Let’s be honest: The traditional career path, with its titles, ladders, and pension plans, promised security. Entrepreneurship promised freedom. But both can lead to burnout when rooted in survival instead of alignment.
In today’s economy, the value of a degree is murky. Experience matters, but so does energy. What’s being rewarded now isn’t just what you know… It’s how clearly you can communicate, how deeply you can connect, and how well you manage your time, nervous system, and digital presence.
Enter AI.
People like Vishen Lakhiani (founder of Mindvalley) are literally cloning themselves with AI avatars, designed to look like them, sound like them, and coach others while they sleep. Vishen’s AI twin, unveiled for this year’s (Mindvalley AI Summit), is the perfect metaphor for 2025: We are no longer choosing between “career” or “entrepreneurship”, we’re choosing how to multiply ourselves without fracturing our identity.
As Vishen said in his launch email:
“You’ll be able to interact with a version of me that looks like me, talks to you, answers your questions with patience and empathy… I hope it makes you laugh. Cringe. Rethink the future of AI and consciousness.” (Mindvalley, July 2025)
And it does make you rethink things.
Because we’re not just building careers anymore. We’re building selves that can live online. We’re building versions of ourselves that serve clients while we rest. And we’re redefining success in real-time, blending wisdom from mentors like Joe Dispenza, Codie Sanchez, and Cassie Kozyrkov, who all point to the same truth in different ways:
Success isn’t linear. It’s energetic.
We’ve been wired to measure worth by external markers: title, salary, number of clients, social media validation. But what if the real win in 2025 is knowing when you’re performing, and when you’re aligned?
What if your degree gave you discipline, but not direction?
What if your side hustle gave you income, but not identity?
What if your success metrics were inherited, not chosen?
Are you building a life you actually want, or just one that looks good on paper?
And what if AI could help you reclaim time and space to figure it out?
The Real ROI Is Alignment: We’ve been on both sides of the table, in the corporate boardrooms and the founder trenches. We’ve chased promotions and we’ve built from scratch. And here’s what we’ve learned:
There’s no guaranteed safety net. No perfect playbook. Just trade-offs.
We’ve spoken with friends in corporate whose roles are being redefined by AI, who are quietly grieving the identity they worked so hard to build. And we’ve seen creatives burning out under the pressure to be “always on,” sacrificing their vision for visibility.
We don’t share this from a pedestal, far from it! we share it because we’ve lived it too; we still are.
So the real ROI? We don't think is in titles or timelines. It’s in alignment. That quiet knowing that the work you do supports your wellbeing, your values, your evolution.
And maybe, just maybe, success looks like staying consistent without betraying yourself in the process.
In 2025, the real question isn’t whether you have a career or run a business. It’s: Does your life feel like it belongs to you?
And maybe it’s time we stop worshiping one path over another, and start designing lives that reflect who we are becoming.So whether you’re climbing the ladder, building your startup, buying a laundromat (thanks, Codie), or just trying to make it through the week without burning out…
Here’s the truth:
There’s no “right” way. But there is your way. And that’s the only one worth building.
