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We’re looking for hunters, hunters of the Next American Dream.

In the next 10 minutes, my goal is to show you what we mean by the Next American Dream, why we need a challenging hunt, why America desperately needs ‘hunters’, and how to hunt for your Next American Dream.

As you will learn, the big game we’re after is really a feeling. And that feeling is only available through service to others. We’re asking, “How would you feel if you harnessed your ‘calling’ to make your life better, by making other people’s lives better?

AND

What would America look like if that definition and approach to “success” became the norm?”

As entrepreneurs and patriots we want to create not only a better way of working and living for ourselves and our children, but to be of service to each other.

We know that uncertain times call for certain heroes to step up in the face of resistance and skepticism to forge a new path forward.

We know that “that a society willing to sacrifice liberty for security will lose both and deserves neither.”

Our experience, our faith, our values, and our beliefs led us to the idea of Hunting for The NEXT American Dream; a quest to discovering and implementing a new definition of success and a new means of achieving it (and ultimately a completely new kind of school). Here you’ll find….

It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of school, whether you went to school, whether you’re a contractor, whether you own your own company, or whether you work inside someone else’s.

If you’re willing to make hard choices. If you agree that freedom is as much a responsibility as a right. If you’re committed to being a contributor, and if you’re willing to be accountable then we invite you to call this your home.

This PDF serves as an introduction to The NEXT American Dream.

Live Long and Prosper,

Toby LaVigne a.k.a. “Camo Man”Guide and Outfitter for Hunters of the NEXT American Dream

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Table of Contents

3 Introduction

5 The Three American Dreams

9 The Four Pillars

12 Are You Ready?

14 The NEXT American Dream Challenge

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INTRODUCTION

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The TransitionWe’re in a period of massive transition. It’s not THE end, it’s just AN end, and also, a new beginning.

In the course of human history we’ve been here too many times to count. In the course of American History this is our second transition.

American Dream number one, the original dream, was to prosper on your own farm. From the era of the first European settlements through WW I, land ownership away from the tyranny of kings, land lords, peasantry and serfdom was what America was all about.

But all things eventually do come to an end. It’s part of the natural cycle and sequence of everything under the sun. Two things triggered the end of American Dream number one;

1 - New technologies massively increased worldwide farming output, causing dramatic market price reductions and bankruptcies

2 - ‘Good’ land became scarce

Soon the American farm became a less and less viable model for living. And at the time a viable alternative was not obvious nor mass available. Waves of protests and political battling ensued for decades.

Sound familiar?

One thing always leads to another. We must always have faith in that. Although it wasn’t obvious at the time, the seeds of the industrial revolution and the suburban homestead had already been planted. American Dream number two was about to be born. And over the

next century a new means of upward mobility and prosperity became available to far more people than the original American Dream.

But all good things eventually do come to an end. It’s part of the natural cycle and sequence of everything under the sun. Two things are currently triggering the end of American Dream number two;

1 - New technologies are massively increasing worldwide labor productivity, causing a reduction in earning power

2 - Satisfying jobs are becoming scarce

Sound familiar?

The last American Dream (#2) is becoming a less and less viable and desirable model for living. And an alternative is not obvious nor are the masses ready to pursue it. Waves of protests and political battling have begun.

At this point in the cycle the ‘tribe’ (all of us) must support and encourage (instead of condemning and thwarting) certain members who excel at and even prefer the new and the unknown.

The way through this transition will not be easy or simple. If there was a well understood and accessible path like there was during the last American dream, everyone would be prospering.

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THREE DREAMS, A VILLAIN, AND HEROIC HOPE

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The Last American DreamWe know that the last American Dream brought us technologies that transformed our ability to live. My grandparents were born before cars, home electricity, radio, tv, washing machines, dryers, refrigerators. In their lifetimes they gained an enormous amount of leisure time that was pure fantasy before it arrived.

But the last American Dream also brought us overwhelm. Today, most Americans are not suffering from true scarcity, but from abundance. We have too much choice, too much stuff, and too many distractions.

