The Race to Athens
Part 1 of 2
You will never break generational curses, unless you stop people pleasing the generation that is cursed.
🥇 Nenikēkamen!
The first “marathon” comes from the legend of Pheidippides, a Greek messenger.
After the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, the Athenians defeated the Persians, and Pheidippides was sent to run from the battlefield to Athens to announce the victory. According to the story, he ran the entire way without stopping, delivered the message “We have won!” & then collapsed, dying from exhaustion.
His race ended, but the story of human endurance lived on.
Fast forward to today: millions of people have successfully run marathons without the fatal ending. You yourself, or maybe someone you know, may have run one… seems easy, right?
Think again.
Less than 1% of the world’s population will ever complete a marathon, making it one of the rarest human achievements.
The same can be said of the four-minute mile. Once thought impossible until Roger Bannister broke it in 1954, thousands have joined that elite club in the decades since.
These feats remind us of a simple truth: discipline, structure, and mindset are what separate the few from the many.
Whether running a race, breaking a curse, or building a business, the principle is the same: most people will never go the distance. But those who do change history for everyone who follows.
This is the 1%.
They overcome the odds.
They develop the mind before the body.
They commit before announcing.
🧠 Shutter’s Island
Most people are running a race in their mind. A race many feel like they’re not just losing, but rather one they never wanted to run in the first place.
💭 The average human has 60,000+ thoughts per day, and studies suggest 80% of them are negative or non-productive.
How do we overcome these thoughts?
Poppy isn’t an advocate of self-pity, but he understands the feeling: when everything around you is silent, yet your mind is unbearably loud.
Even though you may be running alone, it doesn’t mean it has to be lonely. After all, if you want to go somewhere fast, go alone. But, if you want to go somewhere far, go together.
🎭 The Thought Loop
Our inner dialogue is like a constant game of tug-of-war. It whispers to us, both good & bad, like the devil & the angel perched on each shoulder.
The whispers of a bad mindset say:
“What if it goes wrong?”
“What if I fail?”
“Better to play it safe.”
The whispers of a good mindset say:
“What if it goes better than I could have ever imagined?”
“What if the setback is the setup?”
“What if playing it safe is actually the biggest risk?”
Most of these negative thought patterns are a direct result of:
❌ Not doing the things you said you were going to do.
❌ Or even worse, doing the things you knew you shouldn’t be doing.
These little failures don’t seem like much at first. But they compound.
👉 Slowly at first… then suddenly.
Before long, we find ourselves stuck in what feels like a never-ending, mindless race around a track, leading us to a finish line we never wanted to cross.
🏃 Running To Structure
Growing up in small-town Ohio, sports were everything. Like most kids, I had my ups & downs, but I always felt like I wasn’t quite good enough or typical politics, coaches, or circumstances got in the way.
I remember wishing it could all just be on me. No teammates. No favoritism. No excuses.
Just me vs. me.
That thought eventually led me to running.
Running saved my life. It was pure accountability: one foot in front of the other, no scoreboard politics, no one else to blame.
You vs. you.
Funny enough, it all started with a late-night infomercial. Remember P90X? Tony Horton, shredded and intense, guaranteeing abs in 90 days if you just showed up and did the work.
As a chubby, insecure kid, that “guarantee” was all I needed.
One night, I jumped on the family computer, downloaded the program on LimeWire (IYKYK 😅), & made a bet with a friend that I’d finish. I even set up a Facebook fan page to post proof every day → basically a fitness influencer before it was cool.
And guess what? I finished. I won the bet. But more importantly, I discovered running.
An even better outcome than I could have ever expected or been guaranteed.
The cross-country coach saw me jogging at the track after P90X sessions, recruited me, and the rest was history. What started with chasing 'guaranteed’ abs turned into a love for running that led to life lessons, irrelevant athlete to some paid scholarships (relax… I by no means was no where near some of the best of the best, but you get the point 😂), multiple marathons, & even ultra-marathons → including a 24-hour, 100-mile race.
Yep, running ultra marathons and pushing through the pain, before David Goggins made it cool & bad ass. And yep, when I was wearing long Jordan shorts and the ASICS, HOKAs and other running shoes when before you were a dork if you wore those running shoes, but nowadays I see the cool stylish people rocking these days lol
🏁 Lesson learned: Running taught me structure and discipline. It showed me that endurance, accountability, and consistency are the real competitive edge.
