’t wait to “feel ready.”

Start small.

Keep promises.

Stack wins.

And let confidence compound.

💰Biggest Story of the Week (Mindset & Psychology)

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Health & Fitness + Longevity

Cortisol: The Silent Ceiling on Performance

If you’re sleeping 8 hours… eating clean… hitting your workouts…

But still feel off?

It might be your cortisol.

I had high cortisol for years due to stress, and I didn’t know it until I started paying attention to my bloodwork labs and testing for it.

Cortisol isn’t “bad,” it’s a hormone designed to wake you up, help you focus, and fuel you through stress.

But when it’s constantly elevated, it becomes the silent ceiling on performance.

High cortisol wrecks your gains, blunts recovery, disrupts sleep, and clouds your decision-making.

And most high performers are running on chronically high levels… without realizing it.

Here’s how to lower the ceiling and reclaim your edge:

• Start your day with natural light + movement.

  Sunlight within 30 minutes of waking helps regulate cortisol and circadian rhythm. Pair it with a walk and you’ll set the tone for the day.
  

• Move often… but don’t overtrain.

  Hard workouts raise cortisol temporarily. But too much intensity, too often, with too little rest = hormonal crash. Add in LISS cardio or zone 2 training to recover without stress. (we covered this in a recent newsletter)
  

• Time your meals intelligently.

  Skipping breakfast can keep cortisol elevated longer. If you’re already stressed, fasted training might do more harm than good.
  

• Supplement wisely.

  Magnesium glycinate before bed, L-theanine in the afternoon, and electrolytes in the morning are three low-lift ways to regulate the stress response. You can also buy a Cortisol Manager supplement like this one.
  

• Audit your inputs.

  Too much caffeine. No off switch. Zero white space on your calendar. These are cortisol multipliers no matter how optimized your routine looks on paper.

You don’t need a fancy protocol.

You just need to stop glorifying chronic stress.

Because when cortisol is out of control, your performance doesn’t just plateau; it slowly breaks down.

Manage it, and you’ll sleep better, think clearer, and actually feel the benefits of all the work you’re putting in.

💪 Biggest Story of The Week (Health & Fitness)

Personal Finance Tip of the Week

Why You Should Consider Cold Storage For Your Bitcoin and Crypto

If you hold crypto on an exchange like Coinbase or Binance…

You don’t really own it.

Not until you hold the keys yourself.

It’s a common trap: people buy Bitcoin or Ethereum or Solana, let it sit on an exchange, and assume it’s safe. But exchanges are middlemen… digital banks with risk exposure. And history shows they’re not bulletproof:

• FTX collapsed

• Mt. Gox lost 850,000 BTC

• Even Coinbase has language in its terms of service about funds being subject to bankruptcy proceedings

Enter: cold storage.

A cold storage wallet (like Ledger or Trezor) gives you true ownership… offline, encrypted, and outside the reach of hacks, bankruptcies, or black swan events.

Why It Matters:

• Exchanges are honeypots.

  They’re targets for hackers and regulatory overreach. If they go down, your crypto can go down with them.
  

• Cold wallets eliminate counterparty risk.

  You’re not trusting a third party to hold your assets. You hold your own private keys, which means only you control access.
  

• It’s easier than people think.

  Set it up once, write down your recovery phrase, and transfer your crypto. That’s it. Just don’t lose it. That’s the one risk with cold storage wallets.
  

• Regulations are changing fast.

  Governments are eyeing control of digital assets. If you believe in sovereignty, owning your crypto offline isn’t just smart, it’s essential.

If you’re holding any amount of crypto you actually care about…

Self-custody is a something you should consider.

Own your keys. Own your future.

If you are interested in learning more about our crypto hedge fund, Pivotal Point Capital, check out our website here and contact us to learn more. Our fund is up 175% since inception.

🏦 Biggest Story of the Week (Personal Finance)

Business Playbook

Build Culture with a Playbook, Not a Pep Talk

Most companies treat culture like a mood board: motivational Slack messages, fun perks, and a values page no one reads.

But real culture isn’t what you say, it’s what you systemize.

Netflix figured this out long before they were a streaming giant. Back in the early 2000s, co-founder Patty McCord helped write a now-famous culture deck that wasn’t just a vision, it was an instruction manual.

It outlined how the company made decisions, hired and fired, gave feedback, and operated at every level.

The result?

Their culture wasn’t a “vibe,” it was a playbook. Everyone knew the expectations. Accountability was clear. Ownership was baked into the system.

And that’s what I’ve tried to do in my own companies, too.

If you want a team that moves fast, takes ownership, and makes smart decisions when you’re not in the room, you don’t need more pep talks.

You need a culture playbook.

Here’s how I think about it:

• Codify your core behaviors.

  Not just “values,” but actions. Example: “We own the outcome, not just the task.” Make them practical and observable.
  

• Write down decision filters.

  When your team knows how you think, they don’t have to ping you for answers. Give them the frameworks, tradeoffs, and mental models you use.
  

• Document your leadership rhythms.

  How do you run 1:1s? Give feedback? Plan the week? The more consistent you are, the easier it is to scale culture through structure.
  

• Capture learnings, not just wins.

  Every time we hit a wall or make a mistake, we log it and turn it into a SOP, a rule of thumb, or a “next time” protocol. That’s how culture compounds.

When culture is invisible, it’s fragile.

But when it’s documented, it becomes durable, repeatable, and scalable.

The best companies don’t leave culture up to chance.

They build it like a system, because that’s what it is.

🏈 Biggest Story of the Week (Business)

DOPAMINE HIT

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, please share it with some friends! And thank you for reading!

🗓️ STAY TUNED:

In next week’s newsletter, I’m breaking down the single rule that’s shaped my entire investment strategy:

If I can’t explain it to my 10-year-old, I don’t invest in it. I’ll share how I apply this rule to crypto, stocks, and real estate… the 2-question filter I use before putting in a dollar. Stay tuned. You won’t want to miss it!

Here’s to your success,

Austin L. Wright

Join my inner circle - Follow me on X for daily business breakdowns, lifestyle hacks, and a behind-the-scenes look at what my team and I are building.

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_{Disclaimer: The ideas shared in this newsletter are those of the author, and this is in no way intended to be medical, legal, or financial advice. Always do your own research and consult with licensed professionals.}