We have been schooled to do what we’re told and what we’ve been programed to believe, via massive doses of powerful media, that consumption and stuff equal success. But more stuff doesn’t make our lives better and it cannot compensate for the lack of satisfaction, connection, purpose and hope that too many Americans feel from the lowliest rookies to the top brass in business, media and politics.

And because we have been schooled to believe that work isn’t supposed to be meaningful we have come to think that success is getting enough money so that you don’t have to work - or be accountable to anyone.

After years of stifling schooling and impersonal work cultures, freedom from work may sound like a sensible goal, but we must be careful what we ask for.

Despite the fact that we have more of nearly everything, Americans are starving for an essential human feeling - the feeling of being engaged in challenging, valuable work, working with people we truly connect with, and feeling that our future is brighter than our past.

These are timeless, deeply implanted feelings that humans desperately need.

Exactly how we will navigate the transition from the second American Dream to the third or NEXT American Dream is not clear, but one thing is clear; the design of the NEXT American Dream must include ample access to the vital feelings of satisfaction, meaning, purpose and hope or the suffering will worsen.

We cannot continue as we are; detaching from accountability to a higher power, from ourselves, from each other, and from reality.

We cannot continue to ignore the timeless and immutable principles that the American Founders implored us to remember.

The VillainI keep referring to heroes, so where is the villain?

“We have witnessed the rise of a new class of inverse heroes, that is, bureaucrats, bankers, Davos-attending members and academics with too much power and no real downside and/or accountability. They game the system while citizens pay the price.” Nassim Taleb

While America was mostly thriving, these inverse heroes have commandeered our government, our media, and many of our largest corporations for their own profit and power.

They literally have abused and continue to abuse trusted institutions to consolidate their power and enrich themselves at the expense of others. Examples of this taking place can be found in nearly every corner of America.

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The scary part is that the more anxious America gets the more vulnerable we could become to yet more policies, programs, and laws that only serve to bolster the power of these inverse heroes.

We fervently support efforts to reduce the size of government, to “drain the swamp”, and to make America Great Again. But we can’t sit back and expect the real change we need to come from the top. Change and innovation never come from the belly of the beast.

No, change always has and always will come from the fringes. It starts small, near the bottom, and it works it’s way up and out. It’s starts with courageous, generous people who aren’t invested in the old established ways. Change most often comes from those who have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The only way “out” is through.

And that’s where the Next American Dream and real heroes come in.

We need a new breed of heroes; courageous men and women who are willing to experiment with The Next American Dream. People we call HEROpreneurs.

These special people are and will continue to fight on the front lines of a new definition of success and a new means of achieving it.

They are answering their callings to serve and leveraging it through entrepreneurship.

These heroes are exactly what America needs at this critical juncture.

People with the ‘right stuff’ to become HEROpreneurs are exactly who we are looking for.

If we don’t redefine success and the means of achieving it, who will?

If not you, then who?

If not now, then when?

Are you with us?

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THE FOUR PILLARS

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PILLAR 1: CHOICE

The truth is that we are transitioning from the "certainty" of the Last American Dream through a period of uncertainty in order to establish the NEXT American Dream.

This period of creative destruction never feels comfortable, fair or easy, but it’s an unavoidable part of the natural cycle and sequence of human progress and prosperity. If it were not for a certain breed of courageous pioneers who were willing to step forward and innovate the next way forward we wouldn't exist as a species.

We don’t advertise The Next American Dream as easy, but when HEROpreneurs CHOOSE to build their brands around service, great things happen.

We all have a choice; we can embrace the pain of change or we can be helpless victims who suffer the consequences of avoidance and procrastination.

What will you choose?

PILLAR 2: FREEDOM

FREEDOM is not free, it’s not the government’s job and it’s not just up to our uniformed heroes either. A century of job security and government growth created a culture that believes that freedom is a right, not a responsibility. 

HEROpreneurs learn to make peace with an inconvenient truth; “If you don't take ownership of your life, someone else will.”

Think about it, the people with THE best lives have earned more control of their time than most people can imagine. They earned control of their lives through exceptional dedication to their craft and the people they serve.

