Christian Ray Flores here —
I write The XE (Xponential Edge) twice a week. Sunday is free, Wednesday is for paid subscribers.
Choose the paid version and you’ll get deeper dives, private chats, VIP invites — and my gratitude for supporting the work.
Every high performer eventually runs into the same invisible wall: success that looks good on paper but feels strangely hollow. I saw it up close last week — in a room full of doctors who’ve reached the top of their field and still want something more.
What I discovered there surprised me — and it might hit closer to home than you expect.
our sponsor – third drive media
All of my marketing is done by this team.
Reach out if you’re a business owner, expert, or consultant looking to create and execute marketing around your brand.
To become a sponsor of XE and reach 12k subscribers with your product or service. Learn more here.
pod episodes to listen
I do at least one guest pod appearance a week. In the last couple of months my convo with Josh Zolin, founder of the Blue is the New White Academy, stood out as valuable. It was so good that I’m having Josh join on the XE Pod later this month.
I’m confident you’ll find it valuable. Here’s the link.
The Hidden Pain of High Achievement
I just got back from a speaking gig at a doctors’ conference. Urologists, to be exact.
Besides the joy of being around ridiculously smart people who do mind-bending work—and yes, hearing some very niche urology humor—I walked away with a lesson I didn’t expect.
Why on earth was I invited to speak at a urologists’ conference and sit on a panel with people literally reinventing their field?
Because even these respected, in-demand, well-compensated experts—whose calendars are booked months in advance—are craving something more. More impact. Less burnout. They’re tired of feeling like commodities in a system that rewards output more than meaning.
I was also doing research.
Between talks, long lunches, cocktail receptions, and banquets celebrating new breakthroughs—I was listening.
Here’s what I heard most clearly: three pain points shared by some of the brightest minds in medicine, and the paths forward for anyone bold enough to take them.
1. The quiet rebellion against becoming a cog in the machine
No matter how sought after or well paid, no one thrives when their work is treated like a commodity. Many would trade a portion of their income for more meaning, creative freedom, and variety.
You can feel the quiet rebellion starting.
Solution: Learn the art and science of creating offers that defy commodification. When you create unique value, you remove yourself from the assembly line forever.
2. The hunger for more choices in life
High expertise breeds the desire for autonomy—the ability to design your own work, impact, and rhythm of life. Freedom, income, impact, love, passion… the higher the mastery, the louder that craving gets.
That hunger doesn’t fade—it just finds new outlets.
Solution: Productize your expertise. Turn your intellectual property into scalable assets—courses, content, systems, tools—and amplify it through media.
Naval Ravikant said it best: “Media travels and earns while you sleep. It searches the world for opportunities for you.”
3. The growing suspicion that the old playbook doesn’t work anymore
There comes a point when that suspicion hardens into conviction—and the only way forward is to burn the old model and build your own. Doctors are taught to doctor, they’re taught very little about business.
I met a Harvard-trained physician at the conference who did exactly that. She’ll be on the XE podcast soon. She represents a new wave of MDs stepping out of the system to become part clinician, part creator, part educator.
They’re going direct to consumer—tapping into the Trust Economy and new business models: asynchronous care, courses, coaching, books, newsletters, sponsorships, and more.
It takes vision, boldness, and courage. But those who learn the skills beyond their core expertise—those who make the leap—escape the machine. They gain choice, freedom, and the leverage of business models that scale income without more hours.
This isn’t about leaving medicine. It’s about reclaiming meaning—and owning the work you were meant to do.
If these pain points resonate deeply, raise your hand and reply with the word “Resonating.”
Share what spoke to you in this issue—I read every response.
If you like this issue I think you’ll also like these:
I just did 17 hours of Therapy in 5 Days