So if it's not about the money, then what is it about?

I'll get to that, but first, let me answer a question someone asked yesterday.

"Last week, you talked about everything you're doing, businesses you've started, and others you want to start, which just sounds like a different kind of rat race to me.

So, how does that get you out of the Matrix?"

You'll find that answer at www.Amazon.com.

Amazon is an immensely complicated operation. With millions of products, millions of sellers, and millions of grey vans running 24/7, Jeff Bezos' income is somewhere in the vicinity of $3,000 per second.

I paid a small portion of that income when I ordered a set of Rigid flush-mount LED spotlights for the Tundra project last night.

Of course, 'ole Jeffrey has no idea.

He's off sailing, kite surfing, or whatever he does while the machine he built continues supplying him with the capital to keep doing whatever he wants.

Leverage - that's the answer.

Most of us have a 1:1 ratio of hours worked to income earned. Bezos' income, on the other hand, is not correlated with his time. He makes money around the clock, no matter what he's doing.

That's how he escaped the Matrix, and I'm following his lead.

This time two weeks ago, I was on a fishing boat with my good friend EVB. Before heading to the dock, I'd checked my email to find another order for a 1st Gen Tundra Auxiliary Battery Tray and another $250 in my bank account. Order fulfillment is automated, so there was nothing else I had to do.

That same morning, a tenant paid their rent on a commercial property, putting, after expenses, another $300 in my bank account.

That's $550 while I slept. Nothing compared to the millions King Amazon made last night, but it sure beats the hell out of the way I used to do it.

Now here's the kicker: I don't need to be in my office M-F, 9-5, to design more products or buy more properties. I can be off snowboarding, hiking, or whatever I do and still get that work done.

All I need is my laptop and my cellphone.

So like Bezos, I'm building a machine. Different from his, but it's still a machine.

Today, my physical presence is still required. But so much less than it used to be! Five years ago, I'd get so stressed about going out of town that I could barely enjoy the time away.

Now being out of town is a day like any other, only the view from the office window is different.

So that's the answer.

That's how all this stuff I'm doing, to some, seems like another rat race is going to get me the hell out of the Matrix.

I thought I could answer this in fewer words, but brevity is not always my strong suit, and I thought the point was worth exploring, so we'll expand the Ten Ten Ten discussion to three parts.

Part Two here makes it sound even more like it's all about the money, but it isn't.

So if you're still with me, hang tight one more day.

Tomorrow I'll break down the three Tens and what it's really all about.