HEROpreneurs earn the freedom to be selective regarding Who they serve, What their service is, When, Where, and Why because they make the difficult choices that too many are desperately, selfishly, and immaturely avoiding.

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Pillar 3: CONTRIBUTION

The first rule of the Next American Dream is that everyone must CONTRIBUTE; no one rides for free and you can’t buy your way out either.

This may sound like more work, but for people with the right mindset, this kind of work and the FEELINGS that come with it are what life is all about!

There is nothing like the satisfaction, meaning and purpose of having a loyal following that deeply appreciates what you do. 

The antidote to the anxiety that plagues our nation is not more drugs, tv, and government programs, it’s hunting for new ways to contribute our personal best!

PILLAR 4: ACCOUNTABILITY

Without ACCOUNTABILITY, trust evaporates and the whole social contract unravels.

The trust we need to function as a true team and re-generate the next era of prosperity requires accountability. It may be tempting to think that laws, programs, and policing are the answer, but they only deflect responsibility and exacerbate the problem. 

Our government is merely a reflection of our society.

Politicians and government will not change until our society does, and our society will not change until the courageous pioneers among us go first.

When we look back years from now, how would you like to be remembered?

Are you ready to find your inner hero and help show the way?

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Most people have much more potential than they have learned to get credit for. This can be discouraging for any of us. But some people, certain people, are afflicted with an ambition to rise above the norm. An ambition to find their potential and give it to others. These people just won’t settle for the last American dream.

There are a number of immutable principles that must be understood to find our individual potential to serve others and prosper. Anyone can learn about them and understand them. But at the end of the day, not everyone will implement them. And the reason for this is essential to understand.

ALL human action, everything that you, and I, and everyone around us does, is driven by our primal need to be seen as valuable to the people we deem are important.

This need is hardwired into us - passed down by our ancestors who learned that, in order to survive they had to become valuable contributors to their tribe or die.

Many underwent rites of passage in which they found their tribal IDENTITY - that valuable contribution that they would be known and accountable for.

When we fast forward a few centuries we can see that we have been schooling ourselves to believe that we’ll get our ‘tribal identity’ from institutions like schools, government and corporations - This takes the responsibility off of our shoulders and places it in the hands of ‘god like’ authorities who will determine our worth.

In this modern survival game you get degrees or certifications, so you can get employment, in the hope that you will eventually get enough money to not have to have a job.

For a number of reasons I’ve already mentioned, and many that we can talk about another day, this definition and approach to life success is failing to deliver what we need individually and collectively.

The scary truth is that we have forgotten what identity really is, why we need it and how to purposefully create it.

The exciting truth, at least for some, is that the path to true freedom is in taking 100% responsibility for designing our identities. After being schooled to obey and conform, sculpting our identities is harder than it may sound. But, the rewards are unparalleled.

The only way I know of to experience the FEELINGS we crave - the only way to reestablish prosperity - is to purposefully design your identity as a valuable contributor to others and to weld it to entrepreneurship.

This is what I mean when I say HEROpreneurship.

My offer to you, is to be your guide and outfitter in your hunt for your Next American Dream.

If you choose to embrace this challenge I promise to keep innovating new and better ways to show you the path to your HEROpreneurial contribution.

It’s a lifelong journey and I’m in this for as long as I’m still kicking.

The real question is are YOU up to the challenge of hunting down your Next American Dream?

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ARE YOU READY?

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Part 1 - The Hero: YOU

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” - Joseph Campbell

List 3 things that you are most passionate about.Rate your passion on a scale of 1-10. 1 = nil, and 10 = “I want to dedicate my life to this”

1. _______________________________________ Rating_______

2. _______________________________________ Rating_______

3. _______________________________________ Rating_______

List 3 things that you are most disciplined about and rate your discipline on the previous scale of 1-10.

1. _______________________________________ Rating_______

2. _______________________________________ Rating_______

3. _______________________________________ Rating_______

Part 2 - The Villain

“Obstacles do not block the path, they are the path - the only way up is through”

Every hero must do battle with forces that stand between them and their quest. These forces take many forms and change over time.

