They Devalued the Dollar. Then They Devalued You.

Inflation didn’t just raise prices.

It broke the link between effort and reward.

You’ve added skills, hours, and hustle. Yet the “more” you give purchases less freedom, less time, and less certainty.

That’s not a personal failure. It’s just a system that quietly repurposed your output to stabilize itself.

The proof?

Since 1973, U.S. worker productivity is up ~70%, but real wages only rose 12%. The gap between what you produce and what you keep is the true inflation.

You’re told to optimize your morning routine while the denominator under your life gets moved mid-game.

Here’s what that looks like week to week:

• Hours up, optionality down. You can’t buy time back at last year’s price.

• Wages up, peace down. The raise covers bills, not breathing room.

• Benefits up, stability down. Deductibles, exclusions, “network” games.

• Assets up… for someone else. Your rent is their yield.

But the goal isn’t to panic. It’s to measure your value in places they don’t control and stop storing your effort where it bleeds.

How?

🟨 Write down three things you built this year that no inflation print can touch. That’s your real balance sheet.

You’re not behind. You’re being discounted by design. Seeing it clearly is step one.

Tomorrow: They promised a ladder — school, job, house, retirement. Let’s climb it together and see where it actually leads.

—DOTD