👉 Here’s the irony of life: people want a guaranteed outcome before they commit.
🤷♂️ What if instead of fearing failure, you trusted that the outcome might be even better than what was ever guaranteed?
And that ties into everything, especially health & wealth.
Like Credit is to our Finances, Health is the foundation of our Faith.
Without it, nothing else works. With it, you can build everything.
Running taught me the importance of being alone. Being comfortable being alone. Alone isn’t lonely. Alone is necessary. Doing the things that need to be done when you’re alone. And the fact that you must be selfish (in the right ways), in order to be selfless.
But at some point, the mission expands beyond you.
From selfish to selfless, from fast to far — that’s the shift.
And it’s exactly why I’m excited to introduce my good friend Lee Patterson in the new All For Nothing podcast episode.
Lee shares his own journey of running through life, business, and investing — from scraping by as a wholesaler, watching profitable deals slip away for lack of community and knowledge, to becoming one of my very first consulting clients.
Through that process, he learned how to leverage 0% business credit to scale his real estate ventures, start funding 100% of his deals, and transform into a multi-millionaire. Now, he’s paying it forward by helping hundreds of people in his own community do the same.
🐺 Wolf Pack
Running taught me accountability.
Business taught me structure.
But community—running with others—taught me endurance.
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
Years ago, one of my first consulting clients was Lee Patterson.
In fact, I just hosted him on my top-performing podcast, where he shared his full journey → going from a small-town kid in Longview, Texas, to a multi-millionaire real estate investor.
🎙️ Listen the episode: All For Nothing Podcast - Tyler Bossetti X Lee Patterson
And here’s the best part: he laid it all out, step by step. No gatekeeping.
While he’s actively closing his own real estate deals and building the Credit to Real Estate Academy (now with nearly 500 active members), what’s arguably most impressive is how he still finds the time to be a servant of God.
→ Credit to Real Estate Academy 👀
Giving back to help future generates run their own race, as a high school coach for cross country, Track & Field, and beyond in his community.
🐶 The Investor-Athlete
Lee earned a Track & Field scholarship to the University of Georgia — located in Athens, GA, a city named after Athens, Greece → the same city where the marathon itself was born.
On the track, Lee became a top-10 all-time athlete in the 800 meters and Distance Medley Relay. He graduated with a degree in Speech Communications.
When we met, we instantly connected through our shared passion for running.
I’ve got to give Lee credit on the personal front, because most athletes — whether in high school, college, or even the pros — struggle with the transition from life as an athlete to building a new identity. Lee embraced that evolution.
The truth is, a lot of top-tier athletes get so caught up in the athletic side that the “student” part of being a student-athlete gets left behind — and understandably so.
But let’s be real… when it comes to credit, business funding, real estate investing, and so many of the things that actually matter in life, none of that was taught in school.
That’s why most people end up stuck in the same cycle — playing victim to the question: “Why didn’t anyone teach me this?” instead of becoming the victor by asking a better one: “Who can teach me how to learn this?”
That’s the difference.
But in business? He was stuck.
He was wholesaling deals and making some money.
But he was passing up profitable rentals because he lacked capital.
Or, like many investors, he wasn’t comfortable putting all his own cash on the line.
Sound familiar? It’s the same “mindset race” countless investors find themselves running.
So here’s what we did: we helped Lee build business credit and secure capital, giving him the ability to buy real estate without using his own cash.
Nowadays, these collegiate student-athletes have an even bigger advantage. With the insanely lucrative NIL deals, they can start building credit & portfolios while still in school.
Poppy has already helped numerous Ohio State Buckeyes build their credit, secure funding, and even start growing their real estate portfolios, all while winning & chasing another Natty 🏆
Buckeyes > Bulldogs. 😂
📊 The Business Blueprint
Lee didn’t need personal discipline, he had already proven this to be true.
What he needed was the Business Blueprint.
Whether you’re brand new or have dozens of deals under your belt, this framework ensures you’re on the right foot and running in the right direction.
1. Entity & Banking
✅ Form an LLC or corporation (home state or foreign file if applicable).
✅ Use a real or virtual business address (no PO boxes).
✅ Obtain an EIN from the IRS.