List 3 internal obstacles

1. ____________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________

List 3 external obstacles

1. ____________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________

Welcome to the NEXT American Dream Challenge

The secret ingredient of The Next American Dream is a heroic identity or HEROBrand. A hero's identity is ultimately a story about how they have consistently increased the identity of others and consequently made prosperity possible for themselves and others.

Herein lies The NEXT American Dream Challenge.

We challenge you to think carefully about yourself, your life, and your legacy. Take a careful look and see if you are willing to do the hard work necessary to build your identity around service.

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Part 3 - The Mentor

“Mentors in life are important, so choose them wisely” - Robert Kiyosaki

Every successful hero has guidance e.g. core principles, a master, fellow training partners etc.

Where do you seek inspiration and mentorship?

Rate the quality of each source on a scale of 1-10. 1 = “fast food listicles” filled with obviousness 10 = Timeless wisdom.

1. _______________________________________ Rating_______

2. _______________________________________ Rating_______

3. _______________________________________ Rating_______

What communities are you a member of that support your commitment to identity building?

Rate the quality of each community on a scale of 1-10. 1 = Ineffective 10 = Rocket fuel.

1. _______________________________________ Rating_______

2. _______________________________________ Rating_______

3. _______________________________________ Rating_______

Part 4 - The Plan

“As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The one who grasps principles can

successfully select the right methods. The one who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” -

Harrington Emerson

Heroes don’t keep their foes at bay and accomplish their quests by accident. There is “wisdom in their madness”. Describe your method here:

if you don't have a method, just write “I don't have a method”______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Part 5 - Heroic Action

“Learn the rules, then learn to play better”

The first and most important thing is to get clear about where we are, how transitions like the one we’re experiencing work, and where you want to go.

Think about it. If you were lost in the middle of the ocean, step one would be to figure out where you were. Step two would be to know where you wanted to go, and step three would be to chart your course.

Let’s face it, as a society we’re lost, and most of what we’re doing is pretending that we’re not lost and that it’s time to build anew.

We must redefine success and experiment with new ways to achieve it until we can replicate it for others. That’s how innovation has always worked. It starts out messy, then it improves to wobbly, then it stabilizes, and then, and only then, can we have conversations about how to make it more efficient…rinse and repeat.

We’re at the beginning again and as always our future depends upon, not policy makers, but “a certain class of people we need to encourage, protect and respect”.

A certain class that we call HEROpreneurs.

We need you to lead. This is your call to arms. We are here to encourage, protect, and respect you.

Part 6 - Failure

“Whatever you do, do all that you can to avoid leaving this earth with the dread of finding yourself in the company of those cold and timid souls who never really put themselves in the arena.” -

adapted from Theodore Roosevelt’s The Man in the Arena

What makes the story of a hero interesting, what keeps us on the edge of our seats, is their commitment to being non average.

What do you observe about people who do NOT find their highest contribution and learn how to prosper from it?

List 7 sufferings:

1. ____________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________

6. ____________________________________________________

7. ____________________________________________________

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Part 7 - Victory!

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts” - Winston Churchill

There’s nothing that increases our odds of success like having a mental vision of what it looks like.

List 3 HEROpreneurs you admire

1. ____________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________

List 3 benefits you observe them experiencing

1. ____________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________

List 3 ways that your life would improve if you forged your Hero Brand like those you admire?

1. ____________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________

Congratulations!

If you’ve gotten this far you must be thinking seriously about your value, your contribution, and your future. That’s what heropreneurs do, and we can use all the HEROpreneurs we can find.

What’s next?

1 - Send me an email to hero@tnad.us and let me know what you got from the exercise. I really want to know.

2 - Connect with us on social media and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel .

3 - Share this exercise with a friend.

4 - Start observing the world and watch the role of identity.

I think you’ll be amazed to see that this single human survival need motivates everything you see around you. Imagine yourself joining the rare few who truly understand how to harness identity (yours and others) to create the future you intend.

Thank you for your support,

Toby LaVigneGuide and Outfitter for Hunters of the NEXT American Dream

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