Today I recorded a podcast with my sister-in-law, Candy J. She is an inspiration to me. I’ve known her for almost 27 years, and she has grown so much. When I met her, she was a quiet, unassuming young lady. She would come to family functions with my brother and barely speak to anyone. She was my brother’s silent shadow; where he went, she went. It was cute at first, but folks in our family started feeling some type of way because we embrace new people, and she wasn’t really opening her arms to embrace the family back.

Fast forward all these years, and my sis is a force to reckon with. She is one of the earliest adopters of AI I know. Usually, I’m the tech geek in the family. I’m the one who talked about Bitcoin non-stop back in 2012—the one trying to get everyone on the wave before it breaks. But this time, my sis Candy J was the pioneer.

She uses AI the way I wish everyone used it: as an extension of her imagination. AI is the staff she commands to handle her executive endeavors. She’s so early to the game that she taught my wife to use AI for artwork and illustration before I even did. She embraced it early.

During our conversation, she mentioned that people often tell her now, somewhat sarcastically:

“Candy, you always doing something.”

I told her my response would be:

“You never do anything. Which sounds better to you?”

People tend to look down upon those who do what they cannot. Instead of congratulating the doers, they seem to feel insecure about their own inability to progress. It’s as if the Doers’ actions are in direct opposition to their stagnant lifestyles. But this isn’t so.

People who “do” inspire. They don’t represent what I cannot achieve; they are a direct example of what I can achieve. Because they do, I can.

Watching Candy use AI as a force multiplier is a prime example of “doing times ten.” Candace has launched a cultural coloring book, a women’s Christian journal, T-shirt designs, a podcast, and many other extensions of her personality that I can’t even list. She has jumped headfirst into doing.

It reminds me of when I first learned about Bitcoin. I knew I had to DO something with it. I had to use it, build something for it, and figure it out. I did the deep dive, teaching myself everything I could about the technology. This was at a time when there weren’t any great books available to teach you; you had to learn on your own. You had to understand the code first.

But by doing, Bitcoin became a blessing. It allowed me to be early in a growing industry that is changing the world. Through God, Bitcoin became the catalyst for many of the things I’ve done in my life that make my journey incredibly rewarding and fun.

That’s what I see now with AI. I have put my head down and gone all in. I have even started a digital product company with my whole family that I will be publicly launching soon. AI is a tool for freedom. It frees your time from tasks that hamper you from ultimately being creative. It’s a silent workforce that doesn’t show up late or call off the night of a big game. It just goes.

I saw it, and Candy saw it. The difference is I talked about its power and researched its ways, but Candy just used it. She used it so well that she inspired me to think even deeper about what I could do, and how I could train my creative adult children to embrace the technology to exponentially drive their own creativity.

Knowing vs. Doing

Folks brag about the information they know. They like to puff out their chests because their brains hold a wealth of information. But what good is knowing without doing something with it? If you aren’t the one to use it, at least share it. That’s also a form of doing.

To have knowledge by itself is not something to cheer about; it’s the application of that knowledge that shifts generations. To apply what you have learned is to defeat Darth Vader with the Force. It is to take down Cobra Kai with the Crane Kick.

When you Do, you inspire others to do too. (Especially that crane kick—we all tried it on each other at the park, back in the amazing 80’s.)

In the words of Ray Charles:

Make it do what it do, Baby!

Editor’s Note: I was 25 minutes late with this article. I had an incredible meal with my wife, and as old men do, I dozed off sitting up in bed. By the time I woke up, the Bears were about to score in their best comeback in franchise history, and I didn’t see anything except their final drive. Then I looked at the clock and was like, “OMG, I didn’t write.” I was going to write a quick paragraph just to throw something up in time, but I was too inspired by my sis today not to give her her flowers.