The Sovereign Guide

Every argument is a forensic exercise - a backward-looking attempt to assign blame and prove moral superiority. While that feels good in the short-term, it destroys the trust, openness, and culture needed for long-term relationships and teams. An example of what happens when we look through the filter of delta-zero (win-now) over delta-one (long-term) thinking instincts, and make this one shift when conflict arises.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Are you accidentally handing your practice over to the wrong person? I'm going to cover one of the most powerful (and often overlooked) concepts in behavioral game theory.If you've ever felt like you're carrying all the weight while someone else reaps the benefits, this is why. And more importantly, I'll show you how to spot it before it costs you.This one has the potential to change how you see everyone around you.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Drawing on the framework of economist Thomas Sowell to help business owners  (particularly those in professional services like dentistry) evaluate major decisions before acting on them.I encourage and invite you to apply these three questions to any significant change you consider making as a discipline against impulsive, unscrutinized decision-making.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

An active practice in my community is avatar design and upgrades. Think of an avatar the way you would in a game; the version of yourself you load into a given context, complete with skins (how you present), loadouts (the tools, language, and moves you bring), and upgrades (the trainings and reps that level you up). Sometimes we betray ourselves and show up in the wrong skin, with the wrong kit, for the room we're actually in. Sometimes we get it right and catch ourselves mid-swap, conscious of the version we're deploying and why.This is just a small window into an extremely diverse and powerful concept applicable in all domains of our life. More on this in future episodes. This is an excerpt from a call with my group from late 2024.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

We've convinced ourselves that claiming a life of no regrets signals strength, confidence, and capability. But what if the opposite is true? What if an avoidance of regrets ensures weakness, ignorance, and stagnation? "There's gold in them thar hills!"We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

This is a excerpt from a private training for a group of dental practice managers / leaders where I walked through game theory as a framework for understanding how people behave in conflict — explaining how every player's actions are shaped by what they stand to gain or lose. To maintain privacy, what's not captured here are the actions, takeaways and tools for them in their roles for conflict and friction reduction in their work environment. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

In the prior episode we identified the elements and delivery of a standard reprimand; why it undermines culture, creates an environment of low safety and doesn't stimulate growth. Now, we meet again to deliver the framework to reverse all of those outcomes. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Have you noticed how often you have to reprimand the same people, or different people with the same problem? The premise of a reprimand is to stimulate growth and change in your organization via processes and the people that drive them. Why then, do our reprimands consistently fail to do just that.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Trying to bring order to chaos. I talk about this podcast and explain the method to what appears to be madness. I go into the nature of my work - what I do, how I do it, and who I do it with. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Our need for certainty can be so overpowering that it will sometimes induce us to rewrite history. Some thoughts on this instinct, the problems it causes, and what we might do to improve it. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

In this episode, I unpack one of the most underappreciated turning points in modern financial history and explain how this single act shattered the 80-year global trust network. Once you see it, you won't be able to look at interest rates, the price of gold or the US dollar the same way again.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

The NASDAQ is changing the rules for the worlds wealthiest man - and you're going to help make it worth their while. You, your parents, customers, cousins and friends are about to be force fed ownership of SpaceX. Whether you know it, like it or not. I want to explain why the upcoming SpaceX IPO may be the most dangerous and egregious financial sleight of hand in market history, and why most people aren't even aware of it, or concerned enough to pay attention. With US equity markets sitting at record profits and record valuations simultaneously, the timing makes perfect sense. But major rule changes are being made, and critical fences and gates are being dropped for the fastest hand off in equity market history. The rules are actually, truly changing. You will want to know how and why it all happened, and wonder why we tolerated it.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

I went for a hike through the Green Gate and fell into a parallel universe. I am thinking of moving there full-time. If you're reading this, I'd love to have you "immigrate" with me. All the cool people live there, and there is an endless supply of headphones. Really. You'll see...We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

One of the most persistent belief systems in modern business, is that by giving someone equity they automatically increase their contribution and engagement. Why is it that this is just not the lived reality more often than not?! Using vivid examples — from dental practice partnerships to office managers gaming bonus systems — I expose the structural and psychological flaws that cause incentive systems to fail, revealing what THE critical missing ingredient is. Whether you're handing out equity to retain a star performer or offering bonuses to hit overhead targets, this episode will fundamentally upgrade how you design deals and incentivize the people around you.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Something cirtical is missing in our planning for, discussions of, and expectations about the Iran conflict. through the largely Ignoring the lens of centuries old belief systems, cultural idealogy, and theological resolve, we start to see that the West's game-theory calculus is dangerously incomplete. Drawing on the 1,345-year-old Shia legacy of Ashura — the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali at Karbala — I explain why Iran's nearly 100 million people operate from a belief system the west just does not understand. I will excplain how even the use of the term "decapitation strategy" ignites a cultural memory of the very crucible form which the nation and its beliefs wore born. When dying for justice is in fact the ultimate victory, surrender is simply unthinkable. With the assassination of Khomeini fulfilling a thousand year old prophecy, we open our eyes to the possibility that anyone expecting a quick resolution is likely misreading a crucial asymmetry.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

The Sovereign Guide —  Rebranded and rebooted. In this episode, I explain this most recent shift with the podcast, from the prior The Full Cycle Entrepreneur and the original The Third Rail Entrepreneur, why, how and what to expect going forward. I unpack the concept of sovereignty: what it means to govern ourselves across all domains of life. From relational and intellectual sovereignty to business, financial, and spiritual progress. I explore how building a personally curated philosophy for your life, business, and beliefs leads to a richer, more adventurous existence. It's certainly done so for me. Equal parts philosophy and practical wisdom, I attempt to set the stage for broader, bolder conversations ahead.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