✅ Set up a professional email + website + business phone number + social media
✅ Open banking accounts with a top 5 bank + local banks + credit unions.
2. Build Business Credit Profile
✅ Secure a D-U-N-S number with Dun & Bradstreet.
✅ Ensure all business info is 100% consistent.
✅ Establish Net-30 Tradelines to build credit—even if your business is brand new.
3. Customized Funding Plan
✅ Secure 0% APR business credit cards (12–18 months of free capital).
✅ Access non-personal guarantee (NPG) credit lines.
✅ Tap startup & small business capital.
💳 Buying Real Estate With $0
Once Lee had structure in place, we moved into funding. Within weeks, he was approved and secured capital by following a step-by-step customized plan that included:
✅ The exact accounts to set up
✅ Which products to apply for (and in what order)
✅ Leveraging our banking & lender connections
✅ Guidance on how to properly complete each application
This process gave him the clarity and confidence to move quickly—and most importantly, access the capital he needed to start buying real estate without relying on his own cash.
But then he surprised me — teaching Poppy and I some secrets he had discovered along the way.
👉 He figured out how to legally and safely use platforms like Plastiq to liquidate business credit into cash for down payments.
Normally, lenders want funds “seasoned” in a bank account for 2+ months—causing delays or killing deals at the closing table. Lee’s strategy gave him speed, liquidity, and confidence to secure deals others couldn’t touch.
🏡 Real Estate Wholesaler to Multi Millionaire Investor
There’s no better feeling than not just changing your own life, but helping others learn how to change theirs.
Lee went from wholesaling properties to building a multi-million-dollar rental portfolio & business empire. And now? He’s helping others do the same.
🎧 If you want to see the full breakdown of how he did it → go checkout the podcast episode.
🔥 Sneak Peek: Part 2 Coming Soon
I’ll be dropping Part 2 of this series, where Poppy shares:
Lee’s unique real estate strategy (works no matter the market conditions).
A deal he closed making hundreds of thousands.
A huge trend unfolding right now that investors can leverage for major incentives, that no one is talking about.
Big economic news coming soon…
🔵 The Marathon Continues
Nipsey Hussle said it best: “The Marathon Continues.” It’s the belief in relentless pursuit, in running your own race while lifting others along the way.
Imagine the economy as a car speeding down the highway. Normally, the Fed can tap the gas (stimulus) or hit the brakes (raise rates). But right now? The car is overheating and running out of gas at the same time. That paradox is called stagflation, a mix of high inflation, slowing growth, and rising unemployment.
Think of it like quicksand: you’re sinking under rising costs while unable to move forward from weak growth. The harder you fight with old tools, the deeper you go. And if you’re not prepared, the consequences are brutal. Your dollars lose purchasing power. Your savings melt like an ice cube.
But here’s the opportunity. The bridge out of quicksand is built with:
Assets that outpace inflation (real estate)
Assets not tied to the fragile dollar (Bitcoin)
Tools that let you use other people’s money (business credit)
That’s what makes Lee’s story powerful. It’s not just about business credit or real estate—it’s about running your race. Running it with structure. Developing discipline. Surrounding yourself with others who keep you moving forward. And ultimately, helping the generation before you break their curse so the generations after you can finally run free.
Running is you vs. you.
But like wolves in a pack, you’re stronger when you run together. What’s the worst that happens if you try? You use business credit, the deal fails, and it doesn’t work out?
Fine.
Poppy knows how to remove late payments, collections, and charge-offs so you can try again, and again, and again. That’s the beauty of America’s financial system. And this shouldn’t be a ‘easy way out mindset’ either… it’s just the truth. We are very lucky to be in America and have the ability to access these financial tools.
Too often, people let negative mindsets, or the voices around them, keep them down. They stay trapped in generational loops instead of rising from the flames with a burning desire to try again. Those people know how to push your buttons… because they’re the ones that created them.
But the marathon isn’t about speed, it’s about endurance. And the road less traveled, the long steady pace, running your own race.
Stay the course.
📖 Bible Verse
"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." — Matthew 7:13–14
Reflection: Structure and discipline keep us on the narrow road. It’s not about the quick sprint, it’s about the marathon. Better to take the harder road now, than the easy path to your demise. And remember, the most valuable piece of real estate you will ever own is your peace of mind.