Behavior is the output. Pattern is the cause.

Tessa explained that repeating the same results usually comes from a consistent internal pattern, not random actions.

The key is identifying when those patterns show up. Before visibility increases, after a win, or when stakes get higher.

Those patterns serve a function. They regulate your system and bring you back to what feels familiar.

Understanding that function is what allows you to change it.

Survival mode prioritizes short term response.

Tessa explained that when your brain detects a threat, it redirects focus toward immediate action and reduces access to higher level thinking.

That tradeoff helps in urgent situations but limits strategy, creativity, and long term planning.

If you stay in that state, decision making becomes reactive instead of intentional.

Tessa explained that your nervous system is designed to return you to what it already knows. When something new shows up, it introduces uncertainty.
That uncertainty creates hesitation.

Not because you can’t do it, but because your brain is trying to reduce perceived risk.

The result is slower action and increased friction.
Understanding that mechanism helps you recognize that hesitation is a signal, not a limitation.

Discipline is often misdiagnosed.

Tessa mentioned that self sabotage happens when you’re conscious goals and your subconscious identity are not aligned.

You can set clear goals and still not follow through because your brain is wired to return to what feels familiar.

Identity drives behavior.

Until those two align, effort alone won’t fix the gap.

That refund isn’t a bonus. It’s your money coming back.

Morgan broke it down. When you get a big refund, it usually means you gave the government more than you needed to throughout the year and let them hold it.
Some people use that as a forced savings plan.

They like getting a lump sum back.
But the tradeoff is you lose control of that money all year.

Morgan challenged that way of thinking. Cash flow matters. Life happens. Repairs, emergencies, things you didn’t plan for.

Having access to your money throughout the year gives you flexibility when you actually need it.

Not all tax advice is accurate.

Morgan explained that owing taxes doesn’t automatically mean you made a mistake. It’s often a result of how your withholding was structured throughout the year.

Your W4 determines how much is taken out of each paycheck. If that number is too low, the balance shows up when you file.

Trends that encourage reducing withholding without understanding the full impact create predictable outcomes.

The result is a larger tax bill later.

You’re not undisciplined. You’re not broken. Your nervous system is doing exactly what it was built to do, which is drag you back to familiar every time you try to grow.

This week, Tessa Santarpia breaks down why self-sabotage has nothing to do with willpower and everything to do with identity. If your goals keep dying by week three, this episode is why.

CHAPTERS:
00:00 Some of you are stuck before you even start
02:00 Self-sabotage is not laziness. Here’s what it really is.
04:00 Why your brain treats growth like a threat
07:00 Survival mode is a brain state, not a vibe
09:00 Noise vs truth: The willpower myth gets slapped
11:00 Why success triggers just as much threat as failure
13:00 High earners, automation, and the math problem lie
14:00 Three moves to rewire the pattern this week
19:00 The mistakes keeping you stuck in the same loop
21:00 The hard truth: You don’t rise to goals. You repeat patterns.

Connect with Tessa at Santaia Health: https://santaia.health/

Ready to stop running the same pattern and actually look at your money with someone who gets it? Book your Power Hour at https://www.blackmammoth.com/powerhour. 60 minutes, 1:1. Real numbers. A plan you can actually run.

Most people complete their taxes without understanding them.

Morgan explained that filing is only part of the process. What matters is whether you understand the outcome and what to do next.

If there’s a balance owed, delaying the filing creates penalties that increase monthly and can compound quickly.

Filing on time limits damage. Avoiding it increases cost.

An extension changes timing, not obligation.

Morgan explained that you can delay filing your return, but any taxes owed are still due by the original deadline. Waiting to pay creates penalties.

If your records aren’t ready, you either estimate and adjust later or file an extension and complete it when the data is finalized.

The decision is simple. The consequences come from not planning for the payment.

We filed our taxes. We either got a refund or we owe. But did we actually learn anything from it? Or did we just survive?

Morgan Anderson is back with stats from last filing season that are going to make your jaw drop. 44 million people filed with a balance due. 80% of people who owe the IRS aren’t in any kind of resolution. And your passport? Yeah, that can get frozen if you owe more than $66K. Over 279,000 already have.

We’re killing the noise on tax myths, breaking down what estimated payments really are, why your refund isn’t free money, and what the IRS is about to do when they wake up after filing season.

🔗 Book a Power Hour with Stoy: https://www.blackmammoth.com/powerhour

CHAPTERS:
0:00 We Filed. But Did We Learn Anything?
1:00 File First, Figure It Out Later
3:00 What an Extension Actually Does (and Doesn’t Do)
7:00 Killing the Noise on Tax Myths
10:00 Your Refund Is Not Free Money
14:00 Estimated Payments Aren’t Just for the Rich
18:00 44 Million Owe the IRS. Here’s What Happened.
24:00 The IRS Can Freeze Your Passport. 279K Already Have.
27:00 Installment Agreements and How to Use Them
30:00 The Plan: Get a Professional and Stop Guessing

This is one of those things most people don’t think about until they’re in it.

Jaime broke down how retirement accounts actually get divided during a divorce. It’s not as simple as just splitting it. There’s a specific process and document that makes it happen correctly.

If it’s done the right way, those assets can be divided without triggering taxes. If it’s done wrong, it can get messy fast.

Jaime’s advice was simple. This is not something you try to handle on your own. There are too many technical pieces involved, and getting it right matters.

