Focused Purpose

The Unreadable Advantage

The Moment Everything Changed

First grade. Reading time.
The Reading Racers sat by the window—they got chapter books and got to pick what they read.
I don’t remember my group’s name, but I remember exactly where we sat: back table, by the supply closet. Where the slow kids go.

Anxiety hit every time the teacher said, “Take out your reading books.” That stomach-drop knowing I’d have to decode words while everyone waited. The panic of reading aloud—a fear that followed me into adulthood, into meetings, into every situation where I had to read in front of people.

I internalized it early: Something’s wrong with me. I’m not trying hard enough. Everyone else gets it. I don’t.
That story stuck for thirty years.

Then I became a father of four. Started listening to podcasts on my commute; trying to be better, build something, figure out this whole “driven dad who actually wants to be present” thing. And I started noticing something.

Interview after interview. Founders, CEOs, people building things that matter. They’d casually drop it: “Yeah, I’m dyslexic.” Or “I have ADHD.” Or “I couldn’t read until I was ten.”

At first I thought it was coincidence. But the names kept piling up.
My brain did what it does—it saw the pattern.

Not “they succeeded despite being wired differently.”
They succeeded because of it.

And suddenly, everything I’d been told about my brain being broken started looking like a lie.

The Question Nobody Asked

Here’s what nobody told me in first grade, or middle school, or high school, or college:
Roughly 35% of U.S. entrepreneurs are dyslexic.

Not 10%. Not 15%. Thirty-five percent. Julie Logan’s research at Cass Business School backs it up, and it’s not an outlier.

Richard Branson built Virgin by focusing on vision and delegation.
Charles Schwab simplified investing for everyday people.
David Neeleman reimagined airline operations at JetBlue.
Paul Orfalea turned Kinko’s into a franchise empire through storytelling and risk-taking.

Same story: struggled in school, told they weren’t trying hard enough, couldn’t sit still, couldn’t decode fast enough—then went on to build billion-dollar companies.

Not despite dyslexia.
Because of it.

What My Brain Does Instead

I learned the same lesson the hard way.

As GM of a large athletic club, corporate wanted us to grow group exercise because members who worked out together stayed longer.
We crushed it…too well. Classes overflowed, waitlists grew, instructors burned out.

Standard solution: hire more instructors, add more classes, spread everything thinner.

I didn’t pull reports or call a meeting. I walked the floor during peak hours and saw it:
Two studios. Side by side. Running separate spin classes at the same time. Both full. Both turning people away.

The insight hit visually, not analytically:
Knock down the wall.
One large room. One class. Same number of members. Half the instructors.

I sketched a floor plan, estimated construction at $50K, and calculated class cancellations per week. Six-month ROI just on saved instructor costs.

That wasn’t linear problem-solving.
It was pattern recognition. Systems thinking. Spatial reasoning.
Exactly what my brain does when it’s not fighting to match sounds to letters.

The Trade You Didn’t Know You Made

Dyslexia isn’t backward letters—it’s a phonological processing difference.
Your brain struggles to connect sounds to symbols. Reading takes more effort, more time.
So it compensates. It finds other routes:

• Pattern recognition instead of linear decoding

• Visual/spatial reasoning instead of phonetic analysis

• Big-picture systems thinking instead of step-by-step processing

The trade: You read slower. You think wider.
You don’t see the tree—you see the forest, the terrain, and the three different paths everyone else missed.

Useless in first grade when the only metric is “how fast can you read this paragraph.”
Priceless when you’re solving complex problems, building teams, or seeing what others can’t.

Branson said it plainly: “So much of my success comes from dyslexic thinking.”
Orfalea was even more direct: “I succeeded because of it, not despite it.”

Why This Matters for Your Kid Right Now

I’m not writing this to say dyslexia is a superpower.
I’m writing because your kid might be sitting at that back table right now, quietly building the same false story you did.

If you don’t reframe it, they’ll spend decades trying to fix something that was never broken.

Here’s what I wish I had been told:

1. Your brain sees systems, not steps.
   When your kid can’t follow multi-step directions but can look at a Lego set and instantly see how it fits—that’s not a deficit. That’s systems thinking. CEOs get paid for that.
   Say this: “You see the whole picture fast. Most people can’t.”

2. Your brain simplifies complexity.
   When they forget formulas but explain the concept better than the teacher—that’s clarity, not laziness.
   Say this: “You make complicated things simple. That’s leadership.”

3. Your brain builds around gaps.
   When they ask for help without shame, they’re practicing delegation—the skill most adults never learn.
   Say this: “Knowing what to ask for is how great teams work.”

4. Your brain tells stories, not reports.
   When they can’t write the five-paragraph essay but retell a book so vividly you want to read it—that’s narrative thinking.
   Say this: “You move people through story. That’s how vision spreads.”

What You Do With This

Don’t glorify the struggle—contextualize it.

Yes, they need reading support. But while you build that skill, celebrate what’s already strong.

• Audiobooks and speech-to-text—tools, not crutches

• Sketch ideas before writing

• Let them move while thinking

• Point out strengths in real time: “You spotted that pattern first—that’s your edge.”

Remind them:
Branson dropped out at 16 and built an empire.
Schwab struggled through school and revolutionized investing.
Neeleman couldn’t sit still and created airlines.

Not as inspiration, but as data.

The Pattern We’re Breaking

My kids won’t grow up believing they’re broken.

Whatever their wiring…dyslexic, ADHD, or something I haven’t yet named…they’ll know different brains solve different, harder, more valuable problems.

They won’t think, I succeeded despite it.
They’ll know, This is what my brain was built for.

That’s the loop I’m breaking.
That’s the pattern I finally saw.

What pattern are you seeing in your kid that you missed in yourself?

Focused Action

Every month, The Focused Fool brings you a series of Focused Actions—practical, bite-sized steps designed to help you grow as a father, husband, and man. Each theme is broken down into 12 structured actions that build on each other, helping you grow with clarity and purpose—one small win at a time.

These aren’t lofty goals or guilt trips. They’re simple, achievable habits designed to make you more consistent, more grounded, and more present.

This month’s theme: Building Fitness
This month, we’ll strip away the noise and focus on practical movement. No perfection, no all-or-nothing mentality—just a steady return to strength, energy, and longevity. You’ll create your personal “Minimum Effective Fitness Plan” and discover what consistency really looks like in real life.

✅ Week 1 – Movement Mindset: Start Where You Are

Define “Enough”
Action: Choose a baseline: the bare minimum amount of movement you can commit to this month (e.g., 3x/week, 15 mins).
Prompt: What makes this number realistic—even when life gets messy?

Focused Wonder

Focused questions designed to spark meaningful dialogue—whether at the dinner table, during a car ride, or at bedtime. Use these questions to build trust, curiosity, and laughter in your relationships.

What’s something from your past that you didn’t like back then—but now you’re glad it happened?

Focused Motion

Curated videos to help make you think, to motivate, or to just laugh.

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