An employee asks for a raise. You feel defensive. They double down...so do you. It's all a misunderstanding rooted in a scarcity mindset that undermines true entrepreneurship. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Do what you do. Love what you love. But as the cycle changes, optics really matter. Here's how. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

How our indulgences and obsessions help others live lives that they love.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

True mastery in action. I share my own personal journey plus a few case studies.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

This single concept transformed everything for me. Embracing and embodying it has had a profound impact—and it has the power to radically change your life, too.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

How and why we lower the bar for friends and family. How and why it’s a bad idea to do so. Looking back on a powerful lesson from my very first mentor.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Up, down, or across. A lesson from the field. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

How to navigate market and economic volatility with clarity and caution—where success is defined differently. Highlighting the hidden cost of current tariff policies, framing them as a “sword without a shield” that harms U.S. consumers more than foreign adversaries. It’s a timely call to rethink risk, resilience, and what real protection looks like.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

We continue to unpack how the collapse of global cooperation—once maintained under Pax Americana—has given way to a multi-player world of economic self-preservation and escalating risk. Using game theory and historical precedent, I'll explain why recent U.S. tariff policies may trigger long-term consequences with no clear upside. This is a must-listen framework for understanding the new rules of global business and the mindset needed to adapt.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Don't skip this - We explore the end of Pax Americana and the beginning of a new global order shaped by tariffs, fractured alliances, and ideological calcification. This foundational conversation offers historical context, current implications, and future-facing strategies for navigating an uncertain global landscape. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

My personal journey. Social, economic, financial destruction, resurrection and triumph. Charting a course through cycles.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Change is here. Some are blind to it. Some are ignoring it. A few will embrace it. I know what camp I'm in. You ... ? We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Part 2 of The Partnership Paradox Partnerships done well and those done badlyWhere do they unravel and why? Contribution, reward and more We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Partnerships done well and those done badlyWhere do they unravel and why? Ownership rights vs. voting rightsContribution, reward and more We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

A historical context of today’s environment and the less discussed, other side of interest rates. 1720 all over again? Blank-check companies and secret promises Paying different attention to lower interest rates We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

'Stimulus packages are going to destroy the dollar and increase inflation.' Makes sense, but is that true? We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

The best business decisions are made by the best decision makers. How can we improve our understanding of group and cultural dynamics?The insights of game theoryGeo-political shifts and America's move withinA better understanding of macro-dynamics will better help with our micro-decisions We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

How do we identify the cycles that we're creating?Identifying the differences between the tax, economic and financial cyclesUnderstanding inflationWe'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

The role of chance, people and events in our livesIdentifying those that change the course of our lives Honoring and being that change for othersWe'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

We're upgrading and excited to announce a secret co-host. In this episode, Alastair and "secret co-host" discuss ambition, the entrepreneurial path, Counsels of Elders and more. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

What happens when one party chooses the risk and the other pays the price? Too big to fail, too expensive to bail. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Is it really stimulus or merely support?The long-term cost of stifled innovation.What really moves an economy.What real help looks like.Creative destruction and moral hazard.The suffocation of entrepreneurship and ignoring the wisdom of our economic elders. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

During a private training session, Alastair presents the concept of The Micro-Harvest. Early on in our entrepreneurial paths, we convince ourselves that “x” is freedom (money). We then fold it back on itself, because it hasn’t arrived, ultimately deferring joy in the process. The Micro-Harvest allows: freedom from, freedom to do, and freedom within. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Sometimes the areas that we grow in the least contain the stuff that we know the best. What to do about it. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

With record unemployment levels in the US, the urge to support the less fortunate is clear and overwhelming. In doing so, we have to ask ourselves about the second-order consequences. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

While lowered interest rates and access to unlimited credit from the Federal Reserve seem like a panacea, we need to be very wary of the long-term, downstream and multi-generational effects. Here’s how it works. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

This episode is a short excerpt from a private-client-group training where Alastair discusses the Time Harness strategy.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

In Part 2 of this special episode, revisit how society, finance and economics manifests in art, design, theater and politics with Anahit Hakobyan's (Viva La Flora podcast) interview with Alastair. Developing and understanding an awareness of these interwoven elements is a significant step in becoming a Full-Cycle Entrepreneur. Check out Anahit's other episodes at Viva La Flora: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/viva-la-flora-live-the-art-and-business-of-flowers/id1472056410.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

In this special episode, revisit how society, finance and economics manifests in art, design, theater and politics with Anahit Hakobyan's (Viva La Flora podcast) interview with Alastair. Developing and understanding an awareness of these interwoven elements is a significant step in becoming a Full-Cycle Entrepreneur. Check out Anahit's other episodes at Viva La Flora: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/viva-la-flora-live-the-art-and-business-of-flowers/id1472056410.We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

In this episode, Alastair brings his first guest - Dr. Brady Marshall - onto the show. We work every day to give more, in order to gain more - fame, status and cash. But there are far more rewarding riches in your business that you are yet to know exist. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

The medical, economic and social risks of COVID-19 are by now, obvious. What's not, is the most insidious risk of all. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

Understanding the business cycle requires knowing how money flows through industries, banking systems and global financial-institutions. In order to understand where the money is going next, we need to know where the money came from. In this excerpt, from a live training for dentists, Alastair finishes 'How We Got to Now'. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

While it may feel that the world has gone mad because of COVID-19, there’s a lot more at play. This is the background story of how we got to now. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel. 

This is another 'Touching the Rail' (TTR) episode, where we bring you disparate thoughts and ideas and little mementos to enrich your experience. We hope that you find a moment of enrichment within. We'd love to hear from you. Send us your feedback. If you're a dentist and looking for more dental specific content, I have another podcast called, The Sovereign Dentist. I'd love to see you there. More can also be found on my YouTube channel.