Jaime explained that in some divorce cases, people spend more on legal fees than the asset they’re arguing over.

Whether something gets resolved quickly or turns into a prolonged fight usually depends on how emotional the situation is.

When decisions are driven by emotion instead of value, costs increase quickly.

Timing changes outcomes.

Jaime pointed out that your filing status depends on whether you’re legally divorced by the end of the year.

That one detail affects deductions, refunds, and how dependents are claimed.
Most people don’t factor this in when making decisions during a divorce. They focus on the process, not the downstream impact.

Small timing decisions can create larger financial differences.

Divorce decisions have financial consequences beyond the obvious.

Jaime explained that most people are so focused on the emotional side that they overlook taxes entirely.

Asset division, dependents, business ownership. Each of these decisions impacts what you’ll owe.

When taxes aren’t considered upfront, they show up later as a problem.

Approval doesn’t equal alignment.

Sara explained that larger offers come with larger obligations. More capital means higher payments, more pressure, and less flexibility.

The goal isn’t to take the biggest offer. It’s to take the one that fits your current situation and cash flow.

If someone tells you to figure it out later, that’s a red flag. Funding requires planning before you take it, not after.

You filed for divorce. You got an attorney. You split the assets. And somewhere in all of that, nobody talked about what it was going to do to your taxes. That’s the conversation most people never have, and it’s the one that costs them the most.

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Jamie Lima, CDFA and CFP, to break down exactly what goes wrong financially when divorce and tax season crash into each other. We cover filing status rules, dependent claims, QDROs, pension valuations, and why the statement your pension plan sends you is almost never the real number. We also get into a real client case that had a business, three properties, a 401k, and an unexpected distribution nobody planned for.

This is real. This is practical. And if you’re going through it or about to, you need to watch the whole thing.

Chapters
0:00 The Real Moment: What People Miss When Divorce Meets Tax Season
1:45 Why Your CPA and Attorney May Both Be Leaving Money on the Table
4:00 Real Client Case Study: Business, Properties, and a Distribution Nobody Saw Coming
6:15 Asset Tracing: When Something Shows Up That Wasn’t in the Agreement
9:30 Noise vs. Truth: Should You Just File Jointly and Deal With Divorce Next Year?
12:45 I Make More, So I Should Claim the Kids
15:00 The QDRO Explained: How to Split Retirement Accounts Without Getting Crushed on Taxes
19:45 Why AI Is Creating Problems in QDRO Documents Right Now
23:00 Pensions in Divorce: Why the Statement Number Is Almost Never the Right Number
28:00 Secure Split: Jamie’s New Software Built for Divorce Professionals
31:30 The One Thing You Should Do If You or Someone You Know Is Going Through a Divorce

Bad funding decisions are usually made under pressure.

Sara explained that when business owners feel urgency, they’re more likely to take the first offer without fully understanding the terms.

That’s where mistakes compound. High interest, poor structure, and no clear plan for how the capital will be used.

Once that happens, it becomes difficult to recover.

Slowing down and evaluating multiple options creates better outcomes.

Funding decisions made under pressure usually come with tradeoffs.

Sara explained that when business owners wait until they’re stressed, not sleeping, and out of options, they’re more likely to accept terms they wouldn’t normally agree to.

Urgency reduces leverage.

It also attracts more offers, but not all of them are good. Once you start applying, your information spreads and the volume of outreach increases quickly.

Better decisions happen before the pressure shows up.

Funding decisions are usually reactive.

Sara explained that most business owners don’t seek capital until there’s pressure. Payroll deadlines, growth opportunities, or cash flow gaps create urgency.

That urgency pushes people toward non traditional options because they need speed and access.

Planning gives you leverage. Waiting until you need it limits your options.

Griffin talked about how the real value isn’t the dollars. It’s the information.

What you know, how things work, where everything is, and what actually matters to you.

Most legal documents aren’t written for your family. They’re written for attorneys, courts, and professionals.

So when everything is said and done, the people closest to you are still left trying to figure things out.

Writing things down in plain language, even small details, can make a huge difference for the people who have to step in later.

Most business owners don’t get funding because they planned for it. They get it because something broke and they’re panicking. That panic is exactly what predatory lenders are counting on. @stoyhall sits down with Sara Weldon, founder of @Trufinco , to break down how the lending industry really works, why MCAs are destroying businesses, and the exact framework you need before you borrow a single dollar.

If you’re a business owner thinking about funding right now, watch this before you sign anything.

CHAPTERS:
0:00 Most Funding Decisions Come from Panic
2:00 The Real Emotions Behind Needing Money Now
3:30 How Lending Vultures Trap You at Your Worst
5:00 MCAs Are a Shit Sandwich and Here’s Why
7:00 The Harassment That Never Stops
10:00 When Debt Actually Works in Your Favor
12:00 Noise vs Truth: Funding Myths Exposed
16:00 The 3 Step Framework Before You Borrow a Dime
21:00 The Biggest Funding Mistake Business Owners Make
23:00 The Hard Truth Every Owner Needs to Hear

Sara Weldon has spent seven years in the lending industry and will be the first to tell you she hates what most of it has become. In this episode she exposes merchant cash advances, stacked loans, and the tactics lenders use to keep you trapped. She also walks through her framework for borrowing the right way: define the use of funds, set a real max payment, and compare total cost instead of just chasing the lowest interest rate.

We also bust four of the biggest funding myths out there, including why a business doing $14 million in revenue can still be completely broke.